I'm asking the question, how much does a caver spend on personal caving gear each year?

Obviously this will vary greatly for several reasons. There are cavers who are willing to spend up to ?700 on a light, so I hear. On the other hand some people are happy with their 10 year old Petzl Duo. Some people have a big stock of their own rope which they replace regularly while some people own no rope but use club rope, in which case their club fees become money spent on caving gear. Some people go caving twice a week and some people twice a year.

My own very rough estimation goes like this: an oversuit every couple of years - ?50 per year, a complete set of SRT gear every couple of years - ?125 per year, wellies, undersuit, socks, balaclava, gloves etc - ?35, helmet, light, batteries etc ?35, rope - ?80, hardwear - ?30, club fees ?20, total - ?370.

I would like to find out an average for UK and Irish cavers and/or BCA members.

I've only been caving (for the 2nd time) for the last 8 or 9 Years.

So: First oversuit off fleabay in 2007/8 for ?30, a bit small, sold for ?25. Second oversuit from Caving Supplies in 2009 for ?70, still going strong as my reserve suit - in case preferred one hasn't dried out/too muddy etc. 3rd Oversuit Meander for ?100 in 2010, used almost exclusively since, but now at the end of its life - being retired by Xmas 2016 - far too many holes/patches/glued bits/gaffer tape. Just purchased Warmbac digger for ?90 as almost exclusively do digging now!

Wellybobs: used a pair I already had, bought Dunlop Steelies for ?20 about 4 years ago, depends which cave which ones I use.

Undersuit: Beaver fleece off Fleabay for ?20, used as summer/dry cave undersuit, Jumpsuits custom made for ?55 in 2011, used as digging/wet cave fleece, both still used.

Wetsocks: off fleabay for ?5 to start with, now buy from Hitch'n'hike for ?15 (I think), still on first pair.

Gloves: from Wickes to start with for ?2 for general non-digging dry caving. Digging gloves from Hitch'n'hike again for about ?8 pair - very tough, on 2nd pair in 5 years.

SRT gear: still on first set as don't do much vertical now (too old - me, not the gear! ) Prob about ?100 or so. Both hand jammers 2nd hand, all other bits new.

Helmets: Petzl Ecrin Roc x 2 both bought new for about ?40 each, both have Petzl Duo's with custom inserts, so about ?100 each and ?40 each for inserts. Still use both - again dependant if i've cleaned one or not!

My lad used to cave and used some of my gear, but has other interests now. I did buy him own over and under suit, both sold on.

Rope - usually use my digging/caving partners (!)

I've started to flog a bit of what I own, so I reckon I spend about ?50 a year on average. Oh, and ?20 year BCA Insurance direct, and ?35 year Descent!

Not a lot so a full summary of caving expenses below.
My ?400 Scurion is nearly 5 years old and gets used every week. I have three second hand Warmbac over suits which should last another 5 years ( Cost ?140 ).
Cheap wellie boots usually second hand.( About a fiver a time ). Other costs -
?6 contribution to fuel approx each week. Club fees and BCA ?47 a year. Biggest expenditure is shares in Vurley Mining Company ( our dig ). Not kept a record but about ?300 in the last two years. Add to that Descent sub and that's about it.

I make my own lights so occasionally I might spend ?10 one those, wellies and occasionally an overall. I bought a helmet this year bringing the total to 2 helmets in 20 years.

Starting from scratch I of course spent a fortune, including full rigging kit and c600m rope.

However, my 'tick over' costs are very modest.  I spend much more on fuel travelling down to Yorkshire.  I haven't worn much kit out yet: note to self, must cave more !

I'm asking about the gear that you own and pay for that is essential to get into a cave and that you carry with you in a cave. That is clothing, lights, gear for getting up and down pitches and bags to put it in. I might have confused things by mentioning club subs so forget that. It doesn't include subs, magazines, books, surveying gear, digging gear, fuel, bacon butties or beer.

You might have spent a few hundred quid a few years ago, haven't spent anything since and now only go caving occasionally. You'll have to make some sort of guess at what that might be on average over a year. I'm not looking for an exact figure but a very rough average per year. If you bought a tackle bag five years ago and you have just replaced it at ?50 then that is ?10 per year.

I'll make it easier by creating a poll.

Being a Yorkshire by temperament, if not birth, the answer is 'as little as possible'.

I've ticked the ?25-?50 box which is a bit of a stab in the dark as I can't be bothered to do the sums, but probably isn't far off as I use club rope and hardware.  And doesn't include club fees.

Of course, this is vastly exceeded by fuel costs, but you didn't want to know that (actually, I prefer not to know it - it might put me off!).

Anyway, Simon, is there a particular reason for asking?

?200 per year??

'Years spent caving' will be a very important piece of information here. Having been caving for 2-4 years as a university caver, but with plenty of climbing to distract me from regular caving, my yearly average will be high due to start-up costs, whilst my gear 'burn' rate will be low. The Scurion purchase is the big hitter, my free oversuit is only beginning to fall apart now. Having said that, I've stitched it up a few times and consider myself a small and careful caver.

This brings in an important factor: what extent do people go to to repair their gear?

The fact that I enjoy buying gear doesn't help, I effectively have two SRT kits currently...

Some stuff was free or incredibly cheap - I bought a tackle bag, skyhook, kneepads, and much more for 20 quid off some guy on UKClimbing.

I pay club fees for access to measureless quantities rope and general club antics, but like the idea of being independent should I fancy an impromptu trip, I have some rope and rigging kit of my own, a spare light should I take a mate underground etc etc.

Is this for your curiosity or do you have a specific end goal for your survey?

Strange nobody is counting car costs, accomodation cost and camping gear,... And other costs 😄

http://www.ybonline.co.uk/media/news-releases/2008/are-brits-burning-a-hobby-hole-in-their-pockets

8  years ago .

Topimo said:

...
Is this for your curiosity or do you have a specific end goal for your survey?

Click to expand...

I have a specific purpose for asking.

Thanks to those who have filled in the poll.

Leclused said:

Strange nobody is counting car costs, accomodation cost and camping gear,... And other costs 😄

Click to expand...

That is not what I want to know.

as you say simon it is quite hard to put exact figure on it. next year will for me be a bit more as need to replace my meander, as I don't dig, not a lot of call for it in sussex, my suits tend to last me longer. Also SRT kit tends to last longer as again does not get used every week. so some years I might not actually spend very much at all,

I guess it varies greatly year by year and depending on which caving area we visit more during the year. This past year probably spent a bit more with Eurospelio but I guess on average 1 suit per year, 2 sets of wellies, set of knee pads, an item of srt kit  and a couple of pairs of gloves so around 200 per year. (Cave pretty much every weekend, lots of crawling, climbing but no digging and not a great deal of srt)

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Um - I've never really thought about this; it's an interesting question.

I wouldn't dream of wast . .  - sorry I mean "spending" ?700 on a (pun warning) flashy lamp but if I identify a genuine need for a piece of equipment I never hold back, after saving up for it first of course. The three most expensive caving-related items I've ever purchased  (thousands each) have each been underwater scooters. On the other hand I'm known for making do and mending with other items (to divert large amounts of money towards the things that really matter).

Why are you asking Simon? Are you thinking of starting a gear sales business? If it's in the Dales I'll try and support you.

Giving it some thought I reckon to spend over ?400 on personal gear per year.

I get through 2.5 to 3 oversuits per year.
Nearly 2 pairs of wellies
1 pair wetsuit socks and knee pads.  Several gloves
A helmet usually lasts 3 years.  Duo and insert lasts longer.
1 tackle bag per year
A couple of items from an SRT kit.  A descender and cowstails for sure.  I'm on my 4th new style Petzl Croll and they've only been out a few years.
I don't use undersuits but do like power stretch leggings which last a year or so.  Other under clothes are hand downs.

At a guess that lot will work out between ?500-600

In addition I also have personal digging equipment such as drills and waterproof bags.  A lot of personal rope, hangers, fixings and goodness knows what other stuff. 

As its my main hobby I reckon it is cheap at half the price and that doesn't even start to calculate the cost of foreign holidays to Wharfedale, Peak, Mendip and beyond 
 

Not sure of yearly - My personal kit replacement tends to work on a three to five year cycle during which most of my kit will get replaced at a cost of  ?500 - ?700 ish.    So say ?100 - ?150 per year.  Can be a lot more if I get a bee in my bonnet, for example a couple of years ago I switched from Stop's to racks and I bought three or four racks before finding one I really liked (including importing one from the USA which knocked the price up).

That's before taking ropes and rigging swag into account , likewise digging requisites.  How much I spend will depend what projects I am involved in and so is probably too variable to quantify. 

Pretty much nothing. A tenner for a pair of overtrousers, and ?15 for a light to replace the leccy bits in. I did buy spare kit for noobies, but that's not something I personally use every trip.

Likely well over 400 for me I go through at least 2 oversuits a year, prob 2 harnesses as well as well as all sorts of other bits and bobs. Not to mention the cost of driving to Ingleton every weekend and Goyden sometimes during the week too.

As little as possible!

It's certainly more than ?200, but in case the wife reads this I'll say it's less than ?400.

This year I've not been digging much, so my oversuit/ elbow & knee pad cost is down, but I've forked out on a load of diving kit, which blows the regular caving budget out the water (no pun intended). Hopefully that will all last a lot longer though, so I'll not count it on my annual expenditure.

Compared to ?1000 annual golf club membership that a bloke at work pays, before his kit (and allegedly that's a cheap club), caving seems pretty cheap