• The Derbyshire Caver, No. 158

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Caving Games

first-ade

first-ade

Member
Hi all, I'm looking at writing a book on caving games and have garnered a good list of games (see below), but am interested to know what I'm missing! Also keen for any information on how the games originated (which I'm missing for all of them), regional variations, or any other interesting snippets. Can you help with any games I've missed? Or any information on them? I'd be very grateful if so!

Thanks in advance


Pan and sling game
Cornflake box game
Broom handle
Table traversing
Chair balance
Chair traversing
Chair double & variations
Chair and sling
Squeeze machine and varied designs
Bootlace squeeze - coat hanger - bow saw - snoopy loop challenge
Chair squeeze
Can press-up push
Sleeping bag wrestling
Sock wrestling - srt variation - blind variation
Body traversing
Press up body traversing
Lie between two chairs and pass tin around body
Danger can
Crockery cricket, crockery rounders
Mattress/sofa rugby
Incoming
Fire hats
Pass the burning box
Spoon game (spoons)
Condiments race
Marmite jar game
Buckaroo
Ladder traversing
Bottle stretch
Bottle jousting
Freckles
Trout and egg
Two pints of detachment
Rock pigeon
Toaster swing ball
 
JasonC

JasonC

Well-known member
I've obviously led a sheltered life, I haven't the foggiest what most of those are - I await the book with interest!
 
M

mikem

Well-known member
Lancaster bomber (But the rules are best not written down!)

Many of them are also done by climbing clubs, or teambuilding exercises...
 
C

cavingbiker

Member
At the Golden Lion in Settle there is/was a square pillar, cavers used to see how many times they could go around it at the top.


And there is the 3 man lift!
 
alastairgott

alastairgott

Well-known member
The buttered badgers fragile ladder traverse game - find the most fragile ladder you can. Put it on a one storey construction above a concrete floor and traverse across the ladder hoping it doesn’t break. (Game lost to the footnotes of history)

The york pint jumping challenge - jump from a one storey construction onto a concrete floor whilst holding a full pint glass of water and see how much water you have left in your pint glass after (game lost to due to the men in white coats coming with the straightjackets)

Southampton tea pot on knob game. Not sure if there was any aim to this game.

The Leeds silverback st######## (name omit) challange - played once as far as I’m aware, twinned with Jenga forts. Build two forts of large jenga blocks on a concrete floor? And then at the same time have people eat raw eggs, ones who can’t eat a raw egg or vomit lose. Last ‘man’ standing, inaugural game won by eating cooked up vomit egg. Probably also twinned with chilli eating, chilli snorting and raw fish sauce eating.
 
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alastairgott

alastairgott

Well-known member
The Nottshiscock vertical ladder climbing game. Climb a ladder vertically with no support, highest wins, when that gets boring find something to stick or draw on the ceiling with and climb up the vertical ladder with only your friends holding it up and draw/stick something on the ceiling.
 
alastairgott

alastairgott

Well-known member
alastairgott said:
The buttered badgers fragile ladder traverse game - find the most fragile ladder you can. Put it on a one storey construction above a concrete floor and traverse across the ladder hoping it doesn’t break. (Game lost to the footnotes of history).
Click to expand...
Variation- squeezing though the fragile ladder too.
 
Badlad

Badlad

Administrator
Staff member
The carbide bottle game. Played indoors or out. Players (and sometimes those who don't realise they are playing) sit around in a wide circle. A plastic pop bottle of about a litre is used with just an inch of water in it. A large lump of carbide is placed in the bottle and the lid screwed on tight. The bottle is chucked into the middle of the circle and whilst the bottle expands alarmingly the aim is to kick the bottle away from you. It is quite surprising just how much the bottle will expand before it explodes. Frantic scrabbling ensues as near panic sets in. When it does explode the person closest is considered the loser ;)

Beware of kicking the bottle onto a fire though and like most caving games it is responsible to take note of the nearest A&E :):eek:
 
Tommy

Tommy

Active member
alastairgott said:
The buttered badgers fragile ladder traverse game - find the most fragile ladder you can. Put it on a one storey construction above a concrete floor and traverse across the ladder hoping it doesn’t break. (Game lost to the footnotes of history)

The york pint jumping challenge - jump from a one storey construction onto a concrete floor whilst holding a full pint glass of water and see how much water you have left in your pint glass after (game lost to due to the men in white coats coming with the straightjackets)

Southampton tea pot on knob game. Not sure if there was any aim to this game.

The Leeds silverback st######## (name omit) challange - played once as far as I’m aware, twinned with Jenga forts. Build two forts of large jenga blocks on a concrete floor? And then at the same time have people eat raw eggs, ones who can’t eat a raw egg or vomit lose. Last ‘man’ standing, inaugural game won by eating cooked up vomit egg. Probably also twinned with chilli eating, chilli snorting and raw fish sauce eating.
Click to expand...

Oh the Silverback's whole egg trick. Traumatic.

Just logged in for the first time in an age after reading the Badgers' Rowter report. Pleased to see someone getting this lot compiled into the caving dictionary of shenanigans...

Buckaroo might be missing? Not commonly played in caving and certainly not limited to the caving world.

Pile an assortment of objects on the caver passed out in the comfy armchair without waking them.

Points for most outrageous object/placement (toaster on forehead?), but it's a team game really, go for gold and the victim should look like they're at the bottom of a disused mineshaft covered in farmyard detritus, all while sleeping soundly.

I remember a fun night in the bear pit that involved a wall of microwaves and fire poi, not sure what the rules were.
 
first-ade

first-ade

Member
Tommy said:
Oh the Silverback's whole egg trick. Traumatic.

Just logged in for the first time in an age after reading the Badgers' Rowter report. Pleased to see someone getting this lot compiled into the caving dictionary of shenanigans...

Buckaroo might be missing? Not commonly played in caving and certainly not limited to the caving world.

Pile an assortment of objects on the caver passed out in the comfy armchair without waking them.

Points for most outrageous object/placement (toaster on forehead?), but it's a team game really, go for gold and the victim should look like they're at the bottom of a disused mineshaft covered in farmyard detritus, all while sleeping soundly.

I remember a fun night in the bear pit that involved a wall of microwaves and fire poi, not sure what the rules were.
Click to expand...
I remember getting a sledgehammer on top of someone once...
 
M

mikem

Well-known member
In Descent 237 (Apr/May) 2014 Martin Mills p.38 Write it Down: Subterranean Games [wall building in St Cuthbert's entrance, tennis ball golf in swildon's & tug of war through Sump 1]

Can't believe nobody's mentioned squeezing through the cartwheel.

Or dowsing...
 
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