Quoted:

There's definitely an adrenaline dopamine rush from it. You just have to control it until AFTER you're through.

Used to go caving/spelunking when I was younger.

Been through ONE squeeze that required first hyperventilating to hyperoxygenate my blood, then exhaling FULLY to be able to squeeze through. The hyperoxygenation was necessary for the ~10-20 seconds of effort to make it through.

Panicking in the middle and trying to inhale = getting stuck and asphyxiating, so it required the breathing to hyperoxygenate while simultaneously trying to remain calm, (not think about the fact that if I took too long, there was NO room to take a breath) and not elevate my heart rate too much so I didn't burn through the oxygen too quickly.

I absolutely never explored 'new' sections. I only ever went through sections that were already explored and that other people had been through.

Even with THAT precaution, I came to a few realizations:

1) don't be the biggest person in the group. When people who are 40+lbs lighter tell you that a section is "No problem", it might be for them, but may be a completely different story for you.

2) even if you aren't much heavier than the heaviest person in the group, being significantly taller can also pose problems shorter people don't even have

3) lifting weights to get bigger and stronger run counter to caving. That made it an easy choice.


*** The ONE time I actually got claustrophobic while caving was related to #2.

I was the tallest person in the group, and we came to a crawl that was tight enough, we had to remove our helmets and turn our heads sideways.

In the middle of the crawl, I came to a section that made an 'S' bend. Tight sections like this are like solving a puzzle. You need to figure out how to contort to make it through when you can't just squirm through.

I twisted. I squirmed. I bent in all sorts of weird ways. Then I got stuck. Tight. I was lodged with my body twisted one way, my legs bent and twisted in another part, and my legs were stuck fast. I couldn't pull them forward, I couldn't push back and straighten them out.

It was quite an uncomfortable position, and as I tried to gain some movement, my legs being wedged and not moving at all, with my shoulder also wedged hard against on side and my head turned sideways, was what triggered the claustrophobia. I started to panic and try to 'muscle it'. Yeah, you can't push solid rock to make room. All the pump does, is wedge you a little tighter. I thought, "I can't move. I'd have to break my leg(s) to get free!".

Somehow, I managed to scream in my own head, "STOP AND CALM THE FUCK DOWN!!! Control your breathing. You're twisted like a pretzel, but you need to relax. You managed to squirm your way into this position, which means you can squirm your way back out of this position. Worst comes to worst, you'll have to back out the way you came in. Relax. Slow your breathing. Loosen your muscles, then try different movements, bit by bit, one at a time. Find the one that allows movement".

It worked. Took a few minutes of controlled breathing to calm down, and I began testing movements. I eventually managed to get one leg a little room.  Just an inch or 2, which allowed me some room to maneuver the other leg. I had to turn a different way to slowly get my body and long legs through that S-bend. Got stuck a couple more times, but stayed calm and worked through it, solving the puzzle.

Finally made it through, and the others were like, "You get stuck in there? You took a long ass time".

"I thought you said there was nothing to cause problems through there. I got stuck at the friggin S-bend".

The others look around and shrug, "that bit's not that bad". That was when it hit me that I was about 4" taller than the next tallest person in that group.

*** the difference in me getting stuck, was that the section was level. The unfortunate Nutty Putty incident was a steep decline. Every movement made him slide deeper, with less room to maneuver. He solved the puzzle to get his legs through the one bend, but didn't have the strength left, to maneuver back out while fighting gravity, and because of that, the rescuers also couldn't pull him out.

Haven't been caving in decades. Don't really miss it.

Quoted:

There's definitely an adrenaline dopamine rush from it. You just have to control it until AFTER you're through.

Used to go caving/spelunking when I was younger.

Been through ONE squeeze that required first hyperventilating to hyperoxygenate my blood, then exhaling FULLY to be able to squeeze through. The hyperoxygenation was necessary for the ~10-20 seconds of effort to make it through.

Panicking in the middle and trying to inhale = getting stuck and asphyxiating, so it required the breathing to hyperoxygenate while simultaneously trying to remain calm, (not think about the fact that if I took too long, there was NO room to take a breath) and not elevate my heart rate too much so I didn't burn through the oxygen too quickly.

I absolutely never explored 'new' sections. I only ever went through sections that were already explored and that other people had been through.

Even with THAT precaution, I came to a few realizations:

1) don't be the biggest person in the group. When people who are 40+lbs lighter tell you that a section is "No problem", it might be for them, but may be a completely different story for you.

2) even if you aren't much heavier than the heaviest person in the group, being significantly taller can also pose problems shorter people don't even have

3) lifting weights to get bigger and stronger run counter to caving. That made it an easy choice.


*** The ONE time I actually got claustrophobic while caving was related to #2.

I was the tallest person in the group, and we came to a crawl that was tight enough, we had to remove our helmets and turn our heads sideways.

In the middle of the crawl, I came to a section that made an 'S' bend. Tight sections like this are like solving a puzzle. You need to figure out how to contort to make it through when you can't just squirm through.

I twisted. I squirmed. I bent in all sorts of weird ways. Then I got stuck. Tight. I was lodged with my body twisted one way, my legs bent and twisted in another part, and my legs were stuck fast. I couldn't pull them forward, I couldn't push back and straighten them out.

It was quite an uncomfortable position, and as I tried to gain some movement, my legs being wedged and not moving at all, with my shoulder also wedged hard against on side and my head turned sideways, was what triggered the claustrophobia. I started to panic and try to 'muscle it'. Yeah, you can't push solid rock to make room. All the pump does, is wedge you a little tighter. I thought, "I can't move. I'd have to break my leg(s) to get free!".

Somehow, I managed to scream in my own head, "STOP AND CALM THE FUCK DOWN!!! Control your breathing. You're twisted like a pretzel, but you need to relax. You managed to squirm your way into this position, which means you can squirm your way back out of this position. Worst comes to worst, you'll have to back out the way you came in. Relax. Slow your breathing. Loosen your muscles, then try different movements, bit by bit, one at a time. Find the one that allows movement".

It worked. Took a few minutes of controlled breathing to calm down, and I began testing movements. I eventually managed to get one leg a little room.  Just an inch or 2, which allowed me some room to maneuver the other leg. I had to turn a different way to slowly get my body and long legs through that S-bend. Got stuck a couple more times, but stayed calm and worked through it, solving the puzzle.

Finally made it through, and the others were like, "You get stuck in there? You took a long ass time".

"I thought you said there was nothing to cause problems through there. I got stuck at the friggin S-bend".

The others look around and shrug, "that bit's not that bad". That was when it hit me that I was about 4" taller than the next tallest person in that group.

*** the difference in me getting stuck, was that the section was level. The unfortunate Nutty Putty incident was a steep decline. Every movement made him slide deeper, with less room to maneuver. He solved the puzzle to get his legs through the one bend, but didn't have the strength left, to maneuver back out while fighting gravity, and because of that, the rescuers also couldn't pull him out.

Haven't been caving in decades. Don't really miss it.

Quoted:


Those words have helped me from ever getting stuck during my 20+ years of caving. Panicking will tense you up and make you bigger.

Quoted:
A cave where every move you make, you squeeze yourself through like a turd? Nope. Doesn't sound like fun to me.

Now the walking cave tours where you can actually see the rock formations and stuff? Hell yes, sign me up.

Quoted:

I have never been scared of confined spaces. Never even gave it a second thought or been claustrophobic. Last year after surgery I had to have an MRI. No problem. Never had a problem before. My whole body was moved into the machine and a panic began to come over me that I have never felt in my life. It almost came to me calling get me out get me out. I dont know what brought it on and I made it through it but I was in there a long time. Still bothers me a bit.

Quoted:
The first restriction is called the Cheese Grater. My WI diving buddies love this cave. The first person shown going in is my rebreather/cent instructor.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtlwoX1YEmg

Quoted:

...let's have @Marie weigh in on that video!

Quoted:
How does air even get back that far? It seems going in any cave further than 75' or so without an external air supply is a death wish.