by cavewizard » Jan 12, 2016 2:23 pm
Congratulations on getting cave fever man. That's semi pretty much how I got into caving. My buddies and I got tired of hiking and camping and finally just threw our hands up and said "Lets see what this caving thing is about!"
Long story short, the first wild cave I explored was pretty much me playing detective and searching the web for clues. I wound up finding an address of an decade old online obituary and pretty much crossed my fingers that this would work out. Luckily it did. As you'll probably start realizing sooner or later cave locations aren't exactly out there for the public to take. The best thing you can do is join a local grotto, get to know some of the key members/make some friends and show them that your a responsible caver.
Most grottos will have a ton of information on local caves, caves in the area, and caves wherever you can at least drive to. But they don't hand that information out to non-members.
In the mean time, go get yourself a decent helmet. You can go to mountainproject.com and probably find a decent used helmet, and potentially even some lights. If not that route, go get your standard skateboarding helmet and attach a headlamp to it. Seriously though, you need a helmet and you'll find out why after your first big cave adventure.
Look into what type of equipment you'll need, which isn't too much, and you're good to go!
Good luck, be careful, be adventurous, and have fun.