Here in Texas we have an annual auction benefitting the good work of the Texas Cave Management Association (TCMA - see: https://www.tcmacaves.org/). I was the first auctioneer about 16 years ago, and a good time is always had by all.
For the auctions in 2018 and 2019 I offered a carbide-lamp-only trip for six cavers to a long and mostly walking passage in Texas’ second longest cave. It raised $1,500 the first year and $1,200 the second, as I recall. This item was the finale of the auction and saw fierce bidding. The most fun was the trip itself. To be with younger cavers who had never operated a carbide lamp, smelled one, blew into one to get it to flare up, and to get a loud “pop!” when lighting one, was a joy for me. One caver said to me after the trip, “It’s like every carbide lamp has it’s own personality: one you blow into, one you shake, one you speak nicely to; they’re all different” Cavingly yours, Bill Steele (NSS 8072) Irving, Texas > On Jan 31, 2022, at 3:51 PM, Linda Starr <lstarr...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > Mimi, > You should donate your carbide and carbide lamps to some grotto that will use > them, maybe for a carbide-specific grotto trip, as the Sandia Grotto may be > planning. Just a suggestion. Take it or leave it and > Take care, > Linda Starr > >> On Sun, Jan 30, 2022 at 7:50 PM Mimi Jasek <mjca...@gmail.com> wrote: >> I’m with you Pete. Jim never went to Suunto - always Brunton. But then he >> did not do much wet cave surveying, nor deep vertical stuff. Although he >> will never go caving again, we still have lots of carbide lamps and some >> carbide, along with our LED lights. I still love that smell! Lol >> >> Mimi Jasek >> >> Sent from my iPhone >> >>> On Jan 30, 2022, at 8:26 PM, P Lindsley <caverp...@gmail.com> wrote: >>> >>> Brunton’s also work well, but there is hardly anyone left that knows how to >>> use one. >>> >>> Years ago 5 of us were surveying a mile in a wet suit stream passage in >>> Colossal Cave, Ky. Roger Brucker and Alan Hill went to the “end” to survey >>> back, Art & Peg Palmer and myself started surveying “in”. We made good time >>> and bragged about it when we met the other team. Their story was that the >>> Brunton was dropped in a muddy pool, too muddy to see the instrument. When >>> they finally fished it out of the drink it was full of water. But they used >>> their carbide lights to boil out the water, and when dry enough they >>> started surveying. Can’t do that today with LED lights. >>> >>> My 3 Brunton’s still work, long ago my 3-4 Suuntos clouded up and were no >>> longer useful. >>> >>> - Pete >>> >>>> On Jan 30, 2022, at 1:20 PM, John Lyles <j...@losalamos.com> wrote: >>>> >>>> George, thanks for sharing this. Ben Meadows and FS used to be >>>> competitors. I'm glad at least one is still going. I just tossed my old >>>> hardcopy catalogs from them the other day. Around 2006 we started >>>> noticing that the face of Suuntos was getting cracked frequently. They had >>>> changed to some different plastic fabrication. It's possible that the >>>> earlier ones had a domed lens where the newer ones were flat. Many cavers >>>> started gluing a thin sheet of transparent polycarbonate over the lens, >>>> still admitting light of course. Another solution was to always keep it in >>>> the pouch and add a thin piece or Micarta or FR4 circuit board material >>>> 0.03 or 0.06 thick in the pouch on the face side. >>>> >>>> The Nat Park at Carlsbad was slow at adopting this approach and those of >>>> us who broke our share of government Suuntos were intimately familiar with >>>> the problem. We carried them in small Otter boxes but it was inevitable >>>> that someone would be shooting a station in a crawl and accidentally crawl >>>> to the next shot with it hanging from neck, to then find that >>>> unmistakeable wet spot on their shirt with that oily fluid. It wasn't >>>> abnormal to have one leaking out of 4 that we took underground on camp >>>> trips, so extras were brought along. I think the CRO had a regular annual >>>> budget item repairing them. >>>> >>>> On one trip we took a CRO staffer on the second trip up to OZ in >>>> Lechuguilla Cave. Between three of us we had several Suuntos, despite my >>>> suggestion that we bring extras. I think we managed to kill one, leaking >>>> fluid, tried duct tape, hold it only face up, etc. We managed to survey >>>> with a bubble and that finally changed the reluctance to install plastic >>>> guards on the Park's inventory. >>>> >>>> Disto X2's also benefit from having a thin plastic sheet over the display, >>>> as it can be cracked if pressed face against a rock, to ruin a $500 >>>> instrument. I modified mine and the collection belonging to the Fort >>>> Stanton Cave Study Project. >>>> >>>> John >>>>> On Jan 30, 2022, at 10:52 AM, George Veni <gv...@nckri.org> wrote: >>>>> While many cavers are now using DistoX2s for surveying, many of us still >>>>> have and use Suuntos. I was on trip yesterday and found the face of my >>>>> Suunto compass had cracked, creating a large bubble inside the instrument >>>>> that makes it hard to use accurately. Years ago, I’d send my Suuntos off >>>>> to the Ben Meadow Company for repair. I hadn’t heard of anyone doing that >>>>> recently, so I looked into it and am posting this note in case anyone >>>>> finds it helpful. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Ben Meadows is now part of Forestry Suppliers. And they do repair Suunto >>>>> compasses and clinometers (among other things) for about $100 less than >>>>> buying a new one. For more information, go to >>>>> https://www.forestry-suppliers.com/RepairList.php. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> George >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> ******************** >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> George Veni, PhD >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Executive Director, National Cave and Karst Research Institute (NCKRI) >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> and >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> President, International Union of Speleology (UIS) >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> NCKRI address (primary) >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> 400-1 Cascades Avenue >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Carlsbad, New Mexico 88220 USA >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Office: +575-887-5517 >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Mobile: +210-863-5919 >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Fax: +575-887-5523 >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> gv...@nckri.org >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> www.nckri.org >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> UIS address >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Titov trg 2 >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Postojna, 6230 Slovenia >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> www.uis-speleo.org >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> www.iyck2021.org >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> -- >>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >>>> "Southwestern Cavers of the National Speleological Society" group. >>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >>>> email to swrcavers+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>>> To view this discussion on the web visit >>>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/swrcavers/fb6b1c7a-3aee-46eb-8ee4-e6e02bda0664%40losalamos.com. >>> >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >>> "Southwestern Cavers of the National Speleological Society" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >>> email to swrcavers+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>> To view this discussion on the web visit >>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/swrcavers/0A3F73C2-444D-4093-BBF9-BB96999349AA%40gmail.com. >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "Southwestern Cavers of the National Speleological Society" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to swrcavers+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >> To view this discussion on the web visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/swrcavers/49D4621B-6D5C-462B-9A30-12F004F3CFEA%40gmail.com. > _______________________________________________ > Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com > Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: > http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ > http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
_______________________________________________ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
