xped to the US?

Amy

New member
Just wondering if there would be any interest...I know ya'all get more vacation time there (here having 5 days is doing good, 10 days is about the best to expect from anywhere!) and such so prolly easier to travel. I'd love to show everyone around! I could provide accommodations including pickup from the Huntsville airport and transportation...and you'd be in the center of the (arguably) best caving the US has to offer! Just BYOB. And food. If you eat. LOL.

Whatdya say? Any interest in planning something? I have beds/comfy sofas for five, lots of floor space for more (and air mattresses I can break out)
 

Alex

Well-known member
Well I have already got exped plans this summer but Late November to christmass onwards could be a possiblity for a week, provided I aint recovering from surgery or your caves are blocked with ice.

Bring your own booze and food hmm, well would have to purchase out there as limited luggage room on planes.

Anyway you need more than one, so lets see what interest there is first.

P.s. If one was to go over there would one be expected to use a rack?
 

Amy

New member
We live in the south. It barely ever snows.

And I dont need a ton of folks, just thought it would be fun to have a couple of ya'all come over =)

You'd not have to use a rack, but the vertical we do will be determined by what kind of SINGLE pitch experience you have, what kind of rope weight you're used to managing, etc. When you see what we do, you'll understand more why we use racks ;) We have a training bluff we'd probably run off to first if there was any concern, and our ropes are so different so between that and ropeweight it's different to manage.
 

Alex

Well-known member
Furtherest single drop I have done on my stop is 80m (270 ft~) it works to 100m apparently. It's tiring doing 80m as you are forcing the rope thought it but it's do-able. As long as the rope is not much thicker then 10.5mm (Thats about a third of an inch?) then the device will work, it may get too heavy if much thicker!

 

Amy

New member
We use 11mm pmi maxwear pit rope. Way more static and stiffer than you are used to. You'll be feeding rope. I've seen it done for 200ft stuff. Might suck  :tease:but it'll work. You'll be fine.
 

Alex

Well-known member
I find on very static ropes the descent is actually smoother but maybe that is just me. Anyway anyone else want to accompany me?
 

amoses

New member
Alex,

If you want use a bobbin in the states, you'll want to bring a simple.  A stop will be a pain under good circumstances and you can't even force an old wet gritty "pit rope" through it.  And if you want to drop our biggest pitches, you'll be much happier with a rack.

Make sure to hit me up if you come out this way, it would be good to cave with you again.

Aaron
 

Amy

New member
Oh that is definitly true, static rope "warps" less in shape and provides a much smoother decent for sure. I can't stand it on grotto trips when we have to use f**king Talon rope. It suckkkkkkkkkkks. PMI max wear 11mm pit rope all the way! haha. Classic pit, and ez bend pit in 2nd to it (also both PMI ropes). The issues that  come in to play are the stiffness (it doesn't "bend" through the rappel device anywhere like what you are used to, think more trying to run a cable through your stop, not rope, for stiffness) and it is on the high end being 11mm, and it's *heavy*. Figure 10lbs of weight per 100 ft of rope. Definitely do-able on a stop to around 200-ft, but you'll have fun feeding rope and such most likely.

There are cave suppliers here so if you are so inclined we can always stop by and set you up with a proper rack (not the Petzl rack or something like that what ya seem to have there, but a good rack like what we use here!) a nice 6-bar rack is about $120 (70gbp-ish). You can save space and leave your oversuit/undersuit stuffs at home. Caves here average around 58f. We wont be doing anything requireing a wetsuit. A thin cordura oversuit would be plenty, but we usually were polypro base layer with cordura shorts over it. I sew cave gear so if you'll be wanting caveshorts can message me your sizing and I can whip something up. $45 for shorts, $50 if you want a custom colour that I dont have in stock.

It'll be fun!

Probably take you to ones I've been to already so you can brouse here on flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/sunguramy/collections/72157626608129210/ to get an idea (anything from AL or TN most likely). Will probably do a weekday night trip to Hoopers (90ft pit) or something like it as a first vertical trip 'cause it's close, easy to rig and get anyone out if there are issues just to see where we're all at be sure everything is good to go.
 

jarvist

New member
Alex said:
Furtherest single drop I have done on my stop is 80m (270 ft~) it works to 100m apparently...

C-rig!
Also known as suicide rig, but it's fine with practice. Only way to make progress on long hangs of gritty 11mm+.
 

Alex

Well-known member
Aye would be great to cave with you again, Aaron. I think I will trade in my new stop for a simple and a bit of store credit, simples...
 

Amy

New member
If you like your stop I'd suggest keeping it and we can train you on a proper rack here as needed.
 

Alex

Well-known member
I got two stops Amy as I thought I had lost my original one, but I had not lol. So I would be keeping my stop anyway.

I got some thin layers that I wore as a third layer when I was out in Austria, provided I can find them lol.
 

Amy

New member
lol if not we can go thrift store hunting. I get my caving base layers for like $1-$3 an item. Ahhhh america..... =)
 

amoses

New member
Alex,
Let me know if your plans work out or if you have any questions about caving out here.  You might be over estimating the insulation you need. In the dry caves, tee shirt and jeans with no suit is the standard.  In a typical muddy Virginia/West Virginia cave I wear a breathable suit(mtde arraf) with a tee shirt and very thin tights under.  By Dec the TAG multidrops are raging wet, but a pvc and 3mm of wetsuit makes it good fun.
Aaron
 

Alex

Well-known member
Thanks Aaron and I am sure I can get some stuff here too and looks like I can finally put my rash vest and/or wet suit to some good use!

I was not thinking insulation that much as 58 f is only 5f colder than it is currently in my house, it was more what can I get that is not too warm but would not be wripped (me along with it) to shreds in typical caving enviroments, or are your caves alot bigger and less sharp there? I Still got a 2 inch scar on my arm for entering a short cave in my T-shirt while prospecting in Austria last year, but that was really sharp rock.
 

Amy

New member
TAG typical clothes (also...I don't do the wet multidrops yet, no wetsuit for 'em, so you won't run into those with me at least. Plenty to see without doing that stuff, you can get wet and cold in your UK caves all the time you want LOL):
- 50/50 cotton/poly BDU pants with a poly longsleeve tshirt (some caves can do shortsleve, but I prefer some protection on my arms)
- polypro base layer (both top and bottom, thin poly like "long underwear" thickness), poly tshirt over the top longsleeve polypro, cordura caveshorts (as I mentioned I think, I do make caveshorts)
- If it's a really dry cave, yeah you can easily get away with jeans and poly tshirt

I usually dress in layers because I'll start off colder and as I move I heat up (often times here overheating is as much an issue as not being warm enough!) so I strip off a layer and shove it in my pack.

Most i have ever worn was a cordura coverall (oversuit) but even then the cordura bibs (uhm...the term for there...farmer johns maybe? Overalls?) are more common than full coveralls.

Here you go for an idea....can see a mix (and this is a river passage cave, in water 90% the time) between 500d cordura coveralls, polypro with caveshorts (cordura shorts), etc. So yeah. This is a wet cave we are dressed for here.

Anderson Spring Cave 05 by Sunguramy, on Flickr
 

And

New member
Alex - when I was in the USA, when I first I tried my stop on a fat half-inch thick rope, but I went nowhere on my Stop despite the writing on the side that says it takes ropes up to 13mm. I was given monster rack by one of the other cavers and with a quick lesson on how to use it, I dropped the 20m pitch easily. With the large racks and fat rope I wasn't going to easily plummet to my doom!  You'll be fine doing vertical stuff there, and racks do give a nice smooth descent!
 

barrabus

New member
Get yourself a rack Alex, you won't regret it. I've got a spare one (Petzl) you can borrow if you want.
 

Amy

New member
Ugh Petzl racks. *blech*

If you *really* want a rack, like I said, buy one when you are here =) There is a lot more variation with racks than you might think, and not all are alike!
 
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