Caving Hacks, or things you learn with age?

[andrewmcleod]

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.

I have a fairly long short cowstail, and I have concluded that what matters is not the length of your short, or the length of your long, but that the long is definitively longer than the short i.e. it is the distance between them that is critical...

That said, a short short will indeed make passing rebelays etc. easier even if it makes traverses sometimes trickier.

 

[langcliffe]

i.e. it is the distance between them that is critical...

Why?

 

[andrewmcleod]

Why?

Because if, when about to descend, you have your short and long clipped into the same place (e.g. the bottom of a wide Y-hang at the end of a horizontal or descending traverse), then once you unclip your descender you only have the extra length of your long cowstail left to test your descender.

If you can clip your short into something higher up (like a bolt/knot at a bolt etc) and/or the long lower down (e.g. a rebelay loop) this isn't an issue.

 

[FionaH]

Put insoles in your wellies, liner socks under your wetsocks, and as many kneepad inserts as you can fit into the knee pockets (if you have them). Comfy

 

[Long Drop]

Try wearing two thin pairs of wetsocks inside wellies instead of one thick pair. Toasty feet. Also, thin surfing wetsocks off the internet are far cheaper than 'branded caving' wetsocks.

 

[Loki]

Use alpine butterfly whenever possible and never have to get a screwdriver out to undo the fig8 that 20 or more people prussiked on again.
Never mistake your long cowstail for the main rope when everything is really muddy and accidentally load your stop on it instead of the main rope then unclip said cowstail before ‘descending’ the pitch. Let’s just say it was a good job I was stood where I was and prevented said caver descending the next pitch as well.
I now know of 2 people who’ve had there harness come apart on a pitch because they’d not fastened their central D- neither resulting in an accident fortunately. CHECK your mates gear as well as your own it might just save their life.
Learn how to rig even if you’re scared of it. Again it may just save a sticky situation.

 

[andrewmcleod]

Use alpine butterfly whenever possible and never have to get a screwdriver out to undo the fig8 that 20 or more people prussiked on again.

Even Alpine butterflies jam in skinny rope, particularly if loaded on the loop instead of only across the knot. Fusions tend to be better I find, and you can use a bowline on the bight (clipping both loops) for single bolt rebelays and any traverse anchors likely to get significant loading (usually the ones at the end).

Also you can use the pointy bit on a Friend (on the braking side) as an impromptu marlinspike to help get stubborn knots undone...

 

[aricooperdavis]

Also you can use the pointy bit on a Friend (on the braking side) as an impromptu marlinspike to help get stubborn knots undone...

Best to ask your Friend first or that may come as a bit of a surprise!

 

[caving_fox]

Re re-belays: Always carry your own sling. Clip that into the bolt (under your cow's tails!) and stand in it to take weight off as needed.

 

[aricooperdavis]

Re re-belays: Always carry your own sling. Clip that into the bolt (under your cow's tails!) and stand in it to take weight off as needed.

You can also place your hand ascender on the rope just below the bolt and use your footloop to do the same thing. Alternatively use a crab to attach your footloop to your hand ascender, then you can clip it into directly into bolts (can make rigging traverse lines easier).

 

[cavemanmike]

Or just stand up on your pantin 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️

 

[andrewmcleod]

Best to ask your Friend first or that may come as a bit of a surprise!

Oops, meant Freino. I blame autocorrect!

 

[LadyMud]

Actually, a Friend is a very useful accessory. They make handy improvised stepladders - and the better ones give you chocolate!

 

[Bob Cromer]

A good tip before going digging is to make sure the right chuck is in your drill, ie if you've been doing a bit of DIY for your folks and swopped the SDS chuck for a regular one make sure you change it back, otherwise you might find you've dragged your drill along a muddy wet tube for nothing ! (like I did this morning)

 

[alanw]

Sitting on the boot of the car at the RIbblehead car park yesterday:

If you start pulling your kneepads on inside out and upside down, you can pull the lower end over and they land perfectly positioned over your knees. Reverse this when taking off, and pull them down over your wellies for storage when walking to and from the cave.