Sport Caving and Safety Tips
- NEVER cave alone!!
- Always let someone know where you are going and when you plan to be back. Also, we usually leave a note just inside the windshield of the car with information including time into cave, time plan to be out and who to notify if late.
- Always carry three independent sources of light at all times. Usually this is a hard hat light, plus a small flashlight and candle with matches. Be sure to have extra batteries and bulbs.
- ALWAYS wear a hard hat with chin strap to protect your head.
- Know your limits. Don’t trust luck to get you out. Do not go down into a hole until you are sure you can get back out safely. This includes the limits of your equipment, like the length of a rope and the time your lights will keep burning.
- Spotting is so important on the entire venture. It is the act of being ready to catch a person that may be falling or just to give a boost to help them over an obstacle.
- ALWAYS be in voice contact with someone. This allows exploring without getting separated from the group.
- Try to maintain the “3 points of climbing” on the mountains or in the caves. This could be two hands and the seat or….
- Every caver has difficult obstacles. Do not be embarrassed to ask for more spotting or some assistance of any kind.
- Follow good conservation practices. While the ravages of a forest fire can be covered up in two or three years by new growth, a cave that has be vandalized will take hundreds of years to restore the formations. Even if you find a formation on the ground accidentally knocked off, leave it- it may be the nucleus of a new stalagmite and if you bring it out, people will think they can bring them out, too, and there goes a beautiful cave.
- Take nothing but pictures; Leave nothing but footprints; Kill nothing but time.