"52 ways to die in a cave"

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Re: "52 ways to die in a cave"

Postby Squirrel Girl » Jun 19, 2010 11:02 pm

Larry E. Matthews wrote:Hair caught in rappel rack?

Why would that be fatal? It would certainly hurt.

In fact, that happened to my first wife as she was rappeling into Neversink many years ago. Her long, blond hair fed into her rappel rack, so she stopped and broke them off, a few at a time. Not a lot of fun, but certainly not life threatening. A good self-rescue.

And, acetylene explosion?

That's happened to almost all of us who used to use carbide lamps, but unless you somehow dropped an entire two (2) pound can in a pool of water, then set it off, it's hard to imagine "death by acetylene explosion". A little burned hair? Yes !!! I guess it could happen if you were in a really small, enclosed space and the acetylene gas used up all the oxygen.

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I've been on a trip where guy got his eyelashes melted during the explosion. If he'd been blinded, it could have been a closer-to-fatal accident. Especially if it were on a deep camping trip as the book is focused on. Another guy got second degree burns on his noise from an explosion. He stuck his face in a dry bag caving pack. It's not so outlandish a prospect to my way of thinking. Likely, no, but no accident is "likely."
Barbara Anne am Ende

"Weird people are my people."
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Re: "52 ways to die in a cave"

Postby Cheryl Jones » Jul 15, 2010 10:05 pm

A Book Club of Billions: 52 Ways to Die in a Cave and Other Lessons in Social Media Marketing
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tammy-h-n ... 45527.html
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Re: "52 ways to die in a cave"

Postby graytail » Aug 1, 2010 7:11 pm

No mention of eaten by cave rats, infection from rappelling into a liquid cow,
shot by moonshiners, eating poison mushrooms, or the dreaded Attacked by Zombies? What kind of list is this?
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Re: "52 ways to die in a cave"

Postby Chads93GT » Aug 1, 2010 9:11 pm

graytail wrote:No mention of eaten by cave rats, infection from rappelling into a liquid cow,
shot by moonshiners, eating poison mushrooms, or the dreaded Attacked by Zombies? What kind of list is this?


Rappelling into a liquid cow. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. Thanks. :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
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Re: "52 ways to die in a cave"

Postby photophill » Aug 2, 2010 3:57 am

Eeeeeeks! After reading about all this paranoia i'm definitely giving up caving.... er... well ... at least until next weekend.
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Re: "52 ways to die in a cave"

Postby Larry E. Matthews » Aug 3, 2010 9:05 am

I never saw a liquid cow.....

I never hope to see one.....

But I can tell you, anyhow.....

I'd rather see, than be one !!!!!


With my apologies to "The Purple Cow."

But, with that said, Roy Davis, of Cumberland Caverns fame, did rappel onto a dead cow once back in the 50s, and he SANK into it !!! It was that decomposed. Back in those days, cavers used leather boots. And, nobody had a clue how to do a "change-over" and go back up.

When he got home, he thoroughly washed his boots and let them dry. On the next caving trip, they were fine...............until he had to wade through a pool of water. Then, the smell came back. He said it was overpoweering. He had to throw the boots away.

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Re: "52 ways to die in a cave"

Postby 1oldbuzzard » Aug 3, 2010 5:22 pm

This reminds me of a group of errant young cavers who who came across a dead hog. This was back in the 60's before they locked up Americans citizens for possession of dynamite. This particular group had a small supply in the trunk of their car and were really not quite sure what they were going to do with it on this fine spring day. One of the creative of the group suggested they return to the dead hog carcass and do nature a service by reducing the rotting carcass to bite size pieces. Parking the vehicle a "safe distance" away and inserting a full stick of dynamite with a fuse cap and ample length of fuse, they took refuge in a nearby grove of trees to wait until Mr. Nobel's invention had done its work. They delighted in the mountain jarring report and laughingly strolled back to their waiting vehicle. There, to their horror, they discovered that they had left the windows rolled down. The pink-hued fallout from the blast had left a fine film on the hood, fenders, and interior of the vehicle. Getting repeat dates with young ladies became increasingly difficult for the owner of the car in the ensuing months.
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Re: "52 ways to die in a cave"

Postby Scrivy » Dec 24, 2013 11:25 pm

Dehydration.
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Re: "52 ways to die in a cave"

Postby Larry E. Matthews » Dec 25, 2013 8:22 am

Many years ago, caver Roy Davis actually DID rappell into a "Liquid Cow". There was a dead cow at the bottom of the pit and when he landed on it, his feet sank into the liquid ooze inside.

If I remember the story correctly, the ensuing smell made him puke !!!

When he got out of the pit, he thoroughly washed his boots. Boots were leather back in the 1950s. The boots were later cleaned and dried and looked no worse for the experience. BUT, the next time he was in a stream cave, as soon as the boots got wet, they again smelled like "Liquid Cow".

He tried to clean them again, and again, but nothing worked. Everytime they were wet, the odor was horrible. He finally gave up and threw them away.

My "Liquid Cow" story for this Christmas Day.

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Re: "52 ways to die in a cave"

Postby KENTO » Aug 7, 2014 7:32 am

The Author came up with 52 ways to die in a cave because he is a lousy writer who works in TV trying to come up with the next extreme reality adventure type short subject that will make it on the Discovery Channel after the Naked and Afraid Marathon is over. Reading his book left me the impression he has no respect for Cavers/Climbers Outdoors Adventurers in General...he just wants to make money off of them somehow.
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Re: "52 ways to die in a cave"

Postby Kyle.Lassiter » Aug 11, 2014 12:00 pm

I've heard a story about Jim Smith getting his boot stuck in a submerged cow carcass's rib cage while pushing the terminal breakdown in Mill Cave years ago. Not sure exactly how he got out of that predicament, but I'd imagine it was pretty unpleasant.
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