Genuine question, based on total ignorance. Do caving guidebooks actually make money? My back-of-an-envelope calculation suggests that the profits would be minimal (this is based on medical textbooks which also have a limited circulation).
I really enjoy holding a well produced guidebook and reading it in comfort (Mendip Underground being a perfect example). However, I wonder whether the effort involved by the guidebook editors is ever repaid? Given that printed guidebooks to most caving regions are out of date as soon as they're published and produced (at best) about once a decade, would it not be better to have a genuine caving wikipedia which could be kept permanently up to date? If it included links to trip reports etc, it would be a valuable and enjoyable resource.