Caving Hacks, or things you learn with age?
- Thread starter Brains
- Start date
wellyjen
Well-known member
Knee length wetsocks inside improve the shin protection even more.
aricooperdavis
Moderator
My landjoff has elastic ones and I thought it was a bit of a gimmick at first but now I'm a complete convert!
wellyjen
Well-known member
A neat idea, but potentially dangerous. You can generate high fall factors slipping off a traverse line. Putting that load through a toothed jammer cam could damage and possibly break the cows tail. I'd want to see it tested first before trying it, or recommending it. I know you said a hanging traverse, but that can change in to a climbing traverse at various points and you'd have to remember to take the cowstail out of the chest jammer. Easy to forget and get yourself in to a situation where the fall factor is approaching 1.
pwhole
Well-known member
My default cowstail setup is always as per the rope-access style - a very short 'cowstail' loop with two mirrored overhand knots onto the D-ring, and then a 'medium' (regular short) cowstail and a long cowstail - which is not long enough that I can't reach the krab. Plus the safety cord on the hand jammer is dynamic rope, same length as the long cowstail and attached to the D-ring with a maillon, which makes four in total. The only downside is two knots on the D-ring, but it's hardly a deal-breaker, especially with the descender stowed elsewhere if it's not being used. Nearly all my moves are actually done on the short loop with a snapgate krab, with the other two cowstails for varying degrees of backup, both screwgates. For traverses it's as close to the rope as you can practically get.
I'm often surprised how long many people's 'short' cowstails are, and I recently had to help someone on a traverse as they were hanging so low (on their short) that they literally couldn't do anything. Their safety cord was also too long and they couldn't undo their (handled) jammer as the cam release was out of reach. I would always err on too short rather than too long for cowstails, as they always stretch out over time.
I'm often surprised how long many people's 'short' cowstails are, and I recently had to help someone on a traverse as they were hanging so low (on their short) that they literally couldn't do anything. Their safety cord was also too long and they couldn't undo their (handled) jammer as the cam release was out of reach. I would always err on too short rather than too long for cowstails, as they always stretch out over time.
andrewmcleod
Well-known member
Or you can just buy one of the Petzl adjustable cowstails. Unfortunately the rope gets too fat quite quickly and has to be replaced. If you choose to ignore the manufacturer's recommendations and replace it yourself, because it's not completely obvious how the rope goes through it you may end up with a cowstail that doesn't really grab until you later try again and realise your mistake... 
So therefore I definitely cannot recommend replacing the original rope, when it becomes too fluffy, with some new 9mm rope even though it actually works fine if you aren't an idiot and actually put the rope back in the same way (with a good solid robust stopper to replace the original sewn stopper).
So therefore I definitely cannot recommend replacing the original rope, when it becomes too fluffy, with some new 9mm rope even though it actually works fine if you aren't an idiot and actually put the rope back in the same way (with a good solid robust stopper to replace the original sewn stopper).
The thing I started doing about 10 years ago was to put a safety cord on my helmet after I nearly lost it down a pitch. I attach a 3-4 mm cord to the cradle about 250mm long with a loop on the end which clips into a very small snaplink on my chest harness ( a Torse ) level with my shoulder.
We carry a few hundred quid on our heads these days and, in my case, my spare light!
We carry a few hundred quid on our heads these days and, in my case, my spare light!
Brains
Well-known member
Indeed, the downside of helmet mounted systems. Waist mounted batteries and generators made their own safety cables
steviet_scg
Member
"For the guidance of the wise not the obedience of fools" - this applies to weather forecasts as well as guidebooks (and all the tips in this thread too)
Other things I've learnt with age
Other things I've learnt with age
- Respect boulder chokes and anything loose
- If everyone else turns up in 5mm of neoprene and you've got dry grots be ready for hypothermia
- In winter and exposed entrances, especially with long entrance pitches - quietly and efficiently move your way to the back of the party as you approach the exit ("No, it's ok youth you go next")
- Buffs and/or balaclavas are great on cold trips
- Make sure at least one other person knows where you've hid the car keys
- Use a maillon for a keyring - then you can always add it to the kit if you are short
- The quickest way to get warm after a long cold trip is to get in the car and then the pub - it's more about speed than the thermal efficiency of your clothes - so be efficient getting changed
- when getting ready - turn your clothes the right way round - makes it a damn sight easier to put them back on - avoid shirts with buttons and boots with laces. Put both your socks in your left boot and just remember to put your right sock back on first
- Playing footy damages your knees more than caving - took me a long time to realise this
- A Ford Fiesta (RIP) can get a surprisingly long way up Masongill lane or Alum Pot lane - but it isn't worth it - just walk!
- You can't have too many slings on a trip (said to me once by an old timer when I was starting out - and he was a master of adding a sling to a traverse or pitch head just to make life easier)
- Never try to outdrink a Pole (managed it once - never again)
steviet_scg
Member
Just remember to take your helmet off before your belt - or risk whiplash
aricooperdavis
Moderator
25cm isn't much to work with - how do you handle taking your helmet off for squeezes? I had to remove my helmet in order to squeeze through the safety grill over a mine-shaft yesterday, and clipped my long cows-tail through the cradle to ensure I didn't drop it down the shaft, which worked nicely.
If my helmet will not go through the rest of my 'sleek' body has no chance.
Bob Cromer
New member
It's amazing how much difference (easier) it makes having one arm forward and one backwards going through very tight squeezes, also re tight spots and especially wet ones I don't like having a bag clipped to me ,
Brains
Well-known member
I would add don't drag a tackle bag into a head down crawl, but push it ahead. More than once seen someone trapped by a bag rolling forward and wedging them
this happened to me once on a solo trip in Jean Pot. It was funny at first, then less so, and very awkward to empty the sack in order to extract myself
as above 're cows tail lengths......folk with long short cows tail s take ages on hanging re-belay s, or get hung up. Unless they can do one arm pull ups.....and it is a common error.
