Hello

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Hello

Postby connelljh15 » Feb 21, 2019 9:25 am

Hey guys, been lurking for a bit, but i'm from the Huntsville area. I haven't had time to make it out to a grotto meeting yet, but i've been caving in horizontal caves with a few friends. We practice safe caving of course. Looking forward to seeing some of you all out there.
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Re: Hello

Postby bobby49 » Feb 21, 2019 11:35 am

You might describe your cave preferences. Some prefer a lot of vertical cave. Some prefer a walking cave. Some prefer a knee-crawling cave. Some prefer a belly-crawling cave. Some prefer a swimming cave. Find the people who do the style that you prefer.
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Re: Hello

Postby connelljh15 » Feb 21, 2019 1:06 pm

True, I haven't done a vertical cave yet, but i'm open to whatever and looking into getting some equipment to do so sometime in the future. I don't have good knee pads right now so i'm not crazy about knee-crawling caves. I have a helmet and a headlamp and a couple of back-up lights, but other than that not much of anything. I'm sure this has been asked before. But what are some good pants that anyone can recommend for caving? The last two times I've ruined the old blue jeans and khakis i wore by ripping them both so i'm trying to find something a little more durable. I know this isn't the right place to ask, but I guess id consider this part of my introduction.
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Re: Hello

Postby Steve_S » Feb 21, 2019 9:04 pm

Hi! Maybe get a pair of coveralls. Tractor Supply has them fairly cheap and they'll last you quite a few trips if your not doing a lot of crawling
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Re: Hello

Postby bobby49 » Feb 22, 2019 2:23 am

Yes, traditional coveralls are not very high tech, but they work for me. The fabric is tough enough and washable enough. You just have to get the fit correct. In many caves, you will be wearing some long johns and a warm shirt underneath, but that depends on the cave specifics. Anything like cotton denim will get wet easily and then get cold, so abandon the jeans except in a warm desert cave. My first knee pads were cheap and terrible. Then I got decent knee pads and they were better. Then I got some really good knee pads (as a Christmas present), and they are the best. I wear thin synthetic leather gloves for rope work, but I wear heavy leather work gloves for mud and rock.
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Re: Hello

Postby connelljh15 » Feb 22, 2019 10:04 am

I might look into coveralls. I've never had trouble with getting cold in a cave before, but i always see the warnings about it. If i move a lot i usually end up getting hot. Living in Alabama i've been wearing cotton materials every time i go (once it was below freezing outside and we did get wet), but again i have never even felt cold until i leave the cave. Mainly i want to get away from cotton so i don't have to replace my pants every time i go haha. Thanks for the advice though.
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Re: Hello

Postby trogman » Feb 28, 2019 8:26 am

I've been wearing nylon pants lately- fairly tough and they dry quickly if they get wet. I get mine from Wally World, Wrangler brand for ~$21. I generally wear a base layer below the pants, polypro or spandex. I almost never wear cotton anymore, but then I get chilled easily. I also do a lot of surveying, which requires standing or sitting in one spot for a while in order to sketch.

If it is cold out and you think you might get wet in the cave, perhaps you could pack a partial or complete change of clothes in your pack and stash it at the entrance. I had this problem recently, and I was seriously wishing I had done so. Just a dry pair of gloves that day would've made a huge difference!

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Re: Hello

Postby bobby49 » Feb 28, 2019 3:30 pm

We were emerging from a cave two weeks ago. Outside, the weather was wind, rain, and snow. Inside, the cave was a bit drippy. When we got out to our cars, we looked like a bunch of refugee earthworms. One guy had neglected to bring along any change of clothes, so he was forced to drive home that way, and I would hate to think what it did to the car interior. As I've said, coveralls are not very high-tech, but they work. For that trip, I was wearing winter-weight fleece tights underneath the coveralls, and that was probably a mistake. I should have worn the summer-weight tights.

The whole thing is that you have to know something about the cave that you are headed into, and you have to know how fast or slow your own metabolic rate is so that you know how much heat you have.
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