Hey David, First, if you are going to be a cold cave be prepared and dress for it. For those unexpected instances where you get held up then other acts of preparedness take over. Sterno is not a good source of heat in a cave. We once had a flaming caver who was trying to warm himself with sterno. The can spilt, and the alcohol went all over his legs. This was no big deal since it did not burn his legs, but also even while burning did not offer any heat. A plastic bag or emergency blanket stuffed into the helmet offers a tremendous amount of heat, combine that with a candle or a carbide lamp and it becomes even better. And for the long trips in cold caves the generator of a ceiling burner offers a lot of continuous heat when worn inside of the caving suit.
Jerry ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Locklear" <dlocklea...@ev1.net> To: <Texascavers@texascavers.com> Sent: Friday, November 18, 2005 6:02 PM Subject: Re: [Texascavers] hypothermia and light sources > Ms. Mugica suggested carbide has an advantage > in a cave where hypothermia is possible. > > Using a light source as emergency plans for > hypothermia, in my opinion, is poor planning. > > It would be better to carry a Sterno can in > your pack if you are planning to be in a cave > with cool temperatures. > > http://www.baproducts.com/4135.jpg > > It is fun for a bunch of cavers to > huddle around a sterno can, but warming your > hands is about all you are going to get unless > you are in a tiny passage and then you have to > worry about the fumes. > > Carrying extra warm clothing in a vaccum sealed > plastic bag is also away to plan for a hypothermia > emergency. > > REI sells a high-tech emergency mummy sack that about the size > of a pint of beer. This could be vaccuum packed > into a smaller package and take up little room in > your caving pack. This would be worth considering if you > are going on a long caving trip where you are not taking a > sleeping bag. If you had a sleeping bag, it wouldn't be > necessary. > > I once got cold in a cave and had to crawl into a sleeping > bag with another caver. Had we not had the sleeping > bag, I would have been in trouble. I also got so cold > in a cave one time that I stuffed my legs into my backpack and wrapped > up with a foil emergency blanket. I couldn't sleep, because > the foil made a crinkly noise everytime I moved. > > There are other ways to stay warm, like a hot cup of cocoa, > or an extra pair of socks, hand-warmers, etc. > > > David Locklear > caver in Houston > > > _______________________________________________ > Texascavers mailing list > Texascavers@texascavers.com > http://texascavers.com/mailman/listinfo/texascavers_texascavers.com > _______________________________________________ Texascavers mailing list Texascavers@texascavers.com http://texascavers.com/mailman/listinfo/texascavers_texascavers.com
