Hello & I'm visiting the UK from the US....
- Thread starter Amy
- Start date
Oh sheesh ya'all have strong caves there!
For serious!
So like a good little US caver I still followed the decon protocols we have in place here (the whole WNS thing, decon protocol is to kill g. destructans spores) I finally had time yesterday to do it so all my gear and clothes worn in the caves got scrubbed free of mud, soaked in 10% bleach or 409 for 10-20 min, then washed and air-dried. Yeah, fun eh? At least my gear is all clean and not muddy gross like yours
anyway I was sitting here wondering "what the heck is that smell? I've smelled it before, first smelled it in OFD...and every other cave kinda smelled like it too...what tha?" and for a bit I was thinking maybe it was me, but that can't be becuase lately everyone tells me I smell like vanilla (I don't even use any lotion or shampoo or anything that is vanilla, so I guess my natural BO is vanilla? sweet!) and this smell is NOT vanilla. It's not a good or bad smell, just a different smell.
...I just wiffed my kneepads. It's on them. And it's on my clothes too. What the hell you guys? You have weird caves that after 2 washes and bleach soaks my gear STILL smells like your caves!
It's kinda cool but it's making me miss Mendip and all you awesome folks so much ::huggles:: someone invent me a teleporter so I can visit easily, k? It's such a unique smell it's totally making me "homesick" to be there again. The best i can describe it is car oil muddy pond cinnamon oregano with a dash of nutmeg. Yup, that's what it smells like. I can't describe it any better than that.
For serious!
So like a good little US caver I still followed the decon protocols we have in place here (the whole WNS thing, decon protocol is to kill g. destructans spores) I finally had time yesterday to do it so all my gear and clothes worn in the caves got scrubbed free of mud, soaked in 10% bleach or 409 for 10-20 min, then washed and air-dried. Yeah, fun eh? At least my gear is all clean and not muddy gross like yours
anyway I was sitting here wondering "what the heck is that smell? I've smelled it before, first smelled it in OFD...and every other cave kinda smelled like it too...what tha?" and for a bit I was thinking maybe it was me, but that can't be becuase lately everyone tells me I smell like vanilla (I don't even use any lotion or shampoo or anything that is vanilla, so I guess my natural BO is vanilla? sweet!) and this smell is NOT vanilla. It's not a good or bad smell, just a different smell. ...I just wiffed my kneepads. It's on them. And it's on my clothes too. What the hell you guys? You have weird caves that after 2 washes and bleach soaks my gear STILL smells like your caves!
It's kinda cool but it's making me miss Mendip and all you awesome folks so much
::huggles:: someone invent me a teleporter so I can visit easily, k? It's such a unique smell it's totally making me "homesick" to be there again. The best i can describe it is car oil muddy pond cinnamon oregano with a dash of nutmeg. Yup, that's what it smells like. I can't describe it any better than that.
Known by None
Member
Back in my days of singledom, I used to have to forewarn women I was taking in my car on dates that I was a caver and that would be why my car stank of cave mud, it didn't put them off though, one even went caving.
Known by None
Member
Amy said:
Not quite, we did end up in Swildons old grotto with a bottle of champagne and two cups I'd robbed from the Wessex though
I doubt she'll ever forget that date.ogof addict
Member
that is a lovely story. very romantic
i need to know where to get some of those sachets of cave essence - extra strong, for my wetsocks, which are inhabited by the Grim Reaper, who farts.
Amy i cant believe the protocols you have to go through to clean your kit! you must have seen some Brit cavers who have gear that is so caked in mud that it hardly bends. so would TAG send us all home to clean kit before letting us anywhere near a cave?
i need to know where to get some of those sachets of cave essence - extra strong, for my wetsocks, which are inhabited by the Grim Reaper, who farts.
Amy i cant believe the protocols you have to go through to clean your kit! you must have seen some Brit cavers who have gear that is so caked in mud that it hardly bends. so would TAG send us all home to clean kit before letting us anywhere near a cave?
OOH gnome that sounds like the perfect date! You do know in the States you can get married in a cave even? Yeah. Show cave that does weddings inside it.
ogof - the TAG cavers in general tend to not be so picky there yet. As long as it's not like uber muddy people don't care, and yeah, they all clean it between cave trips but say you are out caving and camping for a few days, you can't easily wash stuff so you just try to knock the dirt off of it or rinse in a stream or something and set it in the sun to dry. But yeah, I've never seen such dirty clothes for caving in before, it was rather a shocker! I kept my stuff as clean as possible still...I don't like getting into dirty clothes. I was mostly successful! I hear we used to be like ya'all (i mean, mind you, I've only been caving since June, and the WNS stuff first started in 2006) but I hear prior to WNS stuff was always dirty here too - and it is part of what cave cavers a bad name with the biologists and why cavers got blamed early on because of moving mud from one cave to another or somesuch.
ogof - the TAG cavers in general tend to not be so picky there yet. As long as it's not like uber muddy people don't care, and yeah, they all clean it between cave trips but say you are out caving and camping for a few days, you can't easily wash stuff so you just try to knock the dirt off of it or rinse in a stream or something and set it in the sun to dry. But yeah, I've never seen such dirty clothes for caving in before, it was rather a shocker! I kept my stuff as clean as possible still...I don't like getting into dirty clothes. I was mostly successful! I hear we used to be like ya'all (i mean, mind you, I've only been caving since June, and the WNS stuff first started in 2006) but I hear prior to WNS stuff was always dirty here too - and it is part of what cave cavers a bad name with the biologists and why cavers got blamed early on because of moving mud from one cave to another or somesuch.
Bob Smith
Member
I remember a tale of some Mendip cavers returning from France; when asked by the nice man in the uniform to open their boot (trunk for our foreign friends) for an inspection they cooperated, and said the reaction of the customs guy on seeing and smelling the state of their kit was stunning. :yucky:
whitelackington
New member
Next time your over Amy,
ask Les to take you for a trip into Compton Martin Ochre Mine,
you'll come out like a redskin.
ask Les to take you for a trip into Compton Martin Ochre Mine,
you'll come out like a redskin.
Les W
Active member
Last time I went to the US I had my stuff searched at the Bristol Airport on the way out by the Airline security staff. "What's in there" they said.
"My caving gear" said I.
"Take it out please"
"Are you sure" I said, "it's a bit dirty"
"No problem" they said "just unpack it please"
"here?"
"yes"
10 minutes later and there was a pile of dirt on the floor of the concourse and my baggage weight had reduced by about 2KG.
I chuckled all the way to the plane.
"My caving gear" said I.
"Take it out please"
"Are you sure" I said, "it's a bit dirty"
"No problem" they said "just unpack it please"
"here?"
"yes"
10 minutes later and there was a pile of dirt on the floor of the concourse and my baggage weight had reduced by about 2KG.
I chuckled all the way to the plane.
paul
Moderator
We had a different reaction in the 80's when stopped by customs at Pembroke Dock after returning from a caving trip to County Clare in Ireland. They insisted on checking the boot to one of our cars. They weren't a bit flabbergasted when they saw a collection of Rocket Tubes and Ammo Boxes...
