Who's the Helmet without the helmet???

[tomferry]

I have to  admit I didn?t have a helmet for many years until I joined aditnow and stepped out of my local area into mines which required more than flat walking , now days I would never go without it , it?s a massive learning curve underground exploring

 

[pwhole]

For my first trips, the only thing I had was a helmet - with a light attached. I think I got some gloves next

 

[paul]

For my first trips, the only thing I had was a helmet - with a light attached. I think I got some gloves next

What - you were naked except for helmet and gloves? 

 

[tomferry]

That?s a seriously bad image in my head bumping into a Man Underground like he has been fly tipped with nothing via gloves and a lid   

I remember my first head torch appearing on watch dog many years later for the risk of battery explosion I certainly got rid of that quick ! I think that was my first  learning curve buy rated  and trusted equipment.


https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.thesun.co.uk/news/2742579/joggers-lucky-escape-after-her-head-torch-bought-on-amazon-exploded-seconds-after-she-took-it-off/amp/

 

[PeteHall]

Pete

I am really sorry that our new caving kit and presence in the cave caused you so much offence...

I'm not easily offended Ian and I am always very pleased to see people enjoying the underground for the first time (refer to my post above), however coming across a very inexperienced group in the wrong part of a complex cave system, a long way from any entrance (where experienced cavers have regularly been known to get lost) is likely to cause worry to any responsible caver.

With your current experience, put yourself in my shoes for a minute, would you really have sent three unknown people, on their 1st or 2nd caving trip, with basically no SRT experience up Lancaster Hole, unsupervised? Remember, I'd initially suggested taking you guys that way as it would have been a really fun trip for you, but I became very worried by the comments from your group that you did not have sufficient experience to safely exit the cave this way, so I suggested an alternative. Remember also, from the moment we met and it became clear that you were in the wrong place and unsure of the route, I immediately started thinking of ways that I could help you, regardless of the inconvenience it would cause me or the delay on an already long trip. Not once did I criticise your group, but instead tried to understand your experience and come up with a suitable option to make sure you had a good trip and got safely out.

You may well have been able to retrace your steps and get yourselves out, but many people would not be able to do that on their 1st or 2nd trip. The fact that you were in a stonking great passage, having expected to be in small passage, suggested that your leader's memory for the cave was not perfect, so it's a pretty fair assumption from the available information, that you were at a genuine risk of needing rescue, if left to your own devices. I was worried enough by the situation that I still remember it more than a decade later.


We all have to start somewhere and we all make mistakes and do stupid stuff along the way; I'm definitely no exception! So long as nothing goes too badly wrong and so long as we learn from it, then it's no big deal, but it doesn't make the stupid stuff we did any less stupid, nor does it mean that we should encourage others to make the same mistakes. As many have said on this thread, they have started out without a helmet etc, but would never recommend it now.

Either way, I'm very glad that you and your friends have continued to enjoy caving and have since introduced others to this great sport 

 

[wiganexplorer]

how many people wear a helmet just to look the same as everyone else and so that internet troll's don't have a go at them?  Rampgill is like walking down a corridor. the ceiling is solid and high enough that you won't bang your head unless your an idiot. Peer pressure only works on the insecure!!

 

[ChrisJC]

how many people wear a helmet just to look the same as everyone else and so that internet troll's don't have a go at them?  Rampgill is like walking down a corridor. the ceiling is solid and high enough that you won't bang your head unless your an idiot. Peer pressure only works on the insecure!!

People don't wear a helmet 'to look the same as everybody else'. People wear helmets to protect their scalps from serious damage.

Mind you, perhaps if you can't understand the need for a helmet, there is little chance of serious damage.

Chris.

 

[moorebooks]

how many people wear a helmet just to look the same as everyone else and so that internet troll's don't have a go at them?  Rampgill is like walking down a corridor. the ceiling is solid and high enough that you won't bang your head unless your an idiot. Peer pressure only works on the insecure!!

Using the same logic perhaps you shouldn't wear a seat belt in your car as most of the time its innneccessary !!

Bits do drop out of the roof in mines and  Rampgill being no exception - point of a helmet is to protect your head underground bit like insurance it generally never happens but when it does !! Plus of course the incoinvenience and risks to others who may have to rescue you

 

[undead crow]

how many people wear a helmet just to look the same as everyone else and so that internet troll's don't have a go at them?  Rampgill is like walking down a corridor. the ceiling is solid and high enough that you won't bang your head unless your an idiot. Peer pressure only works on the insecure!!

    :chair: the first time you scalp yourself will be the time you wished you were wearing a helmet as for rampgill is just like walking down a corridor well there is a few spots that have heaps where the roof has fallen also you have folks that move the falls to one side so makes it look like nothing has happened

 

[legendrider]

I will gladly take anyone in the Rampgill 'corridor' and point out where a moment's inattention (I can attest) has left scrapes of paint and fibreglass (fortunately, not skin, blood or hair) on a downwardly dragon's tooth. 

MARK

 

[royfellows]

Mikes analogy was good re the car seat belt, but forget normal road driving, imagine a destruction derby - and no seat belt.

 

[sinker]

how many people wear a helmet just to look the same as everyone else and so that internet troll's don't have a go at them?  Rampgill is like walking down a corridor. the ceiling is solid and high enough that you won't bang your head unless your an idiot. Peer pressure only works on the insecure!!

What a whopper you really are 
You need a helmet for a night out in Wigan; you should be prepared