Adventure of Caving

Rating:
Summary: READ ME FIRST!
Review: I had the good fortune to read Mr. McClurg's book, "Adventure of Caving" BEFORE I undertook any wild cave trips on my own. This was back in 1988, so I own the previous edition of the book.

Because I encountered this book PRIOR to caving on my own, I didn't have to deal with some of the problems new cavers often have, such as running out of light, getting lost or hurt. (It usually happens in that order.) He helped my wife and I to understand how to cave safely, knowing what the dangers are and how to avoid them, but he writes in such an enthusiastic, breezy and humorous style, the "learning" is nearly painless. This is a book that one can read and enjoy even if you don't plan to go caving on your own. Some of his jokes had me laughing out loud on my first reading. One of them, gets funnier and funnier the more I cave (and we've done a LOT since then). He says,

"Crawling isn't the ONLY thing that cavers do. It just SEEMS that way."

For some reason, this quote comes back to haunt me every time I do the 1500 foot crawlway in a certain unnamed cave in Indiana. Of course, at that time, my sense of humor is being sorely tested. It seems much funnier afterwards when we're sitting around a hot pizza and a cold beverage. It's hilarious, now that I've sworn off doing that particular cave altogether, since I'm just getting too old and fat to enjoy the squeeze.

If you are thinking about going caving, or just interested in the sport, you will enjoy reading, "Adventure of Caving" by David McClurg. I've read it at least ten times, and still refer back to it from time to time. Thanks, Dave for getting us off to a good start!

Rating:
Summary: READ ME FIRST!
Review: I had the good fortune to read Mr. McClurg's book, "Adventure of Caving" BEFORE I undertook any wild cave trips on my own. This was back in 1988, so I own the previous edition of the book.

Because I encountered this book PRIOR to caving on my own, I didn't have to deal with some of the problems new cavers often have, such as running out of light, getting lost or hurt. (It usually happens in that order.) He helped my wife and I to understand how to cave safely, knowing what the dangers are and how to avoid them, but he writes in such an enthusiastic, breezy and humorous style, the "learning" is nearly painless. This is a book that one can read and enjoy even if you don't plan to go caving on your own. Some of his jokes had me laughing out loud on my first reading. One of them, gets funnier and funnier the more I cave (and we've done a LOT since then). He says,

"Crawling isn't the ONLY thing that cavers do. It just SEEMS that way."

For some reason, this quote comes back to haunt me every time I do the 1500 foot crawlway in a certain unnamed cave in Indiana. Of course, at that time, my sense of humor is being sorely tested. It seems much funnier afterwards when we're sitting around a hot pizza and a cold beverage. It's hilarious, now that I've sworn off doing that particular cave altogether, since I'm just getting too old and fat to enjoy the squeeze.

If you are thinking about going caving, or just interested in the sport, you will enjoy reading, "Adventure of Caving" by David McClurg. I've read it at least ten times, and still refer back to it from time to time. Thanks, Dave for getting us off to a good start!

Rating:
Summary: READ ME FIRST!
Review: I had the good fortune to read Mr. McClurg's book, "Adventure of Caving" BEFORE I undertook any wild cave trips on my own. This was back in 1988, so I own the previous edition of the book.

Because I encountered this book PRIOR to caving on my own, I didn't have to deal with some of the problems new cavers often have, such as running out of light, getting lost or hurt. (It usually happens in that order.) He helped my wife and I to understand how to cave safely, knowing what the dangers are and how to avoid them, but he writes in such an enthusiastic, breezy and humorous style, the "learning" is nearly painless. This is a book that one can read and enjoy even if you don't plan to go caving on your own. Some of his jokes had me laughing out loud on my first reading. One of them, gets funnier and funnier the more I cave (and we've done a LOT since then). He says,

"Crawling isn't the ONLY thing that cavers do. It just SEEMS that way."

For some reason, this quote comes back to haunt me every time I do the 1500 foot crawlway in a certain unnamed cave in Indiana. Of course, at that time, my sense of humor is being sorely tested. It seems much funnier afterwards when we're sitting around a hot pizza and a cold beverage. It's hilarious, now that I've sworn off doing that particular cave altogether, since I'm just getting too old and fat to enjoy the squeeze.

If you are thinking about going caving, or just interested in the sport, you will enjoy reading, "Adventure of Caving" by David McClurg. I've read it at least ten times, and still refer back to it from time to time. Thanks, Dave for getting us off to a good start!

Rating:
Summary: Loat in Endless Cave, An excerpt from Chapter 1
Review: LOST IN ENDLESS, A REAL LIFE CAVING ADVENTURECavers seldom get lost. Despite what you might think, it is not one of the really serious caving dangers. On those delicate occasions when cavers do get lost, they hate to admit it. Instead, they use special code words that only other cavers will understand. Words like: off route, momentarily confused, or discovering new passage. This time they asked: Are we lost? Are you sure? I hated to admit it, but if being lost means that nothing seems familiar, then we were lost. And we had been for about thirty or forty minutes. We were in a part of the cave called the Lower Maze. I leave it to your imagination as to what kind of cave it is if one section is labeled the Lower Maze. That could only mean the cave has other mazes. And indeed it has. The Upper Maze, the Green Lake Maze, the Intermediate Level Maze, the Easy Chair Maze, and for all I know, three or four others as well. Oh yes, in case I forgot to mention it, this cave is called Endless Cave. It got that name because local folks here in Carlsbad, New Mexico, used to get lost in this cave regularly. THREE LEVELS OF LOST. I should explain that in caving there are actually three levels of being lost. The first level is when you are simply off route. You have chosen, by accident or maybe on purpose, to traverse a certain part of the cave using passages or rooms different from the usual route. In the process, you may have strayed into some less familiar territory. This degree of getting lost is so trivial that most cavers seldom even speak of it. Unless it progresses to the next level, momentarily confused. All (honest) cavers will admit to having been momentarily confused or disoriented. It is a kind of in-joke in the caving world. By tacit agreement, the term momentarily really means anywhere from a few minutes to an hour. If it goes much longer than that, you have slid down the slope to lost level three. In other words, you are really lost. And that is what we were this time, really lost. LOST ON THE WAY OUT. It was on the way out when we got lost. So, I told the others where I was going, grabbed my cave pack, and was confident that I could easily locate a short way out of the cave. I was looking for something, anything, that looked familiar. A passage, the floor, the ceiling, a formation. Once you have been in a certain part of a cave, you can nearly always remember it later. Like driving. Once you have been on a certain road, later, even years later, it somehow seems familiar. I did not find that short way out. But, I did find a familiar landmark, called the Commode (a gypsum formation that looks like you know what). I found this by moving slowly and following the old rule of stopping regularly to look back to see what the route looks like when you are coming from the other direction. About this time, the others caught up with me. They said in chorus: You mean we are really lost? Not again! So we proceeded slowly and carefully, checking out every possible lead (or so we thought). Another caver and I climbed up into some really interesting (and hairy) chimneys. A couple of times we were within 20 feet of the Entrance Passage without knowing it. The rest of the group was having a swell time waiting down below (as they should be instead of running around getting even more lost). They were reminiscing about the great week of caving that was just closing. Finally, we sat down and carefully studied the page-size map. I am sure you recognize this kind of ploy. If all else fails, read the directions. It shows how desperate we were getting. Believe it or not, we were actually able to figure out where we were on the map. One of the women in our party, a geologist as it happens, managed to decipher the snake fight that the map of Endless becomes when reduced to a standard sized page. And hidden away there in a low-ceilinged gypsum-coated section, there was a little hole. I squirmed through, and yelled for everybody to get moving, Thanksgiving Dinner at a local eatery was waiting on us. LOST LESSONS. GETTING LOST IS NOT SERIOUS. Getting lost is not necessarily a serious problem if you cave with a group. This is one more example of why you should never go caving alone. We hate to be tiresome on this point, but it can not be emphasized too strongly. What becomes an amusing anecdote if it happens to a team can so easily end in tragedy for a solo caver. SCOUT AHEAD. If you do get lost, send one or two cavers ahead to scout it out and see if they see anything familiar. Be sure they take their packs. Spares and second and third sources of light are needed above all when away from the group. If you are one of those scouting ahead, tell the others what you are doing and do not go too far afield. Try to stay within earshot. The rest of the group should stay together in a comfortable spot so the advance party can get back to them by sighting on their lights or the sound of their yells. NO PANIC. Sit down and take stock. Study the map. Try to reconstruct where you have been and how to get back there. Even if that way is longer, it is probably better than trying an unfamiliar route. Sooner or later, one of your party will find a friendly landmark. Then you will be back on route after one of your first caving adventures.

Rating:
Summary: Good Introduction before hands on training
Review: Mr. McClurg's book covers a wide range of caving topics, from equipment to conservation to basic techniques and advanced vertical techniques. I read this book when I first became interested in caving. While no book is as effective as hands on training and experience, it did provide a good foundation for the techniques used in caving. When I later joined the National Speleological Society, I was able to grasp the concepts taught to me much more quickly.

Rating:
Summary: This book shows how to explore caves safely and softly.
Review: This edition of Adventure of Caving is a complete update of the most popular how-to book for beginning cavers. Over 25,000 copies of this and earlier editions have been sold. Profusely illustrated, Advetnure of Caving covers everything the beginner needs to know about caving techniques and equipment. Its underlying theme is a strong emphaisis on how to cave safely and softly. Many colorful anecdotes and stories from the author's 40 years of caving expereience reinforce learning. Reviewers have called it "Best available basic introduction to caving as practiced in the U.S.," and "Presents the state of the art in a clear and well illustrated way...makes for good reading."

Rating:
Summary: Adventures in Caving
Review: While none of the things shown in the book should ever beattempted without proper, expert instruction, David McClurg providesan in-depth and fun look at the sport known as Caving. His extensive experience in both horizontal and vertical caving shows the reader how one gets around in the underground, and he places empathisis on safety althroughout the book. The reading is easy and illustrations are clear and simple to enhance comprehension...