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Caving Indoors or Outdoors?

Caving has a roof (usually) so is it an indoor or outdoor activity?

  • Indoors

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Outdoors

    Votes: 26 100.0%

  • Total voters
    26
Caving has a roof (usually) so is it an indoor or outdoor activity?


When asked what I like doing I say being outdoors, but then when caving I go in?
 

cap n chris

Well-known member
What if the cave doesn't have a door, though? Also I guess you might need to specify the characteristics which define a door.. Does it need to be set in a door frame? Does it have to have a handle? Etc. My 2p is that unless you enter through a door you're still technically outdoors even if you're beneath a natural rock arch of significant complexity.
 

TheBitterEnd

Well-known member
Climbers talk about roofs, is an overhanging cliff indoors?

This is something of a silly bit of semantics, it is perfectly possible for a term like "outdoors" to have a meaning other than the literal meaning of the constituent words. Caving is an adventurous activity with all the trappings and requirements of other outdoors pursuits.  Outdoors is a term used to distinguish those activities from activities done in sports halls etc., or other things (off-roading, dogging) which are carried on in vehicles and the like.

Is football or Wimbledon an outdoors pursuit?  I think we use the term in the sense of "The Great Outdoors", i.e. natural, not man-made, as opposed to sports conducted on a specially created surface.

 

graham

New member
I know numerous show caves and at least one wild cave in West Virginia that are entered through doors that are within buildings.  :coffee:
 

Alex

Well-known member
Well then, caving is covered under the CROW act as it's an outdoors activity  ;)
 

Blakethwaite

New member
Alex said:
Well then, caving is covered under the CROW act as it's an outdoors activity  ;)

Well, not all cave necessarily  fulfils this criteria!  ;)

TheBitterEnd said:
I think we use the term in the sense of "The Great Outdoors", i.e. natural, not man-made, as opposed to sports conducted on a specially created surface.
 

Ship-badger

Member
You need outdoor activity insurance if you offer caving as an activity, so it must be an outdoor activity. But seriously, what a daft question. But I like it.
 

ah147

New member
If caving is considered as an outdoor pursuit as there is no door and straight access to the open air, what happens after you pass a sump?
 

robjones

New member
Despite entering Narnia via a door, no one would say that the forests, castles and mountains of Narnia were 'indoors'.

Similarily, numerous walled gardens are entered via a door.

Even though some caves are entered via doors (or are they solid rather than barred gates? - e.g. OFD) I cannot conceive of any cave being 'indoors'.
 
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