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This takes the cake for me.... I’m not really too claustrophobic but fuck....I get a knot in my stomach watching this...
No Mount Cave Diving in Wisconsin |
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This takes the cake for me.... I’m not really too claustrophobic but fuck....I get a knot in my stomach watching this... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtlwoX1YEmg View Quote |
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I love spelunking! When I was at Knox and NTC I would take every opportunity to pop in to the caves and mines LOL. I only got busted once by an NCO at NTC when I suddenly had the need to scout a silver mine tunnel on my route map. Also, Texas, NC, TN...and NM!
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We used to go into the old abandoned gold mines here before they collapsed a lot of the entrances. It was really cool checking those out. Just had to be careful of false floors but you could see those pretty easy.
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I’ve been in some caverns on guided tours and poked around in some lava tubes and shit like that, but anything requiring me to squeeze my body through potentially getting wedged in...fuck every bit of that.
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Would like to read it. Do you have a link? View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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Theres an AAR out there from the actual people who were with john jones when they were trying to pull him out. The emotions he was going through, their conversations, his freaking out, etc... Its a rough read. Did amateur spelunking back in the 90s with a friend who was an experienced caver. I saw him many times try to crawl into some nighmare looking openings. I asked him why he did that, and the motivation is to be the first person to see something never explored. Kinda like being the first person on mars. Thats what drove john jones to fuck up. |
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I spend a good bit of time in and around abandoned mines dating from the 1880s to the present. My avatar is the headframe of a fluorspar and zinc mine in Kentucky that my fiancee and I videoed; the shaft was flooded about forty feet from the collar so there was no underground access.
Caves are a solid no for me. Far too much risk of entrapment; they were never designed for human entry either. |
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I did some searching and found this link. Cave chat it's a long read, but towards the end there are family's statements and rescuer accounts. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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Theres an AAR out there from the actual people who were with john jones when they were trying to pull him out. The emotions he was going through, their conversations, his freaking out, etc... Its a rough read. Did amateur spelunking back in the 90s with a friend who was an experienced caver. I saw him many times try to crawl into some nighmare looking openings. I asked him why he did that, and the motivation is to be the first person to see something never explored. Kinda like being the first person on mars. Thats what drove john jones to fuck up. ETA: Looks like they made a movie about it in 2016 The Last Descent |
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I had to look this up.
What possesses someone to cram themselves into an unknown hole in the rocks. Guy left a beautiful wife behind. His body was unrecoverable and they closed the cave. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/body-john-jones-medical-student-trapped-utah-cave-won-recovered-nutty-putty-close-article-1.419559 |
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I had to look this up. What possesses someone to cram themselves into an unknown hole in the rocks. Guy left a beautiful wife behind. His body was unrecoverable and they closed the cave. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/body-john-jones-medical-student-trapped-utah-cave-won-recovered-nutty-putty-close-article-1.419559 View Quote |
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Grandmother told me that back in the day the Nation was fixated on this:
William Floyd Collins (July 20, 1887 c. February 13, 1925), better known as Floyd Collins, was an American cave explorer, principally in a region of Central Kentucky that houses hundreds of miles of interconnected, underground caverns within Mammoth Cave National Park, ... On January 30, 1925, while trying to find a new entrance to Crystal Cave (also known as "Sand Cave" by the media), Collins became trapped in a narrow crawlway, 55 feet (17 m) below ground. The rescue operation to save Collins became a national newspaper sensation and one of the first major news stories to be reported using the new technology of broadcast radio. The rescue attempt grew to become the third-biggest media event between the world wars. Floyd Collings Pics There is a little turn-out on the way to Mammoth cave with a faint trail leading to the crack this idiot crawled into. |
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This takes the cake for me.... I’m not really too claustrophobic but fuck....I get a knot in my stomach watching this... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtlwoX1YEmg View Quote Good for them, but I'll sit that one out. |
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Hell no. No, no, no.
If I can't fully crawl on hands and knees, I ain't going. Forget trying to snake-through. I ain't no snake. I'm shaped like a hedgehog. |
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Imagine being underground and you get stuck. You are gripped by an entire planet. It won't let go. It's a struggle you will not win. Horrifying and fascinating. I wouldn't mind trying a very well-known beginner cave. The exploratory, adventurous stuff? Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. View Quote I've done my share of hard-core exploratory stuff and it was worth it. Being part of a small, select group of people to go and see what no one else has ever seen is a pretty incredible experience. Having a heart attack on a cave trip five years ago pretty much ended my caving days. I'll still go now and then, but not as much as I used to. "New Discovery" section of Grand Caverns. Not open to the public...only to experienced cavers for scientific purposes: Attached File |
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I never had an inkling of claustrophobia until I went caving.
The entrance to the cave was a 30' chimney. As I was shimmying down my bike helmet with a headlamp taped to it (tier 1 caving gear) got wedged. I had to turn my head sideways to free it, then work laterally a couple feet before I could continue down. That creeped me out. Same cave I watched a guy worm into a hole then emerge on a sidewall further up in a big cavern, so I knew it wasn't a dead end. I started through, and couldn't fit (the guy was way smaller than me) because my day pack was getting caught. I backed out, hooked the pack on my foot so I could drag it, and went back in. I came to a hairpin turn I couldn't negotiate on my belly, so once again I back out, go in on my back so that I can do a sit-up maneuver when I get to the hairpin. I made it through. I kept thinking about the pack getting snagged and blocking my exit. Now, I won't go into caves that don't have safety rails and concrete stairs, or ones you can drive through. |
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I've gone with roommates in grad school. They'd do the one cave they do each year, but turned down others in the area because they weren't as accessible.
One of the nearby caved had an underwater start, which was neat. I went about as far as I felt comfortable. There were two spots where I could have gone further, but not knowing anything about the system, I called it a day. Haven't been in a non commercial cave since. |
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These threads give me the creeps. They are interesting to read, but I'll be dammed if I'm not breathing heavy and feeling uncomfortable by the end
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Looks like the pic I posted wasn't him. My bad.
Still looks like a situation I'd rather not be in. |
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Haven't gone caving in a long time.
Been in some pretty tight crawls. Tight enough where my arms were straight out and the crawl was so narrow, I couldn't pull them back. The only way to move was to squirm. Some sections were low enough that I had to turn my head sideways. Got stuck a time or two, but stayed calm and worked myself loose. I only came close to panicking once. I'd squirmed into a tight section with an S-bend. My legs and hip got stuck. I couldn't figure out the sequence of small rotations of the hip and knees that had gotten me there, and I couldn't back up. There wasn't enough space to look back. It occurred to me that the other folks who'd told me about the section were shorter than me, and I began to wonder if anyone with legs as long as mine had made it through here. That was the one time I really noticed that I was encased in solid rock. I began to tense up, which only wedged me in tighter. My body pretty much plugged the hole, so I couldn't hear any advice from the person behind me, but they knew I was stuck, and must've realized I was close to freaking out, because they squeezed my ankle. Took a couple of minutes to slow my breathing, collect my thoughts, then slowly try different small movements until I found a way to back up just enough, so I could turn one leg in an awkward position to get through that section. On another trip, I went through ONE squeeze, where the gap was so narrow, I couldn't get through without exhaling. I had to first take a series of breaths to hyperoxygenate my blood, then fully exhale to be able to squeeze through the gap within the small window of time before I could take the next breath. Definitely not the place to panic. I made it through, but never again. If I couldn't make it through fast enough, trying to inhale would have definitely gotten me stuck. The thought of getting stuck, and not having enough room to be able to take another breath... Don't be the biggest person on a spelunking trip to a new system/section. No more tight squeezes and crawls for me. |
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Haven't gone caving in a long time. Been in some pretty tight crawls. Tight enough where my arms were straight out and the crawl was so narrow, I couldn't pull them back. The only way to move was to squirm. Some sections were low enough that I had to turn my head sideways. Got stuck a time or two, but stayed calm and worked myself loose. I only came close to panicking once. I'd squirmed into a tight section with an S-bend. My legs and hip got stuck. I couldn't figure out the sequence of small rotations of the hip and knees that had gotten me there, and I couldn't back up. There wasn't enough space to look back. It occurred to me that the other folks who'd told me about the section were shorter than me, and I began to wonder if anyone with legs as long as mine had made it through here. That was the one time I really noticed that I was encased in solid rock. I began to tense up, which only wedged me in tighter. My body pretty much plugged the hole, so I couldn't hear any advice from the person behind me, but they knew I was stuck, and must've realized I was close to freaking out, because they squeezed my ankle. Took a couple of minutes to slow my breathing, collect my thoughts, then slowly try different small movements until I found a way to back up just enough, so I could turn one leg in an awkward position to get through that section. On another trip, I went through ONE squeeze, where the gap was so narrow, I couldn't get through without exhaling. I had to first take a series of breaths to hyperoxygenate my blood, then fully exhale to be able to squeeze through the gap within the small window of time before I could take the next breath. Definitely not the place to panic. I made it through, but never again. If I couldn't make it through fast enough, trying to inhale would have definitely gotten me stuck. The thought of getting stuck, and not having enough room to be able to take another breath... Don't be the biggest person on a spelunking trip to a new system/section. No more tight squeezes and crawls for me. View Quote I'll pass on discovering new areas in caves. |
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Haven't done it in years. It was fun but I always went on a guided tour.
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That stuck guy has "some serious problems he needs to work out with himself".
A quote from a friend's admonition to Seth Enslow after a particularly brutal accident in the dunes. For some reason it has stayed with me. |
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Haven't gone caving in a long time. Been in some pretty tight crawls. Tight enough where my arms were straight out and the crawl was so narrow, I couldn't pull them back. The only way to move was to squirm. Some sections were low enough that I had to turn my head sideways. Got stuck a time or two, but stayed calm and worked myself loose. I only came close to panicking once. I'd squirmed into a tight section with an S-bend. My legs and hip got stuck. I couldn't figure out the sequence of small rotations of the hip and knees that had gotten me there, and I couldn't back up. There wasn't enough space to look back. It occurred to me that the other folks who'd told me about the section were shorter than me, and I began to wonder if anyone with legs as long as mine had made it through here. That was the one time I really noticed that I was encased in solid rock. I began to tense up, which only wedged me in tighter. My body pretty much plugged the hole, so I couldn't hear any advice from the person behind me, but they knew I was stuck, and must've realized I was close to freaking out, because they squeezed my ankle. Took a couple of minutes to slow my breathing, collect my thoughts, then slowly try different small movements until I found a way to back up just enough, so I could turn one leg in an awkward position to get through that section. On another trip, I went through ONE squeeze, where the gap was so narrow, I couldn't get through without exhaling. I had to first take a series of breaths to hyperoxygenate my blood, then fully exhale to be able to squeeze through the gap within the small window of time before I could take the next breath. Definitely not the place to panic. I made it through, but never again. If I couldn't make it through fast enough, trying to inhale would have definitely gotten me stuck. The thought of getting stuck, and not having enough room to be able to take another breath... Don't be the biggest person on a spelunking trip to a new system/section. No more tight squeezes and crawls for me. View Quote |
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I've always wanted to try it, but I'm not interested in doing extremely tight spots that no one has been through before. I understand the allure of seeing something no one else has seen before
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I used to do it all the time with my high school buddies. No of us would have ever thought about sticking ourselves in something like that little chute in the OP.
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Quoted: Done a few crawls myself where you had to take your helmet off and exhale to get through. Squeezing through 10 feet of passage like that is really not fun. View Quote I decided that there are lots of other things I enjoy doing, AND weight training for the size and strength for other things, isn't conducive to squeezing through tight spaces. Already being taller and bigger than my spelunking buddies wasn't helping. Wanting to get bigger, pretty much put the nail in the coffin for me. |
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Haven't gone caving in a long time. Been in some pretty tight crawls. Tight enough where my arms were straight out and the crawl was so narrow, I couldn't pull them back. The only way to move was to squirm. Some sections were low enough that I had to turn my head sideways. Got stuck a time or two, but stayed calm and worked myself loose. I only came close to panicking once. I'd squirmed into a tight section with an S-bend. My legs and hip got stuck. I couldn't figure out the sequence of small rotations of the hip and knees that had gotten me there, and I couldn't back up. There wasn't enough space to look back. It occurred to me that the other folks who'd told me about the section were shorter than me, and I began to wonder if anyone with legs as long as mine had made it through here. That was the one time I really noticed that I was encased in solid rock. I began to tense up, which only wedged me in tighter. My body pretty much plugged the hole, so I couldn't hear any advice from the person behind me, but they knew I was stuck, and must've realized I was close to freaking out, because they squeezed my ankle. Took a couple of minutes to slow my breathing, collect my thoughts, then slowly try different small movements until I found a way to back up just enough, so I could turn one leg in an awkward position to get through that section. On another trip, I went through ONE squeeze, where the gap was so narrow, I couldn't get through without exhaling. I had to first take a series of breaths to hyperoxygenate my blood, then fully exhale to be able to squeeze through the gap within the small window of time before I could take the next breath. Definitely not the place to panic. I made it through, but never again. If I couldn't make it through fast enough, trying to inhale would have definitely gotten me stuck. The thought of getting stuck, and not having enough room to be able to take another breath... Don't be the biggest person on a spelunking trip to a new system/section. No more tight squeezes and crawls for me. View Quote Quoted: Done a few crawls myself where you had to take your helmet off and exhale to get through. Squeezing through 10 feet of passage like that is really not fun. View Quote I like taking risks. That said, zero percent chance I'd do those things. Hats off to you, gents |
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I was watching a cave diving video on YT last night, talking about the vast systems in Mexico. Pretty cool stuff.
Anyway the guy interviewed said "You have to remain calm, if you start to panic you will almost certainly die" and discusses a dive they had. The whole group surfaces deep underground into a pocket that had bad air in it. A woman in the group started having an involuntary panic attack and tried taking off all her gear and refused to breath through her regulator. Scary, scary shit. No thanks. |
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I was watching a cave diving video on YT last night, talking about the vast systems in Mexico. Pretty cool stuff. Anyway the guy interviewed said "You have to remain calm, if you start to panic you will almost certainly die" and discusses a dive they had. The whole group surfaces deep underground into a pocket that had bad air in it. A woman in the group started having an involuntary panic attack and tried taking off all her gear and refused to breath through her regulator. Scary, scary shit. No thanks. View Quote Somewhere there is a popular lake that has caves for diving and exploration, along with a warning that something like 300 people have died there. Wish I could remember the specifics. Man...hardcore scary. ETA: not 300 people, but 300 foot depth. Still a number of people died. It's in Florida. Scary. |
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That would be intense to come up on
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There was good sized cave system (a couple miles long) in my old neighborhood that went to the Shenandoah River. Kids had been hauling stuff in there to make ladders and such for years.
LOL....It reminded you of that National Treasure movie what with all the rickety ladders that were built and left in there. There must have been miles of old rope. They bulldozed the main entrance when a subdivision went in but there is still a entrance in the side of a cliff at the river. Hell I bet the kids of today don't even know where it is. It was a right of passage for us to do the length of the cave. There were all kinds of little holes leading goodness knows where but most of the kids of my era had the good sense not to slither into them. |
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I'm a caver, have been since 1992, a member of the NSS and several local grottos, and have been in spaces so tight you had to take your helmet off and turn your head on its side to squeeze through, while pushing your helmet and pack in front of you.
This still gives me the fuckin willies. |
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