Basic caving equipment

Helmets
A sturdy helmet is an essential item for the underground explorer.

It will carry your light, and will protect you from rockfall and the inevitable bumps and scrapes that you'll get from being in low passageways but more importantly, it may prevent serious injury in case of a fall. Most cavers use helmets made for climbers which have been adapted to allow lights to be attached.

An ill-fitting helmet can be frustrating, with constant adjustements necessary, so make sure you get one that sits firmly on your head with a comfortable chin-strap. Ensure that the helmet cannot fall off accidentally otherwise it is if no use to you in case of a fall.

Clothing
The choice of clothing for underground exploration will depend greatly on the style of cave system you will be visiting. In the UK, predominantly dry caves such as Ogof Ffynnon Ddu (streamway excepted) don't require as much insulation as a wettish Yorkshire caves involving delays waiting in turn to climb pitches. The big European caves, especially in the higher mountains can be a good bit colder than the UK, and the trips are usually rather longer duration.

For easy beginners' type trips old clothes (eg fleece jumpers and old anorak or similar) can suffice, but purchase of proper caving gear is advisable once anything more serious is attempted as it makes the whole activity rather more pleasant, and reduces the risk of hypothermia in the event of a mishap or delay.

A good start is a fleece undersuit, choosing a suitable thickness according to likely purpose and extent the individual feels the cold. Unlike the traditional materials such as wool, do not soak up much water and drain quite quickly after a soaking. A good oversuit made from tough cordura or vinyl complements this. Cordura is significantly more robust than the plastic or vinyl suits. Conversely in cold or wet caves, or where waiting one's turn on pitches, the waterproof plastic suits keep in the heat rather better, presumably by reducing the rate of cooling due to evaporation.

Predominantly wet systems where you will spend a lot of time in the water and / or swim, may be better tackled with a wetsuit, which also gives the benefit of extra bouyancy in deep water. However wetsuits are uncomfortable if worn for a long time, especially if the rest of the cave is dry. Also you can get very cold if waiting about in a wetsuit for any length of time, despite being the warmest option whilst actually in water. Overall, wetsuits are not as popular as they once were for general caving as the modern fleece & oversuit combination is better for most trips. If swimming is required, there's still a lot to be said for a wetsuit and many cavers do think it worth purchasing one for occasional use at least.

A compromise garment highly thought of by some is the Neofleece, which consists of a "shorty" wetsuit but with long sleeves and legs made of fleece. This would usually be worn under an oversuit.

Sometimes items will be mixed and matched, for instance you may wish to wear a fleece and oversuit along with wetsuit socks if the cave system has a lot of shallow water that needs to be waded through.

Whatever style of clothing adopted, it will need to be tough enough to withstand abrasion from the cave walls and floor, and to resist tears from sharp objects.

It must allow easy movement in all directions, but should not be so baggy it will "ride up" and cause problems in tight passages.

Gloves will often be worn, either to protect against the cold, abrasion or both.

Often, more specialist items will be necessary, for example Knee and Elbow pads where much crawling is involved, or a wetsuit hood when the cave environment is extremely cold.

A lightweight fleece balaclava can help when feeling cold and weighs very little. It can be stuffed inside your oversuit or even inside your helmet.

Footwear
Footwear receives a hard time in the underground environment and must be accordingly tough - trainers will not really cut it in most UK caves.

It is advisable to have some ankle protection / support so most people will wear boots or wellies (Wellington boots).

Wellies are excellent and by far the most popular choice for caving. They are cheap, very hard-wearing, offer (more or less) decent grip, shin protection and can be bought with steel-toecaps. Steel toes are a big advantage for digging, less so for normal caving, though heavier-duty boots tend to have them in any case. Steel shanks can also be desirable as they make the boots slightly stiffer and better for climbing, though designed to give protection from standing on spikes in industry - normally only an option on steel toe-cap boots. The gripiness of wellies when climbing is an important factor - some are excellent, whilst others are less so. It is hard to know before purchase whether they will be good in this respect. Wellies are also comfortable to wear in conjunction with wetsuit socks. It is also possible to buy lace-up ankle boots made of welly material. These are an equally good choice, though not as common as wellies.

Some people will drill holes in their wellies to aid drainage when full of water. Others claim that this is a waste of time as it just allows more water (and stones) into the boots in the first place - but then the water will just as easily flow out again! This also helps when removing the wellies if they are a snug fit when wearing wetsuit socks. Another option is to cut the wellies down into shorter boots. In caving you often wade over the tops of wellies so being high is no longer a particular asset.

Leather walking boots will get destroyed and are too expensive to ruin so quickly. Caves are wet and full of grit, sand and mud, all of which leather does not like. Also avoid boots which have hooks for fastening laces as these can easily get caught on the thin wire used in the construction of "electron" (lightweight and made of thin steel wire and alloy rungs) ladders. Leather lace-up work boots / army boots are a reasonable choice as they are relatively cheap and last moderately well, although the toes wear through quite quickly. Leather work-boots with external steel toe caps last much longer as the toes are protected by the steel. Boots with internal steel toe-caps are useless lasting only a few trips as the steel acts as an anvil for hammering the leather against rock. The toes wear through after a few trips, the steel caps fall out through the hole and the boots fall to bits. Thus internal toe-cap boots are far worse than no toe-caps at all. When dried out, leather boots get rock-hard and need to be held under the tap or soaked in a puddle in order to get your feet in. Even so, there is really very little point treating (eg with dubbin / nikwax) leather caving boots; just accept they will get ruined and replace when required. Or buy wellies. It used to be rather fashionable in caving circles to wear the most decrepit boots imaginable, but trying to perform a delicate climb with soles tied on with the laces following a last ditch running repair underground isn't really sensible!

Knee and Elbow pads
In caves where there is a lot of crawling involved, pads are often worn on the knees, and less commonly elbows as well. Arguably the best commercially available knee pads are the "Warmtex"; made of neoprene, but with a bonded-on layer of a harder-wearing material (traditionally yellow). Heavy duty miner's hard rubber kneepads can be useful for digging projects but perhaps a bit cumbersome for normal caving.

Knee pads have the additional benefit of holding the legs of the suit so they don't drag when climbing or walking, especially when wet.

They offer protection both to the caver and the clothing.

Lighting systems
lighting systems

Additional safety equipment
Survival bag - A large 2 metre by 75cm plastic sheet. Two popular types are available - a thin guage transparent bag (lightweight) or a thicker gauge orange bag (heavier, more robust). For prolonged or enforced delays they can make a difference from merely being cold to suffering hypothermia. Some cavers find it convenient to store the smaller type of bag inside the helmet, sealed in its original pack. However there is a potential concern that reduced clearance inside the helmet could reduce protecion in a fall, though whether this is a real issue is debatable. A balaclava is also a lightweight addition as it greatly reduces heat-loss if trapped / injured, or merely delayed or colder than expected.

Gloves have previously been mentioned, and although not essential, can greatly reduce the risk of cuts on the hands. A simple slip onto sharp rock can give a nasty gash, which would be entirely avoided by wearing gloves.

A spare light is also a very good idea - even a lightweight, small LED light which can be attached to your helmet such as the Petzl Tikka.

Tackle Bags
Come in various sizes from small 10 litre capacity to large 60+ litre sizes for transporting equipment. Small personal tackle bags are useful for carrying food/drink items. They can be made from heavy duty Cordura or PVC.