Outdoor Galore

Caving is an outdoor activity which is also referred to as spelunking. It is a recreational sport wherein the participant explores the caves. However, speleology is scientific study of the caves and the cave environment.

The caving sport challenge includes a participant to explore the cave and the whole expedition depends on the cave which is being visited and includes the negotiation of squeezes, pitches and water. Cave diving is apart from caving. In this sport of caving, the caver needs to often climb and crawl and for the same, he has to use ropes for safety of negotiation of steep or slippery passages.

This outdoor activity needs a lot of energy on the part of the person pursuing this sport and is often undertaken for the enjoyment and physical exercise of the sport. There are also original exploration which is quite similar to other outdoor sports like diving and mountaineering. Further, biological or physical science is an important goal for some of the cavers and the basic cave systems includes some of last unexplored regions on the Earth. There is also a lot of effort being put to try and locate these regions and enter them.

Well explored and accessible caves have already been seen and to gain access to new caves requires a lot of diving or digging. This sport is for total fun and exploring them has become a necessity for some people. People come for caving out of curiosity and also for mystical reasons for thousands of years. Recent studies show that caving is pursued for extreme sport events and for nature activities like urban exploration or mine exploration.

Popularity: 47%

BookMark To:

For caving sport, one has to wear a helmet which is quite necessary. The helmet is worn to protect the caver from any head injury due to bumps or falling rocks. The caver has along with him a primary light source, which is mounted on his helmet to keep his hands free. Mostly, the cavers use electric lights which are common with halogen lamps having standard white LEDs as the latest competing technology.

A lot of cavers opt for two or more light sources, like the one for primary purpose and the others for backup in case the primary light fails to work. Like, the second light is mounted to the helmet for quick usage if the first one fails. There are also carbide lamp systems which are an older illumination form and are inspired by the miner’s equipment and are still being used by cavers.

The type of clothes which are worn when on a caving trip can vary as per the cave condition and environment. For instance, in cold caves, the caver needs to wear warm base layered clothing which retains its insulating properties when it is wet like fleece, a furry suit, cordura, an oversuit of hard wearing and such clothing. If the cave is dry, the caver has to wear light clothing that is worn in a warm climate. Whereas, in the tropical caves, the caver has to opt for a thin polypropylene clothing to provide abrasion protection and remains cool too.

On the caver’s feet, he has to wear boots like hiking style boots in dry caves and rubber boots in wet caves. There are also knee pads and elbow pads which are popular while crawling.

Popularity: 5%

BookMark To:

What is actually a Dutch oven? Well, these types of ovens are closely connected with the old west side of America and this tradition of Dutch oven is a heavy cast iron or aluminum pot. This is traditionally being made with 3 short legs and there is a concave cover which can hold hot coals on the top of the pot. The Dutch ovens are used in group camp outs and certain outdoor cooking trips.

Normally, you can see a pot which hangs over the fire and the rigging is done with metal iron inserted to the pot. There are 2 vertical iron bars having an iron cross piece which can allow the pots to hang at any heights.

In a traditional concept, the Dutch ovens were specially designed for the purpose of camping and these pots are still used and are available in the market. The Dutch pot is placed in a bed of hot coals and there is a keyhole fire with extra coal placed on the top of the lid. The ovens are, in actual sense, not suitable for backpacking as these pots are heavy to carry. The Dutch ovens are proper for cooking dishes which can take a long time. This includes baked goods, stews and joints of meat.

When a Dutch oven pot is hung over the fire, the picturesque may spill but nothing to worry about, as you can fill the pot with half content only. Generally, this oven is completed with metal fixing to it and this is similar to the historically used house fireplaces before the stove was invented.

Popularity: 6%

BookMark To:

Climbing is one of the most strenuous sports of climbing then any other outdoor sport. This sport requires a lot of stress on a person’s hands, legs and his back too. Climbing requires the participant to use both his hands and feet to ascend a steep object or a rock in the mountain. It can be done for recreation like to reach a great height while mountain climbing or for sheer fun and enjoyment or as a profession for maintenance of a structure or for military operations.

There are a lot of climbing activities, which a person can enjoy. This includes mountain climbing, rock climbing, ice climbing, tree climbing and rope climbing amongst other climbing sports. There are also pole climbing and buildering, which is one of the climbing techniques.

Rope climbing involves climbing a short but thick rope for speed and tree climbing includes the person to ascend the trees without harming the tree and using ropes and other equipments. Tree climbing is less competitive than rock climbing.

Buildering is one such sport, in which the person climbs the urban structures without any equipment and avoids normal ascent means like elevators or stairs. Pole climbing includes climbing with climb poles and masts without equipment and it can be used for gymnastic also. In rock, tree and ice climbing, the person pursuing the sport uses ropes for safety purpose. Pole and rope climbing are the first exercises, which include the origin of the modern gymnastics of the late 18th and early 19th century.

Popularity: 37%

BookMark To: