GroundquestMSA wrote:I've made mention several times that I often cave without a helmet. In the short crawlways of Ohio, I don't feel that helmetless caving adds to the likelihood for debilitating injury. The intention of the poll is to see if any of you share the belief that there are some occasions when a helmet is not important.
Allow me to digress a bit, here. There is a point, I promise.
One of my primary concerns about the very existence of cavechat is that the conversations we have here just sit on the internet. Everything we post, unregistered lurkers read. Some of those are new cavers who would like to learn about the sport. Some of those are impressionable young cavers who have been in a cave or three, spelunker-style, and suspect there may be some safety measures they're lacking. Some of them are rock climbers who want to explore caves but don't know the appropriate vertical techniques for caving, and are looking for info.
Not all of them post their questions. In fact, lots of them don't. And plenty of google searches return this board specifically; if you don't believe me, go to google and type "spectra cowstail" into the box.
I don't care what you do, and I don't mean that in a bad way. I mean, if you don't want to wear a helmet, that's your decision. I don't wish you any harm from that decision. I certainly don't agree, and I think there are a hundred reasons to wear one even in terrible caves that don't seem to require it; I've had a sheet of limestone dislodge from the ceiling (a few inches above me) and land on me in a virgin cave, I've slipped on a muddy passage floor (embarrassingly) and banged my helmeted head on the ground as I landed flat on my back, I've stood up quickly and cracked my head on an unexpected low ceiling more times than I can count -- In fact, I did the latter in Tory's Cave in CT, which is about 200 feet of really awful cave that I suspect is similar to what you'd find in Ohio.
Where it crosses a line, however, is when we post on the internet that it's sometimes OK to not wear a helmet. It goes from "personal decision" to "at least some members of the caving community are OK with this." And once we've crossed that line, the rock climber who doesn't wear a helmet sport climbing suddenly feels empowered to go caving without one. The young caver who hasn't scraped together enough cash to buy a helmet feels empowered to go caving without one. That's not OK. That's when I feel the need to step in and say "this is bad advice; please don't follow it," regardless of whether or not the original poster intended it as advice.
And I think we've reached that point here. Jonah, I know you mean well, but... this is bad advice. To those reading now, or next month, or finding this thread in a Google search for "helmetless caving" in 2015: don't go caving without a helmet. Ever. Seriously, don't.
"Although it pains me to say it, in this case Jeff is right. Plan accordingly." --Andy Armstrong