Carbide - smells good or smells bad?

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Carbide - smells good or smells bad?

mmmm smells good!
23
58%
gross, smells horrid.
9
23%
Indifferent.. doesnt bother me either way.
8
20%
 
Total votes : 40

Postby JoeyS » May 1, 2007 10:03 pm

I always enjoy caving when someone is using carbide. Not my thing, but I like to watch them smack the side, shake it up, cup the hand and make it boom in a big room...
It's a nostalgia thing for sure, b/c carbide is so rare, shipping restrictions etc... and we have LED's. It's funny, when a carbide caver gets asked why they still use it , they always snap about the emergency usefulness of a carbide lamps. I think the real reason is they like the smell and the warm hue of the light, the hissing of the gas... :kewl:
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Postby Stridergdm » May 2, 2007 5:21 am

Squirrel Girl wrote:
Wayne Harrison wrote:
Squirrel Girl wrote:I voted "indifferent." I can't say I think it smells "good." I mean I put perfume on my wrists in the morning, and I sure wouldn't put carbide there.


That sounds like a good way to attract a caver.
Does that mean if I try using carbide I might actually go on a date before I die?


Yeah... but it would be with a CAVER! :woohoo:
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Postby MUD » May 2, 2007 9:38 am

I like the smell....reminds me of MANY trips gone past! My first caving light was an old Autolite....I was 8 years old when my pap gave it to me.
I used that thing 'til into my late teens then graduated to a Justrite, then a Premier, then a Justrite-Premier hybrid! I still have a bunch of them and some carbide....I may get one out for next trip! :carbide:
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Postby jlangevin » May 2, 2007 2:53 pm

Carbide stinks but I wouldn't compare it to our nation's leading health problem. I never heard of anyone's dying from second-hand carbide. I did go caving once with a carbide caver who blew herself up twice (in the same trip) by using a candle while recharging, but she didn't even injure herself seriously, much less anyone else nearby. :flammable:
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Postby cob » May 2, 2007 7:18 pm

when I am too old to cave, I will sit in a darkened room and fire up my old autolite and relive all the great discoveries and think about all the really great explorers I have been blessed to be underground with, people most of you will never have the pleasure of meeting.

The olfactory sense is very tied into memory and those of you who do not have the crutch of carbide to fall back onto will have to get a sweaty old pair of coveralls and soak them in mud for 17 hrs to get the same pleasure as I will out of a simple "pop-hisssssssssss......"
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Postby tallgirl » May 2, 2007 8:05 pm

jlangevin wrote:Carbide stinks but I wouldn't compare it to our nation's leading health problem.


I believe that obesity and/or obesity related conditions(diabetes etc.) are soon to overtake smoking for that title if they haven't already. :flag:
Failed gene line :grin:
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Postby fuzzy-hair-man » May 2, 2007 8:12 pm

Maybe the poll needs the option: "What's carbide smell like?" :shock:
I've never been in a cave with someone using a carbide light or seen one going in fact the only one I've seen was in a museum. No one uses them here.
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Postby mabercrombie » May 2, 2007 9:32 pm

I LOVE THE SMELL OF CARBIDE IN THE MORNING, IT SMELLS LIKE VICTORY! :patriotic2:
Im Marty Abercrombie
and I approve this message
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Postby VACaver » May 3, 2007 7:06 am

tallgirl wrote:
jlangevin wrote:Carbide stinks but I wouldn't compare it to our nation's leading health problem.


I believe that obesity and/or obesity related conditions(diabetes etc.) are soon to overtake smoking for that title if they haven't already. :flag:


And I'd really prefer not to see someone who died from second-hand obesity :yikes:
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Postby paul » May 3, 2007 7:10 am

fuzzy-hair-man wrote:Maybe the poll needs the option: "What's carbide smell like?" :shock:
I've never been in a cave with someone using a carbide light or seen one going in fact the only one I've seen was in a museum. No one uses them here.


Here in the UK carbide caplamps (affectionately known as "stinkies") were still often to be seen when I started caving back in the 70's.

They gradually disappeared and then it was fairly common to see carbide lights with waist-mounted generators "ceiling-burners", especially when on trips abroad where electric charging facilities were not easily available.

Nowadays, LED lights seem to have taken over.

I occasionaly use my old Premier "stinky" if I lend my usual light (electric LED) to someone on their first caving trip and have even been known to get out my old Petzl Laser "ceiling-burner" on the odd occasion while I still have a supply of carbide.

I still think that carbide light provides the best light overall but for convenience, I now mainly stick to LED light now that they are bright enough and don't need as much "fettling" as carbide.

While on trips abroad I always stick to LEDs since I have the option of running them on AA batteries which are available practically anywhere and less hassle with weight and having to carry carbide on flights.
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Postby Andy Shoun » May 3, 2007 9:13 am

Smells can generate powerful memories. Carbide and musty dirty glove smell remind me of caving and good times.

After a couple of years of playing in an adult soccer league, that minty Ben-gay smell reminds me of nights out under the lights playing soccer. I love it!

Strange how the mind works.
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Postby jlangevin » May 3, 2007 12:51 pm

Andy,

I get that same association from musty old leather gloves even though I've switched to synthetic.

John[/quote]
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