With the coronavirus lockdown, I've had to cancel many caving trips this year and am absolutely itching to go back underground! My partner and I greatly enjoy spending our lockdown evenings watching your videos and talking about all the caves we'll see when this is over! (Although it does hurt a little to see these caves and know I can't go back to them for a while) (Also, OFD was my first cave ever, so it always brings me nostalgia. It's lovely to see it so beautifully recorded!)
Thanks for making such great caving videos Derek, always well produced and informative. It's a shame you didn't get the opportunity to do the through trip on this occasion, as the streamway really is magnificent. But as you no doubt found out, Wales isn't renowned for having many dry days! PS. As a local I thought your pronunciation of the place names wasn't bad at all ;) Keep up the great vids.
Your pronunciation is not bad. You got OFD right, and Penwyllt but Swansea is swanzee, not swansee-a. Nice vid of the lovely OFD2 upper series. It is a very fine cave (if somewhat confusing).
Thanks for letting others enjoy your adventures and exploration. Outstanding videos ; underground where it is muddy, humid and or wet no less. When I was active caving in the 60's and the 70's , the NSS frowned upon publicizing caving. Film footage of the access and entrance to caves was rare. I wonder if you experience criticism from elitist cavers regarding some of your videos.
I try to moderate how much I show about US caves that don't have controlled access, but the culture of secrecy is regional, and it's far less an issue in Europe. Caving membership and participation is declining and the culture of secrecy is part of the reason (there are many reasons).
Brits and other Europeans seem to carry vastly less kit than Americans on their trips. I'm curious about the cultural differences. Maybe Americans on average have more of a backpacking background and try to pack similarly?
Les Williams led our trip in OFD. He defended that he had 3 sources of light - his, Badger's and Cookie's. You're correct though. I know US cavers who always carry 3 locking biners, pulleys, full first-aid kit, 40 feet of tubular webbing... even on horizontal trips. Hazel and I were the only one's carrying packs on this trip.
Great video! Thanks for sharing! However if I may, less music and more actual ambient would be nice. People think it's obligatory to drop a background music on footages but most of the time it's unnecessary, doesn't fit the footage, and is rather distracting. Shame because your footages are really good!
Your videos just keep getting better! Love this.
Awesome cave and video footage. Thank you for the tour.
Thank you! Probably the finest cave in the UK.
With the coronavirus lockdown, I've had to cancel many caving trips this year and am absolutely itching to go back underground!
My partner and I greatly enjoy spending our lockdown evenings watching your videos and talking about all the caves we'll see when this is over! (Although it does hurt a little to see these caves and know I can't go back to them for a while)
(Also, OFD was my first cave ever, so it always brings me nostalgia. It's lovely to see it so beautifully recorded!)
Excellent footage! Thanks for sharing!
OFDII was my very first introduction to caving many years ago. A stunning place!
Thanks so much for creating these. They're always terrific and it's obvious you've put plenty of thought and effort into them.
It's my pleasure. Thanks for watching.
Thanks for making such great caving videos Derek, always well produced and informative. It's a shame you didn't get the opportunity to do the through trip on this occasion, as the streamway really is magnificent. But as you no doubt found out, Wales isn't renowned for having many dry days! PS. As a local I thought your pronunciation of the place names wasn't bad at all ;) Keep up the great vids.
Pretty spectacular! I think you should bring them some vowels next time; they seem to have run out.
Your pronunciation is not bad. You got OFD right, and Penwyllt but Swansea is swanzee, not swansee-a. Nice vid of the lovely OFD2 upper series. It is a very fine cave (if somewhat confusing).
Thanks! Check out my Ogof Draenen vid where you can hear me try to pronounce Abergavenny and Morgannwg.
Thanks for letting others enjoy your adventures and exploration. Outstanding videos ; underground where it is muddy, humid and or wet no less. When I was active caving in the 60's and the 70's , the NSS frowned upon publicizing caving. Film footage of the access and entrance to caves was rare. I wonder if you experience criticism from elitist cavers regarding some of your videos.
I try to moderate how much I show about US caves that don't have controlled access, but the culture of secrecy is regional, and it's far less an issue in Europe. Caving membership and participation is declining and the culture of secrecy is part of the reason (there are many reasons).
Brits and other Europeans seem to carry vastly less kit than Americans on their trips. I'm curious about the cultural differences. Maybe Americans on average have more of a backpacking background and try to pack similarly?
Les Williams led our trip in OFD. He defended that he had 3 sources of light - his, Badger's and Cookie's.
You're correct though. I know US cavers who always carry 3 locking biners, pulleys, full first-aid kit, 40 feet of tubular webbing... even on horizontal trips. Hazel and I were the only one's carrying packs on this trip.
Great video! Thanks for sharing! However if I may, less music and more actual ambient would be nice. People think it's obligatory to drop a background music on footages but most of the time it's unnecessary, doesn't fit the footage, and is rather distracting. Shame because your footages are really good!