Actually - On my last caving trip I was not planning on doing any caving at all. All my caving gear had been loaned out. I got talked into it and did so with a borrowed helmet and lousy light that failed - as luck had it - no backup, but of course I was not alone and another of my party did have a fine LED backup. This obviously is not how it should be done. I did make exceptions to the "golden rules" of caving and survived nonetheless. I don't intend to make a habit of it. At least I DID have a good pair of boots (and borrowed elbow and knee pads. Thanks to David C.!) I mean - if Bourdain knew what he was getting into - I figure he'd been better equipped or otherwise he'd simply turn down the opportunity. -WaV
On Mon, Feb 18, 2008 at 3:26 PM, Philip L Moss <philipm...@juno.com> wrote: > > > 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 >
