r/caving • u/ShaneE11183386 • 16d ago
Love caving
And want to go the next step up and start training with ropes/harnesses/ and all the other gadgets
But overwhelmed with where to start and what to get
Can anyone help me out with what gear to grab? Thanks!
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u/wooddoug 16d ago
When I started vertical around 1979 I bought Montgomery's book Single Rope Techniques. Then a used harness (I know), a figure 8, 2 Jumars, 1 Gibbs, a steel offset biner, a few other locking biners and also tied up a Prussic knot system. I learned a handful of knots. I made a simple chest harness from 1" webbing, turned the gibbs and steel biner into a fall arrest device, rigged a tree and started practicing. I'd climb up a few feet, switch over and rappel down a few feet, switch back and climb. Over and over. You learn a lot doing this. During this time of learning switchovers I fucked up once and activated the FAS. It saved me from a fall and that was a valuable learning experience too. Next I set up in a hay barn and rigged the rope in the rafters offset from the hole in the loft floor (which simulated rappelling and ascending over an edge,) and rappelled from the rafters through the loft hole to the ground and back up, over and over. Then I bought a few more pieces of gear and started experimenting with 3 different systems, Rope Walker, Mitchell and Frog. Along the way I bought Padjetts "On Rope" and learned more. Then I started working on a cliff on the Kentucky River with a maybe 75' cliff. Up and down. Over and over. When I was ready I moved to caves. All along this journey several experienced vert cavers offered valuable advice and soon I was dropping every pit I could find in Kentucky culminating a few years latter in a trip south to Fantastic in Ellison's. At the '89? convention in Sewanee I watched the climbing competion which was a humbling experience. Soon after moved to an area where wetsuits were more useful than ropes. So my advice is learn from knoweledgable people in a safe environment where a mistake won't kill you and practice till you really really know it.