Have you ever participated in potholing or cave diving?

Imagine dying horrifyingly in something called 'nutty putty'. It's like being mauled to death by a creature called 'woozie snoozie'.
 
Reizo Ryuu said:
I remember a story about some guy making a wrong turn in one of these super cramped caves and it lead to a dead end, and because of the angle they couldn't get him out either, I believe his body is still in there.

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Yeah, watching that video on youtube I had actual physiological symptoms. Elevated heart rate, sweaty. One of the worst things I've ever seen, and it's not graphic in any way. Just explaining what happened to this dude. No chance you get me into anything even slightly like this.
 
To be blunt BASE jumping in a wing suit would be better than potholing. I mean at least it's exciting and if something goes wrong you'd be gone in a moment and not suffer for days. I mean if you're going to do something dangerous it seems preferable. (Although probably a lot more dangerous.)
 
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Punished Miku said:
Yeah, watching that video on youtube I had actual physiological symptoms. Elevated heart rate, sweaty. One of the worst things I've ever seen, and it's not graphic in any way. Just explaining what happened to this dude. No chance you get me into anything even slightly like this.
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100%. The Nutty Putty cave story legitimately fucking terrifies me in a way I struggle to process. Fuck (pause for effect) that.
 
I'd be curious to see the break-down of how many men die exploring caves versus women.

Might explain that pay gap a little bit :P
 
I haven't been since I was my early twenties. I would go again, but only with a small group of experienced people, and only in caves where you can stand or swim freely and turn around.

I got stuck in a tight spot behind an idiot having a panic attack once, and it became contagious in other members as well. It was not fun. It took us 15-20min to get out of it, but it seemed like hours.

If I had a family of my own, I would never do something like that. There's nothing down there worth dying for.
 
That Nutty Putty story gives me the heebie-jeebies. It's even worse than the concept of being buried alive (at least then it won't take too long).
clarky said:
Crushed, burning and drowning are your only fears ? How about being absorbed by the thing in Antarctica or bummed to death in a thai prison?
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I know I'll regret asking this, but what "thing in Antarctica"?
 
Nope but there was a stretch of a couple of months where I REALLY got interested in it and started watching videos and stories of people going missing underwater cave diving, one that stuck out was a story about some guy going into a public hole only to never be found again, they managed to find equipment down there, but not him. They came out with a documentary about it some time ago called Bens Vortex, I had it on my ebay watch list for almost a year before one of the DVD's turned up for sale and bought it for like $9. Some of the best underwater cave divers in the world went there to search for him. These guys (and gals) are absolute heroes. Think about it, you're the one getting the call to save trapped people, and no one else can step in but you. That's Edd Sorenson.

en.wikipedia.org

Disappearance of Ben McDaniel - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

By Sunday, August 22, no other signs of McDaniel had been found. Edd Sorenson, a veteran cave diver and recovery specialist with nearly 2,500 logged dives, received a text message from his wife. At the time, he was leading an expedition based on a yacht in the Bahamas. He arrived at Vortex Springs the next day. Other divers, and an official with International Underwater Cave Rescue and Recovery, told him it was too dangerous to search any deeper into the cave.

Sorenson, who has been described by the Tampa Bay Times as being able to go where other divers cannot, persisted. He made three separate dives that day, going (by his account) 1,700 feet (520 m) into the cave, 200 feet (61 m) farther than those sections McDaniel had mapped, using a diver propulsion vehicle and smaller tanks to increase his range. He found nothing – no body, and no evidence of one such as increased activity by carnivorous aquatic scavengers, nor any evidence that McDaniel had gotten into those sections, such as marks on the cave walls or disturbed silt.

McDaniel was 6 feet 1 inch (185 cm) tall and weighed 210 pounds (95 kg), one inch (2.5 cm) taller and 20 pounds (9.1 kg) heavier than Sorenson. Without cave diving training, Sorenson said, there was no way McDaniel could have gotten through some of the narrower passages, called restrictions by divers, in the cave. "I know what I'm doing and I barely made it through," he told the Commercial Appeal. "The last place I searched was pristine, without a mark that a diver had been there. It would be impossible to go through that restriction without making a mark on the floor or ceiling. He's not in there.
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Some of Edds videos


 
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Cave diving is one of the most retarded activities I've seen.

It's for people who are done with life.Which is why I have no sympathy for the people who WILLINGLY go inside these things.At that point you're asking people to feel sorry for someone who's the equivalent of willingly going inside an incinerator and turning it on.

Imagine having the vastness of the world to engage with as explorers and the depths of your imagination to draw from as artists. To leave a legacy behind...

Yet all your mentally challenged brain could come up with is go in a damp,dark 5 cm tall caves to squeeze in and most likely die in,alone,suffocating or drowning.

Sounds like a great legacy to leave behind!
Thumbs Ok GIF


I imagine cave divers feeling like the bikers from south park thinking they are all cool making sounds with their Harleys when in fact the whole town hates them. Except instead of Harleys all you hear are the grunts of them squeezing inside a 5cm tall cave.
Election Randy Marsh GIF by South Park
 
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Rran said:
That Nutty Putty story gives me the heebie-jeebies. It's even worse than the concept of being buried alive (at least then it won't take too long).

I know I'll regret asking this, but what "thing in Antarctica"?
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You might be too young for the reference. 1982.

40b5kWQS0ixxGrPz.jpg
 
Im not claustrophobic, but Im not suicidal either. A lot of things can go wrong doing these. We already have short/average lives, dont need to cut it even shorter.
 
Hell no. I did get a random YouTube video on my feed talking about a cave diver who died, and it went into details with a diagram. Needless to say I watched it as it was fascinating, and watched the others that were being fed to me.

But there's no way in hell I'd ever do it.
 
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While I am fascinated with our planet, the times I have heard people lost in caves or in those ones that have water in them have left me gasping for air. I didn't used to be like this but I hate closed in spaces, mainly spaces where I feel I could get trapped and die. I could see myself break bones to dislodge myself from a gap. That's how scared I am of having the Earth become my tomb, too soon.
 
Just reading about it in this thread I can say with confidence that cave diving is not for me.

I know my place as a man and not an earthworm.
 
I've been to a sandstone cave once, had to crawl through very narrow spaces, but mostly straight path. It was very warm and humid inside, couldn't keep my glasses on due to them fogging up. There was a water spring inside and lots of bats and some albino crickets lol. The cave isn't available for exploring anymore due to risk of collapsing.
Overall it was fun, I was covered in mud head to toe.
 
I'm not claustrophobic, so that is not the reason for me to pass. It's the risks more than anything. I might overcome that with a good guide
 
I like skydiving but caves scare the absolute living shit out of me.

The Nutty Putty incident from a few years ago really stuck with me. Can't imagine anything worse than what that guy must have been feeling.
 
I'd understand the point of cavediving if there was some kind of scientific benefit to it, like finding some awesome bacteria which only exists there and has magical properties. But just doing it to challenge yourself is retarded. Thinking that it's worth the possible heartbreak you cause your family and friends is pretty selfish.
 
Trilobit said:
I'd understand the point of cavediving if there was some kind of scientific benefit to it, like finding some awesome bacteria which only exists there and has magical properties. But just doing it to challenge yourself is retarded. Thinking that it's worth the possible heartbreak you cause your family and friends is pretty selfish.
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yeah , just use drones for exploration .
 
Trilobit said:
I'd understand the point of cavediving if there was some kind of scientific benefit to it, like finding some awesome bacteria which only exists there and has magical properties. But just doing it to challenge yourself is retarded. Thinking that it's worth the possible heartbreak you cause your family and friends is pretty selfish.
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The Nutty Putty cave was even worse than that. The guy was in medical school so arguably a responsibility to society.
 
Nope. I've watched enough YouTube videos to know that nothing good can come from going into caves.
 
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Not in a million years. About 20 years ago I got stuck trying to fix a water leak alone in a tight crawl space. Was on my stomach with water up to my chin for about half an hour. Never again.
 
dave_d said:
Oh I thought that had been mentioned before. His wife was pregnant wasn't she?
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I think so. Apparently dying on a cave was more important to him.

I don't mind going in a safe cave that us guided tour. I went to Crystal Caves in Bermuda but now I am squeezing into these tiny spaces where I could barely move.
 
Woggleman said:
I think so. Apparently dying on a cave was more important to him.

I don't mind going in a safe cave that us guided tour. I went to Crystal Caves in Bermuda but now I am squeezing into these tiny spaces where I could barely move.
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Oh ok. I just wanted to bring up the med school thing since pretty much you'd think a guy who could get in would have sense enough to not do something like that. (Plus he took a spot away from someone else that could have gone on to be a doc.)
 
I have heart problems so I feel like this would kill me fast. My friend showed me videos a while ago and even just watching it made me tense up.
 
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