5 comments about Cave Passages: Roaming the Underground Wilderness.

1. Michael Ray Taylor sends a much needed jolt to the world of cave literature. The book is a celebration of caving for caving's sake, rather than for some loftier goal. Mike is your average guy who has an unusual hobby, one that, in another time or place would remain unfulfilled. But Mike has not only been able to enjoy his hobby immensely, he has been able to weave it somewhat into his career. In his role asa journalisthe has wormed his way onto some of the most interesting trips of the past decade and, on occasion, been present at the making of history. Michael Ray Taylor has given us that rarest of things, real life advenure, told in a down to earth, believable style. In a world of incongruous movies and unrealistic fiction, this book is worth it's weight in gold.



2. In this irresistable book, Taylor shares his passion for caving in easy-going prose that never falters. He takes us all over into all kinds of caving situations, and the result is simply fascinating. What's more, Taylor never falls prey to the immodest "boy-am-I-ever-cool-and-macho" style that afflicts some who write about their awesome adventures. On the contrary, Taylor is disarmingly candid about his occasional fears and breaches of caving ettiquette. His honesty adds to the pleasure of reading this fine little book. Although the book is never quite as lyrical as one might hope, the last few paragraphs are surprisingly bittersweet.

   The single significant flaw is not in the text, but rather in the lack of photographs. One wonders how a book in which great pains are taken to describe underground scenes, and in which the personalities and work of several cave photographers are described, could be virtually photograph free. It's strange and a little frustating. But this is still a delightful book.




3. Come visit Michael Ray Taylor's underground world and explore some of the last great wilderness on earth without leaving the safety and comfort of your armchair. This collection of short stories on caving takes you around the world to some of the most exotic caving regions. Michael's easy and casual style of writing puts you right in the action. One can easily imagine how tight the Devil's Pinch must be, and what those rocks felt like as they squeeze you from above and below. I liked how Michael made each account personal by letting you get to know the other cavers and the local inhabitants of the region. This book is for anyone with an adventurous spirit.



4. After finishing this book for the second time, I again felt the pang of loss for having the pages not continue. A blend of caving, philosophy, and caving philosophy, his work gives one pause for finding meaning in one's life. I for one am jealous of the karst regions he has been fortunate to explore. Telling about those exploits is handled with style that doesn't get in the way of the story itself. I'm sure others would enjoy this book. I do.



5. After reading this and realizing I live within minutes of some of the places mentioned it makes me want to try it. It also helps me realize how lucky I am to live here. The book took me to what seemed like another world at times. Although I might not agree with some of his and other caver's philosophy, I still appreciate what they are trying to do with the sport. Maybe, I'll get to meet a member of the tight knit, eccentric, caving family and experience first hand some of the thrill and pain of going underground.

1 comments about Learning to Breathe.

1. A truly fantastic book, and a real insight into the life of one of the worlds greatest climbers. The book is an amazingly open and honest account of Andy Cave's life upto the epic climb on Changabang - honestly you won't put this one down from start to finish.

2 comments about Darkness Beckons: The History and Development of Cave Diving.

1. Farr tells the complete story of cave diving in England's caves (often sumps), and then describes all major explorations worldwide (up until the beginning of the nineties). The book is not centered on Florida's caves so american cave divers might be somewhat disappointed. There are many pictures and drawings, the account is always accurate and detailed. It is a very interesting lecture and reference for any cave diver, not very much so for an open water diver. Cave divers are explorers that always pursue the extreme: deeper or longer into a cave; this will probably fascinate most adventure seeking people.



2. Martin Farr's book is by far the best book on the subject of history and development of cave diving. It is really exciting as you follow the development of the sport over the years from before the war to the latest trimix dives, scooter etc... Geographically it concentrates on the UK (about 1/3 of the book) and then Europe, USA and the rest of the world. Mandatory for anyone involved in cave diving and recommended for all interested in adventure stories.

2 comments about The Taming of the Slough.

1. It is what it is - a detailed book about Peacock Springs and some of the other U/W caves of north Florida. It is detailed, well researched book on a specific cave system, from a scuba divers point of view. If you want to learn about this area - might be the ONLY book you can get - hence it is invaluable. Has sections on the biology of caves, geology, maps of caves, past explorers, etc.
   I wish they'd spend more time on specifics of all the divers who died in these caves - just to keep the many amateur divers out of them and alive!



2. The Slough was unfinished and it is not as good as the Caves Measureless to Man as a result of this. However it is considered a classic as a standard textbook for underwater cave exploration techniques.

No comments about A FalconGuide to Mammoth Cave National Park: A Guide to Exploring the Caves, Trails, Roads, and Rivers (Exploring Series).

1 comments about Cave Exploring: The Definitive Guide to Caving Technique, Safety, Gear, and Trip Leadership (Falconguides).

1. Paul's a good friend and a great caver; I can't think of very many people who would be better qualified to write this book. He's done an admirable job of presenting both a good introduction to caving as well as providing some more advanced material for folks who have been caving for some time. I could nitpick some of the presentation - but overall the book is very well crafted. (I especially enjoyed the dedication - thanks, Paul!)

5 comments about Caverns Measureless to Man.

1. I read this book from front to back in about 4 days. It was a very enjoyable read and very hard to put down. Exley did a very good job describing the early years of cave diving and how it evolved to it's present state circa 1993.
   I didn't want the book to end, for I knew that one more turned page was one step closer to the end of Exley's life.
   I have read many books on diving-The Last Dive, Submerged, The Cave Divers, Final Descent, etc.- and I have to say that Caverns... was one of the more descriptive,better moving books of all that I have read. It was fascinating to read about all of the research, preperation and logistics that went into Exley's record setting dives. I also found it interesting to read about Exley's incredible luck through 20 plus years of diving. Of all the envelope pushing that was a part of cave diving and deep diving's infancy it was very apparent that Exley was incredibly lucky to not die or get seriously bent in his record breaking pursuits. Others around him, even partners, seemed to succum to the deep while Exley remained unscathed. Incredible luck or Incredible talent? Probably a lot of both.
   What needs to be written now is an addendum to the book that discusses Exleys fatal dive at Mante and how and why it happened.
   One thing is for certain, had Exley not lived, many of the safety measures that are a part of everyday life for a scuba diver would not have been invented. We scuba divers, won't fully realise the contribution that Exley made until we read this book.
   A Great book, a keeper to be re-read many times.



2. Hard to put down. It's an exhilarating ride for an autobiography. The history of cave diving is the history of Sheck Exley. He pioneered many of the cave diving protocols and risked his life testing the theories. All divers owe Sheck our gratitude.
   
   Highly recommended.



3. This is an absolute must for every technical/overhead diver but also an intriguing super enjoyable book for all divers and non-divers alike. Exley was not only the best cave diver ever but a great writer too. You will not put it down!



4. I always thought that I wouldn't like cave diving, until I read this book. It is well written and flows well. A nice well rounded story of cave diving. Enough to pull you in if you have even the inkling of interest in the topic.



5. Long out of print and very hard to obtain, it was great to see this book re-issued and available through Amazon.
   
   This is an excellent book, well written and a great 'read'. It is an autobiographical account of the cave diving exploits of Sheck Exley, but also comprises a very good history of beginning cave diving in Florida, Mexico and some other areas. The extensive descriptions of the many Florida and Mexico caves was most appreciated - especially in light of what can be read now on various internet diving forums.
   
   The only thing missing from the book was any mention of the WKPP (Woodville Karst Plain Project).
   
   If you enjoy reading books about SCUBA diving, and especially about cave diving, then this book should be on your bookshelf.
   
   -R

5 comments about Submerged: Adventures of America's Most Elite Underwater Archeology Team.

1. the stories in and of them selves for the most part are interesting however a major drawback is that he can not write. he says he is waxing prosaic. and guess what he is absolutely correct. for a much better examppe of underwater adventures and vastly superior writing would be shadow divers. the writing makes this almost unfinishable however it is written at a grade 10 level so it doesnt take much time to blow through it. newmarket press should have insisted on a real writer to tell the story . this is truly a waste of very interesting material



2. Submerged is not only the title of the book but describes my feeling when reading it. Lenihan took me on a deep journey. I'm only an amateur diver but the simple clarity of the writing allowed to me a glimpse into the professional side of underwater work. The book was compelling but I must say at times I was uneasy-there was a dark side to even the lighter narratives. He and his diving team had some of the most frightening and even bizarre experiences I've ever read about and ones I personally would not find worth the risks. Nevertheless I must give them credit for such extreme dedication to historic preservation. I read the book over three evenings and most enjoyed the personal stories. My husband found the same book interesting for very different reasons. He was most interested in the history and romance of the shipwrecks.



3. I am an experienced technical diver and was fascinated with that aspect of this book. Mr. Lenihan is indeed a good story teller. I wouldn't be caught dead doing some of the dives that they did on air-- but then again they were diving years ago when no mixed gasses were easily available. I feel that I have the right to take souvenirs from shipwrecks if I've gone to the trouble and expense to get to them and they're going to just corrode away in the sea. But Mr. Lenihan makes his points about preservation without being obnoxious and self-righteous and I like that. He made me think enough about the value of these wrecks that even though I'll probably still take small souvenirs, my newly informed conscience would keep me from taking anything too nice. Don't buy this book if you want to know the best and safest ways to deep dive or cave dive. I'm not saying they aren't real good divers but they dive with air and a prayer. Still, in all, I really enjoyed it.



4. Sometimes it's hard to tell by the title what a book is all about. "Submerged -- Adventures of America's Most Elite Underwater Archeology Team" certainly sounds interesting, but I wasn't quite sure about to the exact nature of the volume. Turns, out it is the recollection of the founder and former chief of the United States National Park Service Submerged Cultural Resources Unit, a group of National Park Service divers, scientists and other professionals seeking to document and catalog shipwrecks. The "SCRU team" is thus a legitimate part of the U.S. Department of the Interior, yet it is one that's about as far removed from stereotypical deskbound civil service as one can imagine. Over a period of 25 years, author Daniel Lenihan created and crafted a team of divers whose skills and sense of adventure was second to none, yet also a group that combined astonishing underwater feats with a keen sense of archeological and anthropological imperatives.
   
   Lenihan describes his own introduction to cave diving as one of the pioneers who developed and advanced the state of the art when the sport was young and so many died in their often ill-conceived pursuits that the government considered closing off the Florida cave systems. Like most divers, young Lenihan was intrigued by finding and recovering artifacts but, unlike most, he quickly discovered that removing them meant destroying perhaps their most intrinsic value, that of learning from the past, the setting where they were found, the condition they and their surroundings were in. In the early 1970s he studied anthropology at the University of Florida, then joined the National Park Service as a "Park Ranger/Archeologist." Lenihan's quest essentially became a fight against the mindless destruction of shipwreck sites by treasure and artifact hunters by finding and documenting them so they could be properly protected as national cultural resources, just like those above ground.
   
   The book, divided into three parts ("Caves, Dams, Shipwrecks, and Dreams;" "The SCRU Team;" and "Reaching Out") and 22 chapters, documents Lenihan's lifelong quest, their early missions, and how his team's influence and reputation grew until it was called to work in all parts of the world, often in conjunction with the US Navy and other governmental entities. We learn about the development of underwater surveying techniques, ranging from simple measuring and triangulation all the way to sophisticated high-tech scanning and mapping systems later on.
   
   Lenihan describes such diverse operations as diving the frigid waters around Isle Royale (a national park in Lake Superior) to map and document the wealth of shipwrecks surrounding it; to doing the first actual underwater survey of the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor; to locating wrecks around Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas in the Gulf of Mexico; to potentially hazardous dives to the USS Saratoga at the bottom of Bikini Atoll that was used for nuclear tests in the 1940s and 50s; to discoveries around Micronesian islands. He describes almost impossible-to-get-to excursions into Kauhako Crater on Molokai; underwater searches in the Aleutians where tactical side-maneuvers had played a large role in the outcome of the more major seabattles of WW II; grisly rescue and recovery missions in poorly accessible locations where even Navy divers deferred; and making sure French divers properly surveyed and protected a sunken Confederate raider, the CSS Alabama, in the English Channel off the coast of France. Learning, developing, training, passing on always figure large in Lenihan's work, as does a healthy respect of the dangers of diving, and the ensuing meticulous preparation and following of diving protocol and procedures. There are many other examples, all wonderfully described in Lenihan's style that merges good storytelling with precise technical information and always a nod of appreciation towards those who helped him and his team, plus a good deal of pride in their accomplishments.
   
   "Submerged" presents all of this in a holistic way -- recollections, experiences, reports, suggestions. Lenihan includes adventures of his youth, including cave diving trips to Mexico with such pioneers as Sheck Exley who later perished in one of the very caves they had explored, as well as hopes for the future.
   
   This is a book about diving both as a passion and as a tool for the greater good of mankind, in this instance the preservation of underwater heritage. "My conviction, which has emerged from thirty years of diving, is that shipwrecks and underwater caves are places where one can touch the past in the most special ways," writes Lenihan who also described himself as someone who once "associated with professors and students who thought SDS, SNCC, and Abbie Hoffman were too damn conservative." Out of that counter-cultural mindset grew a sense of responsibility for our submerged heritage, and the drive to make it real, that sets a shining example of what can be accomplished when passion and purpose merge in a career, and that fortunate synthesis Lenihan successfully shares in this eminently readable and highly recommendable book.
   
   SCRU is now the Submerged Resources Center of the National Park Service. Its website at http://home.nps.gov/applications/submerged/ contains a wealth of interesting materials, including additional materials and images of many of the SCRU projects described in the book. Some detailed reports are availabled as PDF files at http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/hisnps/submerged.htm -- C. H. Blickenstorfer, scubadiverinfo.com



5. "Most Elite"? What arrogance from a nobody in the diving community. Another nauseating account by a bureaucrat mooching off taxpayer funded trips and trying to justify it as notable archaeology. Lenihan and James Delgado are the two worst. They haven't discovered or located anything on their own yet they call themselves "elite" and promote there books as "adventure". Hardly. Without the risks taken by the divers who actually found these sites at their own expense, Lenihan and Delgado are just two jealous gov't employees who can only fantasize about adeventure. Are we taxpayers footing the bill for Lenihan to write this self-promotion during his work day?
   
   
   If you want real adventure, read any Robert Marx book. America's most "elite" ? Bleep!

5 comments about On Rope: North American Vertical Rope Techniques for Caving ... Rappellers.

1. if you are into ropes , climbing this is the book to get. Detailed pictures, very informative. This is the bible of ropes ,climbing,rescue,ect. I reccomend this book to all who are into anything dealing with ropes!



2. I would not have been able to start my career as a climbing arborist if it were not for this book. This book is a great introduction to ropes and their use for climbing. It is mainly for rock climbers, but a tree climber can learn a great deal from it. After reading it I found The Tree Climber's Companion. The two, together, will serve you quite well.



3. Upon assignment to a certain organization...this book was required reading. I learned why later. Worth ten times the cost, if you glean and apply the material inside. This book has been out for years and does not go "on sale" from what I can see. No matter, buy it at full retail and you won't be sorry.



4. "On Rope" is an excellent background resource. However, since it was published there have been several important advances in equipment and techniques that should warrant a new revised edition.



5. This is a seminal roping work and a must have for the roping professional. There are more positives about this work than negatives. My recommendation is this should be read by some one who already knows the difference between useful and extraneous information. You need to be able to make up your own mind and / or visualize modifications for your specific requirements. If that's you - buy it.

5 comments about Caves of Carnage: Dungeon Tiles Set DU3 (D&D Accessory).

1. They're pretty, they're sturdy, and they get the job done.
   
   For extensive underground dungeon crawls, buy two of these.



2. it has lots of cave tiles - even an underground river! you can map that river through and add more of your cave with carnage abounding or make a dry cave with ambush areas. cave portions work well lost caverns of the underdark set, has pieces that connect with standard dungeon areas [starter set tiles, dungeon tiles 1,Arcane corridors, Hidden crypts set, and more], sewers of streets of shadows set, or even wilderness tiles of set #4 and probably upcoming sinister woods set. pipe can start river and flow to underground source or flow into sewer start or waterfalls in the wild.
   
   if you want large cave portions more of this set an lost caverns of the underdark. If you want a longer river [quite long one doable as is], get more of this one. one peice is a raft that a party of 4 could take down said river [even to sewers?]. DM can have fun with these.



3. Yeah... I was hoping for more actual caves and tunnels and less rivers and pools. There is water on almost every tile in this set, and no big rooms without water (though you could assemble a relatively big room out of multiple tiles). Great if your adventure takes you into a waterlogged cave system a la "The Descent", but not so great if you want a network of dry caverns.
   
   Also, there are too many corpses everywhere on the tiles; you shouldn't have to utter the sentence "ignore all the corpses lying around" during your game (if ever). This set was not what I was expecting.



4. This item is great as backdrop! It is a must have in a RPG session with miniatures



5. Similar to what some of the other reviewers have said, this is definitely not a set to use by itself. There are very few large expansive areas with most having corners or walls. It's sort of a chore and a puzzle in itself just to figure out a way to use any workable number of the tiles together. The rivers are a nice touch, but again limit what can be connected where. The bodies are novel at first then quickly become distracting as you either have to tell your players to ignore them or repeatedly revisit why they're there.
   
   I could see this being great if you bought two or three, or if you had some other tile set that could blend in partially(maybe Dire Tombs, which is a fantastic set btw). Otherwise, for a one-of don't bother.