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This looks so dangerous...It's gotta be fun

MAN!!! It looks like one wrong shift of your arm and you'd be in the side of the mountain. I guess I look at that and I realize what a whimp and non-thrillseeker I truly am...LOL

Thanks for sharing and am glad I'm not the only one who thinks it looks to dangerous for "sane" humans.....lol
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeuXgIp9hbM This is my thing. I'd been diving a year or so and saw a video of DPV cave diving and just had this incredible feeling like no matter what, no matter what the cost, I HAVE TO learn how to do this. I couldn't live my life without experiencing it.

(I've actually dived this system and been lucky enough to see a Georgia Blind Cave Salamander, which is about the size of a toothpick, and pure white).
 
Nanci said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeuXgIp9hbM This is my thing. I'd been diving a year or so and saw a video of DPV cave diving and just had this incredible feeling like no matter what, no matter what the cost, I HAVE TO learn how to do this. I couldn't live my life without experiencing it.

(I've actually dived this system and been lucky enough to see a Georgia Blind Cave Salamander, which is about the size of a toothpick, and pure white).
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Woah Nanci, I knew you dived, but that's incredible! I'm not sure if I would freak out or not down there. I think the most enjoyable (slightly dangerous) things I've done in recent years are trying sailing and the tree-top rope-slides adventure. I should be glad I'm allowed to get back on the ponies but I'm basically banned by my consultant from too much risk for now.
 
That's amazing, Nanci. I could only watch a few minutes of that without getting really sick to my stomach, though. Stupid claustrophobia.

How cool that you've actually done that, though. Do you ever feel disoriented down there? How many people do you typically dive with? Do you use a type of night vision goggles or anything? The flying thing I could do (you know, hypothetically!), but no way could I do what you do.
 
Holy crap! I'll probably need a new change of underwear if I did that... but then, I've never tried sky-diving/ parachuting either... Might have a go sometime this lifetime but I'm guessing it'll be costly.

Nanci, I dive too but I'll never go cave diving that tight! You're a brave woman! I'll probably need a second change of underwear! :D
 
LBoz said:
That's amazing, Nanci. I could only watch a few minutes of that without getting really sick to my stomach, though. Stupid claustrophobia.

How cool that you've actually done that, though. Do you ever feel disoriented down there? How many people do you typically dive with? Do you use a type of night vision goggles or anything? The flying thing I could do (you know, hypothetically!), but no way could I do what you do.
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It's not claustrophobic because there's no gravity, so you never feel squeezed in. It's like flying, only you can't fall. Most caves have a nice outflow, some a very strong outflow, so you work a bit going in, and then fly out effortlessly. I've always felt safer in caves where I can see the walls and floor all the time (I've dived caves so big that a 747 could park in them- those are a little unnerving) and I love caves where you have to crawl along. An ideal dive team is three people, but two is extremely common. With more than three, communication gets more difficult, so larger groups tend to split into twos and threes. For lighting you carry a big, bright long-burning primary light, and two back up lights. You can see the divers communicating a little bit in that video, making a circle which means I'm ok are you ok? There are a whole bunch of light signals so you never have to turn around and look at your buddy, plus even more hand signals, plus you carry an underwater pad to write on.

I've felt disoriented a couple times in the sense of not knowing where exactly I was, expecting some feature to be there and it isn't, (this usually results in some form of written discussion, because the other diver is almost always confident about the position in the cave) but the caves have permanent lines and arrows marking the way out, so you can't not know the way out, although if you are careless and break the fundamental rules, you could get lost enough that you didn't have enough gas to get out. I think that's pretty rare, though. With trained, certified cave divers. I've dived in zero viisbility quite a few times, in tight places where we'd be squeezing through a very narrow passage which is impossible not to silt out. I guess you have to have a great deal of faith in your ability to remain calm and be able to handle any emergency that should arise even blind, and know the same of your buddy. Between two or three divers, you carry so much (well, just enough, not too much) redundant equipment that any equipment failure is manageable, as long as no one panics. Leaving your buddy in the cave is a cardinal sin- no one would consider you safe to dive with ever again.

When you're cave diving, though, unless it's a brand new (to you) awe-inspiring cave that you have never dived, or if you are lucky enough to lay line, it's not an adreneline-inducing activity. If everything is going smoothly, it's relaxing and exciting or sometimes even boring. You want it to be calm and routine. People who play up the danger are probably dangerous to dive with.

Hey, one of my best snake finds ever happened when I was doing support for a world record setting cave dive. It was to be the longest traverse ever; going in one spring and out another. A huge big deal. My team was to stay at the starting point spring in case the dive team had to turn the dive and exit out the way they came. So we had to sit there in pouring rain for hours until the dive team reached their first decompression stop at the other end, where support divers were periodically checking for their arrival. I found a Short-Tailed snake. Although the guys I was with were at first frightened of it, soon they were gently handling the snake which it was graciously allowing. The actual snake capture was a bit exciting, too, because I saw it going over the edge of the very deep sinkhole and made a lunge for it, just grabbing it not carefully plotting a bite-free capture, and I got bitten twice in the ankle and once on the hand, before the snake realized I wasn't going to harm it and settled down. Ah, the good old days...
 
Sweet! Did you keep the snake?

I trust you when you say there's no claustrophobia, in theory, but I don't think I'd have the nerve to try it. I've gone into caves, but I have to know where the opening to it is. I swear, I sometimes get lost in the shower.

I'd love to see some footage of your dives if you have any! You're the only person I've ever "known" who does that. I'm just in awe.
 
LBoz said:
Sweet! Did you keep the snake?
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No, it's rare enough that you can't have one. At the time, I didn't have any snakes anyway, I just can't pass one up when I see one! I just have to hold it for a minute...

I have a nice video tape of me diving, but it's on tape, not DVD, so I'd have to get it transferred somehow.
 
I'd do 'em both, especially the wing suit.
The skydiving without a chute is kind of moot once the other guy straps on but it would be exciting to jump out without it.
Monger said:
The array of incredibly stupid things people do for a kick never ceases to amaze me.
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Retired from life a little early?
 
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