On Wed, 20 Feb 2008 12:18:28 -0800 (PST) John Brooks <jpbrook...@sbcglobal.net> writes: Yeah..I bet none of us have been caving while "poorly equipped"...
Sent from my iPhone While many of us have undoubtedly caved while poorly equipped, I think that there is an important distinction between what is done discreetly and what is done in a public setting such as TV and newspapers. In my experience, people learn much more from what they see and do, than from what they are told. If one leads a group of new people and tells them that each should have three independent sources of light, but that because this cave is easy or because of the large group, or we aren't going far in we have made an exception and you can get by with a flashlight, then what they have learned is that it is OK to cave with one flashlight. There are many good rules to safe caving that should be viewed as inviolable to beginners but must have some flexibility to deal with risks as evaluated by a highly experienced caver. Call it hypocritical if you must. However, safety is enhanced by discouraging new people from learning the hard way about risk analysis. Philip L. Moss philipm...@juno.com
