Expo 2009/WhatGear

This is mainly copied from the survex site and last year's wiki. Feel free to add, delete, update and comment!

Clothes

Expo can be hot, cold, wet or dry, or (more usually) all of these in rapid succession and combination!

Essentials

• Sunshades, sun cream, sunhat
• Woolly hat, gloves.
• Raincoat, jumpers, shirts, shorts, trousers - remember that denim isn't good when wet.
• Underwear.
• Socks - lots of them!
• Boots - waterproof walking boots are better than non-waterproof ones. Make sure you get ones with good ankle support, for boulder-hopping.
• Trainers or other such footwear for wearing on the journey, into Bad Aussee or when you've had enough of clumping round in boots.

Extras

• Waterproof over-trousers - highly recommended.
• Gaiters - keeps the snow and/or water out of your socks but makes you look silly.
• Swimming trunks for swimming in the river at base camp, thus removing the need for showers.

Camping equipment

Essentials

• Sleeping bag - make sure it's warm, (3 season is good); it's not uncommon for there to be a few inches of snow on the plateau.
• Something to sleep on at top camp. Last year most people either had a air bed or a camp bed (you can get reasonably light and cheap ones from argos).
• Bivvy bag
• Knife, fork, spoon, mug.
• Plate, bowl and/or mess tin.
• Head torch

Extras

• Second (rather lower-spec) sleeping bag, for using at base camp. This means you don't have to carry your sleeping bag across the plateau every time.
• Second karrimat, for the same reason.
• Stove for top camp - ideally powered by petrol or paraffin.
• Penknife
• Base camp tent - more or less any waterproof one will do. (The club does have some, but not that many, and you are likely to end up sharing with lots of other smelly cavers!)

Caving equipment

Essentials

• Oversuit, undersuit, wetsocks, kneepads, wellies, helmet, gloves, thermals.
• Shreddies - several pairs?
• Light - preferably long-duration LED or carbide, or you'll be going down the hill for recharging after every trip. If you use LED's, make sure you have enough batteries for 30-40 hours caving between recharging stops; and don't forget to bring your charger! (A Continental plug adapter for it might also be a good idea.) See Custom light construction for Nial's design of homemade lights.
  • There is facility for lamp charging at top camp, but your charger must be able to accept 12VDC from a car cigarette lighter socket.
• Backup light - probably a small electric (Princeton Tec LED ones are good, but expensive).
• SRT kit. Absolutely imperative that you gear tape up the bits.
• Emergency whistle and survival bag.
• 13mm spanner (open ended) for bolting. Good idea to attach it to yourself in some suitably clever manner.
  • A common way of attaching a bolting spanner is to use a snoopy loop (a big rubber band cut from an old car inner tube) around your upper arm with the spanner tied to it by a length of tat. When not in use the tat can be wound round the spanner and the whole lot secured beneath the snoopy loop. Personally I find this to be a pain, as the spanner has a tendency to snag on things and come free of the snoopy at inopportune moments. Duncan Collis 09:46, 24 May 2008 (BST)
  • I prefer a half-length spanner attached to my wrist with a short loop of elastic. It lives inside the neoprene cuff of my oversuit when not in use. As well as being more compact, a shortened spanner makes it less likely that you will inadvertently over-tighten bolts. When de-rigging bolts which have been over-tightened, I put the spanner on the bolt, place my short cowstail krab over the handle of the spanner and give a quick bounce to loosen the bolt. Duncan Collis 09:46, 24 May 2008 (BST)
  • Attaching a spanner to my arm annoys the hell out of me, I find it keeps slipping out of place and getting in the way. My current preferred method is attaching a spanner to a krab with a length of cord and then using the krab to attach the spanner to my harness when not using it, and to my chest tape when I am. Ollie s
• Dangly bag, large enough for spare batteries, Flapjack, fudge, chocolate bars, tube of condensed milk, etc., Water bottle, Survival bag (this could live in a pocket)

Extras

• Thermal vest and leggings - could be essential. The caves are cold and there will be periods of waiting around and slow survey work.
• Balaclava - see above.
• Emergency knife (in case you are involved in a mid-rope rescue - but make sure you know what you're doing before you start slashing around!)
• Pulley. Indispensable if you ever have to haul people, and a great help even for tackle sacks. The Petzl Fixe P05 is adequate and cheap, but needs to be used with an oval krab.

Excessive

• Ice gear - ice axe, crampons, ice boots, ice screws, etc - essential if you're tackling the icy areas of Eishöhle.
• Skyhooks - pair of, for clawing your way across blank walls when rigging, or just to help hold yourself in position when bolting - it saves a lot of energy, even when you're in a fairly comfortable bolting position anyway.
• Camera, packaged in a waterproof, highly visible, indestructible, tiny, zero-mass box...
• Bolting kit

Miscellaneous

Essentials

• Rucksack or pack frame.
• Compass.
• Water bottle.
• Toiletries - toothbrush, toothpaste, etc.
• Flannel & towel.
• Glasses/contact lenses & spares if you need them.
• Plastic bags - the secret to dry clothes is bags in bags, with spare bags to hand...
• Reserve supply of gear tape, unless you need to relabel anything.
• Money - There are Visa cash dispensers in Bad Aussee.
• Passport.
• EHIC (European health insurance card)
• Insurance (joining the Austrian Alpine club is a good bet)
• Food for the journey out.
• PVC (TSA/Meander) oversuit owners: appropriate patching kit.

Extras

• Walking pole(s) for walking across the plateau. Useful for balance when stepping across big holes. Many people seem to just use one as two get in the way on the scrambly bits.
• Camera
• Cash for the journey (in Euros).
• Book to read at base camp when it rains.

Excessive

• GPS receiver.
• Handheld computer (e.g. Psion) - can be loaded with the Expo website for on-site information...
• Spare stuff - suppose you break (eek!) your jammer? There is a climbing shop in the next town.