Exploring a cave is great, but I sure as fuck wouldn't try crawling down a tiny hole going down at a 70 degree angle. Some spelunkers are straight nuts though, like they get to the end of a cave and say "wow, the wind is whistling through here!" and try expanding small openings with a hammer and chisel or even explosives. I went caving one time in a well known but very long cave, with experienced people, and that was really interesting. When i got back I read my friend's cave incident journal, which details all the rescues and deaths that happened in the last year, and it was... interesting. Shit like "oh, jimmy got stuck, so we had to break his ribs to get him out". Great.
Brave people push boundaries so that less brave people can read things in books.
Edit: I assume the people downvoting this obvious truth think I'm calling them cowards. I assure you I will be right there with you curled up reading books about caving. Fuck all that.
I remember seeing a video of a dude exploring a cave and he was crawling through some narrow ass space tighter than under my bed. Why would one want to do this??? What if it was a dead end? How tf are you gonna turn around? Crawl backwards? I just can't with any of this
I mean, the moment you see a passage that barely fits a child and you think to yourself "Hey, I should get in there!", you're just aiming to be the year's winner of the Darwin Awards.
I love to watch caving videos: much better for someone younger and foolhardier than me to actually do the climbing and clambering with their gopros. I'll continue to enjoy things like air, vast open spaces, and vicarious experiences.
People take a lot of safety precautions now, reasonably, but every once in a while the cavers on YT will do something just stupid and it baffles me. "The water's ice cold and up to my nostrils, but I really want to see where this tunnel goes! Going to turn my lamp and camera off for now to save battery, see you in a few hours!"
Why do it? For the same reason Mt. Everest is littered with human corpses, shit, and garbage. For the same reason there's an American flag and a plaque immortalizing Richard fucking Nixon on the goddamned moon.
What I don’t get is neither path is very deep, so shining a light would reveal both dead ends. Can’t think of a worse way to go tho. And the fear and panic realizing you’re doomed.
This video detailing the event was more uncomfortable to watch than expected, if you really imagine what it must have been like.. Horrible way to go.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-TaF2DbaWw
I like caves (been to like only 2 or 3 though, lol), but if I become stupid enough to trap myself in one, I hope no one would risk a life to rescue me. That's what's actually the worst thing about situations like this.