Games and pranks to play during caving
- Thread starter cavingmatt
- Start date
I can absolve Tim as I have been caving with him as a newbie to Portland and I didn’t have a too many traumatic experiences
domestosbend
New member
Caving ( or anything) on Portland is a traumatic experience....
mrodoc
Well-known member
This reminds me of something that wasn't a prank but might amuse. Some years ago on a very sunny January day I went into Afton Rift with Ken Passant. I had been caving the previous day but my light still seemed a bit time. About 30 metres into the cave I realised I was wearing the prescription sun glasses I had worn while driving there! Swift exit to retrieve the right ones that greatly helped to navigate the rest of the cave.
Mike Kushy
Active member
14. Promise them a breakthrough.
Mike Kushy
Active member
15. Take them caving with Tim.
FRASER - UKME
Member
One of our favourites is to empty Wellies water onto unsuspecting cavers climbing up ladder sets. Always good for a video
Hilarious.
I once saw a newby fall off a ladder as a result of this merry prank; it was a short pitch and he was on a lifeline, so he didn't come to any harm, but he was seriously discombobulated. He said later that although he'd enjoyed the trip he couldn’t be arsed associating with people who f*cked about like that, and we never saw him again.
I once saw a newby fall off a ladder as a result of this merry prank; it was a short pitch and he was on a lifeline, so he didn't come to any harm, but he was seriously discombobulated. He said later that although he'd enjoyed the trip he couldn’t be arsed associating with people who f*cked about like that, and we never saw him again.
tim.rose2
Well-known member
I once knew a chap who went along on a trip with a bunch of experienced caver, who took the sport extremely seriously, were completely up their own arseholes with respected to their abilities and couldn't even crack a smile when something mildly amusing happened. They never saw that caver again. Fortunately this story has a happy ending as that caver found a bunch of people who enjoy a bit of arsing around, are great fun to go caving with and has since done many hundreds trips all over the UK. Fortunately cavers are a diverse bunch and there's a place for all. Just a case of finding the right people.
Loki
Well-known member
Been reading this with interest. The only underground ‘pranks’ I remember was I was once led round a loop in easegill a number of times before I eventually said “haven’t we been here before?” Which was pretty harmless fun.
Then down a pot I thiought it funny to put a rock in someone’s tacklebag until it got off the ground and I realised I’d be under it if the bag failed but by then it was too late. I haven’t been a fwit again. Well not in this context
Then down a pot I thiought it funny to put a rock in someone’s tacklebag until it got off the ground and I realised I’d be under it if the bag failed but by then it was too late. I haven’t been a fwit again. Well not in this context
Well, maybe it all depends on context. If you're with a bunch of mates who are up for a bit of a laugh, then fine; if you're with a newby who's a bit nervous and out of their depth, maybe not so good. And again, as Loki says, leading someone astray on a trip is probably harmless fun (and might even be a good learning experience), while putting a rock in someone's tackle bag would probably be harmless fun . . . but as Loki says, it could just backfire.
One worthwhile joke you could play in OFD I, if you had cavers who didn't know the cave, related to the scaffold poles across the pots. In at least one place there is a slightly elevated white fault line going right down the middle of a lengthy pool of water. It was fairly easy to convince the unsuspecting that this was yet another, albeit rather lengthy, scaffold pole and enjoy watching them teetering along the white line.
cavemanmike
Well-known member
If you’re on a long trip and a bit of food is involved I often used to take a bit out of the corner of someone’s sandwich or pie
PeteHall
Moderator
As others have said, any prank needs to be appropriate to those involved and the cave. If in doubt, don't prank.
A generic prank I recall playing many times would be something like popping through into a blind chamber, then inviting everyone to follow, before pointing out that it's blind and we need to go back the way we came in. Harmless, and if you don't enjoy visiting another part of the cave along the way, then you probably don't enjoy caving and ought to find another way to spend your time.
On one occasion, after someone knocked a rock down a large pitch (from Event Horizon in Titan), which narrowly missed me, I did think about switching out my light and remaining silent until they got down, but the torrent of abuse that came back up the pitch told them that I was alive and well
One prank that I've enjoyed many times is in Simpson Pot (or is it Swinsto, I'm having a bit of a mental blank all if a sudden), one particular pitch leads to a pool of water and the way on is back underneath where you've come from, through a duck. Ahead a small wayery chamber often has a load if sump foam floating in it. On my first ever visit, I looked ahead and thought that the duck had sumped, before spotting the open arch behind me, so the prank is obviously to announce to the group that the duck must have sumped and will need to be free-dived, before pointing at the open arch and the actual way on. I've never had a bad reaction, but either way, I wouldn't do this with anyone of a nervous disposition.
A generic prank I recall playing many times would be something like popping through into a blind chamber, then inviting everyone to follow, before pointing out that it's blind and we need to go back the way we came in. Harmless, and if you don't enjoy visiting another part of the cave along the way, then you probably don't enjoy caving and ought to find another way to spend your time.
On one occasion, after someone knocked a rock down a large pitch (from Event Horizon in Titan), which narrowly missed me, I did think about switching out my light and remaining silent until they got down, but the torrent of abuse that came back up the pitch told them that I was alive and well
One prank that I've enjoyed many times is in Simpson Pot (or is it Swinsto, I'm having a bit of a mental blank all if a sudden), one particular pitch leads to a pool of water and the way on is back underneath where you've come from, through a duck. Ahead a small wayery chamber often has a load if sump foam floating in it. On my first ever visit, I looked ahead and thought that the duck had sumped, before spotting the open arch behind me, so the prank is obviously to announce to the group that the duck must have sumped and will need to be free-dived, before pointing at the open arch and the actual way on. I've never had a bad reaction, but either way, I wouldn't do this with anyone of a nervous disposition.
RobinGriffiths
Well-known member
Of course pranks in the workplace used to be a thing in the 80s and 90s.
Who can forget the fallout from the old swap the cos and sin buttons on the calculator in the drawing office ploy?
Who can forget the fallout from the old swap the cos and sin buttons on the calculator in the drawing office ploy?
shotlighter
Active member
Or fixing a mackerel to the underside of someone's desk during the 1976 heatwave! (he had his own office)
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