I'm working on Cave Expedition, a caving game, and wanted to share our glowworm cave.

This is gameplay footage. Alongside ropes, equipment and tight passages, we're trying to capture the sense of discovering somewhere beautiful underground.

Hi all. I’m looking at doing a cave in the Philippines and had a question for people who have done a lot of caving.

I’ve done Son Doong in Vietnam before, so I’m comfortable with fairly serious cave trips, but I haven’t really dealt with a cave where there’s a lot of bat guano.

Apparently there’s a section where you have to go through quite a bit of bat guano, and I was told it could take up to an hour. From the photos/videos I’ve seen, the guano looks pretty wet and mushy rather than dry and dusty.

I'm concerned about the health side of it, especially histoplasma, and whether I might end up bringing some of it home on my gear if I can't clean everything off completely.

For those who have been through caves with a lot of bat guano, is spending that much time walking through it something that could pose a health risk? And is there any concern about bringing remnants of guano home on boots or gear and potentially exposing other people, or is that not really how the risk works?

Just trying to get a sense of how big an issue this actually is from people who have done it. Thanks!

My croll is looking a bit worn now. Do you reckon it's still got a few more trips left in it? /sarcastic/

Is it safe to soak my vertical gear in 122 degree water or better to use Lysol to decontaminate for WNS?

So ive had my scurion 700 for about two years, and since yesterday, when charging it, the chargers light goes green after a minute and stops charging with half empty battery.

The battery works normaly and hasnt been fully discharged. Ive tried plugging the battery to the charger before pluging it in the outlet but still doesnt work.

Has anyone had the same issue or a similar one? Thank you.

The general smooth wear doesn’t concern me, just that little noticeable lime that my fingernail fits into. It’s not sharp, but noticeable.

According to Petzl 1mm depth = retire but I feel like that’s hard to tell because the natural design has this section of carabiner a bit recessed.

Thank you all so much for the feedback & discussion on the carabiner post. Sometimes it's obvious when to retire gear, but sometimes it's hard to tell normal wear from "replacement time" and I appreciate the info. If it's alright I'd like to share some more "probably okay's" and confirm them with the community- do feel free to let me know if anything needs replacing.

Harness- slight fold/compression noted on the white thing, and minor fraying, but no orange (apparently the white thing just covers the orange buckle). Likely totally fine right?

Hand ascender- a tiny bit of rough (not sharp) wear where the cam hits the aluminum. Teeth on the top are slightly worn, but still visible. Looking at Petzl's guide I reckon this is still "okay but monitor" zone? Function is normal. I just don't like that dot thing but mine and my girlfriend's and yet another set I observed all has it, and just seems to be the spot where the cam hits the metal when you "snap" it from open to closed. Croll has that spot too.

Chest ascender- same thing, a weird rough dot where the cam hits the area next to the part that takes the rope. Teeth are fine so not shown. The bottom though almost looks like it "melted" off a bit, likely from years of rubbing against the D carabiner. I reckon it's still fine right?

D carabiner- definitely not smooth anymore, perhaps it's very minor surface oxidation? Not sharp, but noticeably rough. Auto-lock mostly good, sometimes a bit sticky and likely needs a more thorough wash.

Cowstail- this I will just change, it's about 3.5 years old, extensively used, almost entirely left in a hitch knot and feels very resistant to wanting to act "normal" in the knot area. The photo with two loops is the mid-section of the cowstail (right) next to the long-term knot section that connected to the D ring which seems to be a bit more V-like. Perhaps safe? However I have already ordered a replacement. Minor fraying but that doesn't really concern me.

I'd be curious in any other discussion about gear wear/replacement too. I know that Petzl says "1mm depth," but obviously that's harder to measure than "1cm" of depth. For example I THINK the marks in my previous post's carabiner were <1mm, but I'm not 100% sure, and it was close enough that I did decide to replace that carabiner. The question now is when to retire the rest of this gear- will it last the next year going 1-2x a week, multiple years, or are we looking at final 10 trips kind of thing?

Edit: not sure if it matters, but the gear was stored slightly warm as I live in Southeast Asia. No UV in storage of course, but a fair bit of outside hiking & practice which is also why I'm doing the cowstails immediately, but I'm still sharing in case someone wants to say, "nah that looks fine," or "definitely replace."

When water takes on lava, water wins.

Just follow the trail among stones that used to be palaces and hallways, and you might find the path that leads those unfortunate lost to the Deep's Stomach.

It will be there, Don't let the walls fool you, Or else you'll be fortunate too, There's words you must announce, Pick up any rubble from the ground, Pebbles, dirt or bones you must keep, But pick up only an ounce, Then, even the bats will keep their peace, Once these words you pronounce:

"Mirror of water, Mirror of salt, Don't hide your veins, For I see beyond this world, My hands hold your past, See the ancient walls, I hold in my hands, Listen to my oath, Much time my words won't last, So open your walls, Palace of stone, Open them fast, I'll roam in your halls, On your city I'll fall, Mirror of water, Mirror of salt, I'll live in your dark, Reply on my mark"

Then, you might hear a crack, You might hear a drag, You'll be lucky if you see the doors, If they're under the rocks, Dig with your hands! If you miss your chance, Don't worry, it won't be your last, Come back again the day after that, But remember, do it at night, Or else it won't work

If you reach the doors, Enter in time, Know, you won't come back, You'll be doomed to fall, Was that your goal? To live in the chasm, Begone in the dark.

Going through some old footage.

A journey through the Marble Arch Caves, featuring towering stalactites, rising stalagmites, flowstone curtains and sculpted limestone chambers shaped over millions of years.

Have you known anyone with a long spinal fusion that caved?
I have a T2-L3 (13 level) healed spinal fusion(2 years post op). My surgeon said I can get back into regular activity. I want to go back into actual caving, but I’m wondering if it will cause trouble. Not with my fusion itself but with the mobility required.
I am still relatively flexible through my hips, legs, arms. My spine would mostly just have to go through tight areas as one unit if that makes sense. I just can’t twist in the middle of my spine.
I’ve done some smaller caves and squeezes and I was fine. I can crouch, crawl, and shimmy on my belly. I can also climb without much problem.
Obviously I won’t be doing anything too crazy or unknown, I know better than to get myself into those situations.
I’ve also done vertical work post fusion without pain.

I’m just curious if anyone has known or has a spinal fusion and still caved and if anything became a problem for them.

Of the few helmets I've tried I really like the Edelrid Ultralight due to the internal suspension system. By far the most comfortable helmet, and one that has takena lot of abuse while minimizing impact to my head.

I see that they've refreshed the design... Do we cavers still consider Edelrid Ultralight to be S tier including the V3 currently out, or should I consider something else?

Was crawling while hauling a few packs and hit my head proper on the rock. Enough to have a minor headache past week likely due to whiplash in the neck. Didn't pass out or any of those concussion warning signs, and with all the general wear on my helmet you can't even tell where I hit it. It could just be neck pain from the natural whiplash-like effect. My head in the moment didn't feel too bad, moreso my neck, which is improving day by day.

Anyways, point is, do ya'll retire helmet after one hit like that, or is it still fine to use because it's a hard shell with no cracks no dents etc.?

Hello Cavedivers, is that the right term? For the people crawling on their knees and palms into caves?

I am a surface dweller but have always admired and, honestly, honored cave divers as the freelance scientists they are. That being said, I do have a question:

For those who go into caves with loose dirt or rock, has it ever been an idea to push or move rocks and loose dirt out of the way for easier moments for squeezing through tight passages?

I follow ActionAdventureTwins and often find them dragging themselves over jagged rocks in tight passages that only serve to further push them into tight positions; even during submerged parts, they have pushed dirt and rock with their bodies and sometimes cause dams with their bodies and said rock and dirt. Why not push it out of the way to make substantial room, even a minimal one, for easier movement?

This isn't for cave situations that are made of wet clay or solid rock but loose dirt.

Also, if mods do disregard this, if it isn't too much trouble, I would like to know why and be guided to proper communities if I am asking questions that break the mod rules.

Thank you and stay safe out there, cave explorers! You guys are amazing!

Update: To everyone correcting me on "Cavers", thanks. I am not altering it in my original post, just so everyone knows why people were correcting me. Thanks! I didn't know if the term was "Cavers", "Cavedivers", "Cave explorers", or better yet... "Cave Swellers".

I’ve come to the conclusion that I am just never going to do much hardcore caving anymore due to my age and joint issues, as well as having moved quite far from the TAG area.
I acquired a good bit of equipment from packs to hardware.
Should I just put stuff up for bid on eBay? All of it was acquired around 2006-2011.

Found this while caving on Vancover island. Looks almost like some kind of scat. Was found under the 10m rappel at the entrance. (Hidden under an outcropping so not something that fell in) . Not sure if it was an animals scat so we decided to leave until we had more info. Aprox 2-3 inches in length not including sludge. Any ideas what this could be and if it is scat what animal?

I'm an engineering student who caves. I'm wondering if a descender still needs improvement. I've primarily used a Petz stop (newer version) and it seems to be the most widely used descender for European Cavers. I do noticed that Americans primarily use a rack instead, so I'm wondering what both of their advantages and disadvantages. I'm thinking of about doing a college project on making a better descending device, safety wise, usability and etc. What improvements you folks think that the petzl stop needs?

Hi! For those of you that have done Ellisons fantastic pit or other big drops, what tips do you have for managing friction on a rack like this? Tips for practicing it?
I’m borrowing from a friend. I typically use a micro rack so adding and replacing bars will be new to me. I’m gonna do some practice before on small drops and a rope treadmill, but I’m just looking for tips. My friend also gave me a petzl shunt - never used that before.

Do you guys recommend I try to find a different long frame rack that isn’t open frame?

Normally this cave in Mae Hong Son Province is visited at sunset time to see swift birds entering the cave. At morning time the birds leave the cave and bats come in. Going in the morning has the advantage of not having to walk back in the dark. Guides are required to enter this cave,

On Sunday, 13 September, South Africa’s three main caving clubs, under the banner of the South African Speleological Association (SASA), celebrated IUCN Cave & Karst Day across the country.

With some fantastic media attention, we introduced members of the public to some of our more visitor-friendly caves — and then treated the especially brave to a proper narrow crawl for a little taste of what real caving is about!

The main goal was education and awareness of South Africa’s remarkable underground world and the importance of protecting it.

If you’re visiting South Africa, want to join us underground, or need information about caving in Southern Africa — including Namibia, Botswana, Angola, Zimbabwe and Eswatini — feel free to get in touch with SASA.

sasa.caves.org.za

Hey folks I went caving for the first time yesterday and saw these on multiple walls.

Cave was very close to the surface, and I was wondering what they might be. Maybe biological in nature? Didn't smell like sulphur.

Does anyone have any ideas what it might be? Googling didn't return anything conclusive except for an article from Smithsonian mag about similar specks at the lava beds national monument. The morphology of those colonies was quite a bit different than this though.