What do you do to kill time?

Smithers

Smithers

New member
I was just wondering what people generally do to keep spirits up when they've got wait around for a while in a cave (e.g. waiting to ascend a pitch or waiting for rescue etc)?  Not that I plan on becoming "stuck" so I can see how good your time killing techniques are, but I was just curious what other people get up to.
 
D

dunc

New member
Game of Scrabble, cup of tea and a slice of cake.


::)


Ok, nowt really, I just wait patiently or shout abuse at the person on the rope for going too slow  :LOL:, maybe have a natter if others are waiting. To be honest I've never thought about it as I generally don't have to wait that long, there's not many large pitches that warrant 'doing something' whilst waiting. As for waiting to be rescued, never had that pleasure so not sure what I'd do to pass the time, sure I'd think of something though.

I do recall sitting in the High Levels of Lancaster Hole once, had a lie down for about 10-15minutes, just enjoyed the total silence (apart from my breathing)
 
stevejw

stevejw

Member
Keeping warm and dry. Eating. Conversation
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caving_fox

caving_fox

Active member
Just chat with whoevers around, catch up on gossip, tell tales of 'last time I had to wait' or 'soand so took so long we wondered if' etc.  if I'm last at a pitch, find somewhere dry and out of any air flow, turn the light off and go to sleep. Cave noises are always worth listening to.

Not been involved in a rescue, supect I'd spend most time asleep - if it wasn't somewhere/situation suitable to explore all the holes.
 
darwen dave

darwen dave

New member
I once saw something on the box about two cavers in America waiting to be rescued.
After several hours of light sharing, they decided to switch off.
This resulted in hallucinations caused by sensory deprivation. By the time they were found they'd had the adventure of a lifetime. :)
 
Alex

Alex

Well-known member
Aye thats a form of torture isnt it. I did that once waited around in Birks Fell as I was still rather a novice I decided not to descend the pitch near the bottom. The white noise from the water, the not knowing when people where coming back, the total darkness and the cold did make for lets say an interesting experience.
 
S

SpeleoTrog

Member
Sleeping in a cave can have amusing consequences. I was last to go up a pitch a year or two ago so I'd got comfortable, switched my light off and settled down to wait. The girl leading the next party screamed a bit when she came around the corner to see a twitching rope and what looked like a body at the bottom of it :)
 
graham

graham

New member
Ric Stanton tells me that waterproof mp3 players are available. perhaps you should carry one in your helmet with your space blanket. ;)
 
gus horsley

gus horsley

New member
If I'm hanging around waiting for things to happen I like to sing in a death-metal cookie monster growl, very quietly at first, then increasing in volume until my throat gives out.  Then I sit in silence.
 
S

seddon

New member
Is that only at work, Gus, or in caves too?  ;)

Would be a fun idea at traffic lights with the windows open...

And how about boring meetings... oh why didn't I think of that years ago?
 
P

Peter Burgess

New member
Several times I have sat down on my own switched my light off and waited for a party to return. It is very relaxing to simply get comfortable and just listen. It is an interesting exercise to try to detect the first signs of the others coming back, whether sound or light. In a dry cave or mine where there is no running or dripping water your senses become heightened very quickly. It is often a long time after first hearing noises or seeing a light that they actually reach you. Once during the autumn bat swarming period I could hear and feel the draft of flapping wings of a bat as it rushed up and down the passage.
 
Roger W

Roger W

Well-known member
That's when, amid the splish and tinkle of water droplets falling from the roof, you start to hear the soft patter of bare feet in distant passages, or the almost-inaudible mutter of voices just round the corner, speaking in languages unknown to man...
 
Roger W

Roger W

Well-known member
Peter Burgess said:
Peter Burgess said:
In a dry cave or mine where there is no running or dripping water .....
Click to expand...
:read:
Click to expand...

Yeah, well....

The only totally dry cave I've ever been in was full of tourists chattering away in Malay and Hindi ...

Guess I'm kind of underprivileged or something    ::)
 
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