Hi, How useful do people think it is to rate caves on how appropriate they are to do after rain? I've had my own list for a while and it's saved me and clubs I've been in time (and possibly some hairy trips) by providing a way to quickly narrow down what caves would be suitable. Obviously...

Has anyone used a work positioning belt for caving? Some are pretty cheap, at half the price of the Warmbac ones: https://www.ffx.co.uk/tools/product/Silverline-251657-5024763122316-Work-Positioning-Belt-2-Point They come with D-rings, and are actually tested to EN358 (whatever that means)...

Hi all, Did anyone pick up a Warmbac oversuit, size XL, in good condition, with Sainsburys double take bars in the left bicep pocket, from the SWCC on Sunday the 29th of January? I hung it on the rack near the showers to 'dry' on the Saturday evening then when I came to use it the next day...

I've been struggling to find serial codes and hence ages on a few Petzl helmets (2 Ecrins and 1 Elios). Anyone got any pointers for where to look?

It's been a point of contention in my club for a while and so I thought it could be worth finally settling: While rigging, does the dressing of knots (fig. 8 and alpine butterflies, not some bowline or esoterica) make any meaningful difference to the strength of the knot? I'm inclined to...

I'm selling my trusty Canon 350d and wanted to see if any cavers are interested (before it goes through the frustrations of ebay). It's completely functional and has never let me down over the couple of years that I've been using it for. Paired with the right lens, it really is capable of...

Hi, I'm looking at caving in the Dales this weekend, but the weather forecast looks fairly grim and gives the impression that it's rained a reasonable amount recently. Does anyone have any local knowledge of what the conditions underground might be, or have any suggestions that would be...

Just like our helmets, we've got to retire our harnesses (MTDE club) this year. The Aventure Verticale Tecnirapid sit harnesses look interesting and about the same price. Has anyone else had to do this recently, or has any thoughts about which of these would be better for club use, or if there...

My club is sadly going to have to retire all of its Petzl Ecrins soon as we're not allowed to use helmets that are more than 5 years old. As you can't get Ecrins in bulk any more, does anyone have recommendations for a good club helmet? Ideally it will be hard wearing, straightforward to attach...

https://www.thebmc.co.uk/access-charter-for-wales "The Welsh government is being careful to play down direct comparisons with Scotland, but in essence it is suggesting that they would consider creating a new law in Wales that could allow a right of access to all undeveloped land for informal...

I emailed Rachel at the YDLAF regarding the matter of CROW and caving and have received an incredibly quick response. I don't want to copy the email, as it was not sent with the intention of being posted on a public forum. But the upshot is that: Caving and CROW may well not have been addressed...

This is not meant to be an entirely serious post. If you've not already seen it BCA released a statement written by Dave Judson in 2010. It was their opinion on the matter and may now be influencing and strengthening their members opinions in a nightmare of circular logic. It can be found at...

Had a pleasant trip in Hurnell Moss Pot a while ago. Following the stream down in the bottom of the rift there was a slightly awkward 2m climb up and squeeze back down. This was all still in the direction of the rift/fault. After this there's a chamber with a crawl down the left to a small...

Hello. The university club that I'm with has a (sport not expo) caving trip abroad every year in the Easter holidays. This year we're a bit stuck for ideas where to go. Ideally the place would fulfil some of the below; Be in France or Spain Have a caving guidebook that covers it Exist...

Petzl give some numbers on their website for battery life, but for a notional 'standard' battery and state that the run times can be doubled with a 'rechargeable' battery. This isn't that great when trying to work out what would leave you or a hapless fresher with a dimming light. I thought I'd...