Retro seems to be creeping back.... carbide...
- Thread starter ZombieCake
- Start date
tony from suffolk
Well-known member
.....
Carbide lamps were also useful for keeping you warm! Though you did have to be careful when climbing a ladder with a lifeline or abseiling - you got used to bending your head down and to one side so you didn't scorch your wrists or the rope.
We used to buy it in 7 lb. tins from the local agricultural store - sold as "Bird Scarer".
I was once asked if cavers could help dispose of 3 x half-cwt drums of carbide found at a local quarry not far from Matlock because it would have cost them to dispose of it properly as a "hazardous chemical". (Apparently they'd first tried spreading it, like hard-core, on their lorry park but it caught fire!) We arranged to take it away for free and then passed on the drums to other clubs in the area and it lasted us for ages.
We used to buy it in 7 lb. tins from the local agricultural store - sold as "Bird Scarer".
I was once asked if cavers could help dispose of 3 x half-cwt drums of carbide found at a local quarry not far from Matlock because it would have cost them to dispose of it properly as a "hazardous chemical". (Apparently they'd first tried spreading it, like hard-core, on their lorry park but it caught fire!) We arranged to take it away for free and then passed on the drums to other clubs in the area and it lasted us for ages.
tony from suffolk
Well-known member
During the course of our many Yugoslavia trips we became very friendly with a group of local cavers who also happened to be guides in the Postonja show cave. They admired our sad little Premier carbides so we did a like-for-like swap for their large carbides & I ended up with one -
Duncan Price
Active member
I do recall that one of our club members had one of those big belt-mounted carbides and, instead of the flexible car hydraulic system pipe from the generator to the headset (which most of us used), he had ordinary thin rubber piping.
Somehow he always managed to lean against the wall near the beginning of the trip, squashing the pipe flat and putting his light out. So he always had to stop and fettle it for ages, saying, "You chaps just go on without me ...".
Thus he had the perfect excuse for never actually going caving. :
Somehow he always managed to lean against the wall near the beginning of the trip, squashing the pipe flat and putting his light out. So he always had to stop and fettle it for ages, saying, "You chaps just go on without me ...".
Thus he had the perfect excuse for never actually going caving. :
