My first real caving experience.

Hi all, :wave:

I had my first real caving experience last week on a camping trip with my wife and kids to the Lava Bed National Monument, in Tulelake CA. There is a massive system of lava-tube caves there and we had a blast!

I did some of the more challenging ones with my son, that required helmets, gloves, and elbow and knee pads (no rappelling gear or anything like that though).

I found that my ST5-190NW worked very well most of the time, but having my SC50w+ on a lanyard around my wrist was helpful too; there were many times in sections where I could walk upright where it was invaluable to hold low to show the surface of ahead of me to help me plan my steps and avoid stumbling over things that don't show up because of the tunnel vision you get from a headlamp.

I also found having a small thrower was helpful too, for seeing down long tubes and into large chambers. I can see why now that cavers light headlamps that are throwy... I think that something that has both flood and a throw setting would be quite useful for that.

Right now, I'd love to be able to do more caving, and am planning on getting an ST6-470NW as I will be able to use for cycling as well as any further caving I do.

But, with respect to caving specific equipment, anyone have any suggestions for other gear that would be useful/essential for caving? I know I should have a good set of knee and elbow pads, gloves, etc., so any recommendations I can check out for this kind of stuff would be helpful. (I'm not willing to get into rappelling types of stuff yet, maybe in the future though.)

Thanks in advance for any info!

I was in a speleological society a few years back when I was a freshman and sophomore in college. The first cave I went to had a very low ceiling - at no point was there more than about 5' to stand up. There were about a dozen of us there so super bright lights weren't really a huge concern since even a modest light source lights up a small pitch black cave well.
Yeah, knee pads and elbow pads for me were a must. I couldn't have imagined crawling around on bare knees - that would be brutal. Also I learned really quickly to stop taking my hardhat off and to snap on the chinstrap. I'd rather deal with a little discomfort and look like a dork than have a bunch of bumps and bruises on my head. Good shoes are nice to have even though it seems like every time I went into a cave I left with all my clothes, especially my shoes, caked with mud (and sometimes bat quano :sick2. But since many caves are damp it's nice to have good shoes with traction.
Yeah, rappelling is a whole different story and will require a lot more time and investment. Plus you'd probably like to go along with a few experienced cavers. I remember we had two rappelling set-ups - a leg harness and a full body harness. Both uncomfortable but, I felt, very safe. There aren't many sinkholes here in Texas so rappelling wasn't really a big part of our adventures. Glad you had fun - I've always thought spelunking was one of CPFs official hobbies.

Any pictures from your family outing?

LEDAdd1ct said:

Any pictures from your family outing?

Click to expand...

Not yet. My wife took some, but hasn't imported them from her camera yet.

I did look around a bit and found some places with dedicated caving gear; it looks like I can get a decent set of coveralls, knee and elbow pads, and a helmet for about $300. A little pricey to start in on a new hobby, but I'll consider it. It WAS a LOT of fun...