Missouri Department of Conservation

Caving Groups and Caving Rules

Before you go adventuring into a cave, you should know some of the basic safety rules. In Missouri, the most common caving hazard is hypothermia caused by exposure to 55-degree F water. Some have drowned in cave flash floods, so keep an eye to the weather. If you're new to caving, please visit a "grotto" (caving club) and go through training. A list of these grottos is available from the Missouri Department of Conservation or at Ozark Caving (linked below). If you learn and follow the rules of safe caving, the most dangerous part will be driving to and from the cave.

Caving rules:

• Wear a climbing helmet or hardhat with a sturdy chinstrap.
• Wear a good electric headlamp on the helmet rather than carrying a flashlight, so that your hands will be completely free for crawling and climbing.
• Wear sturdy old clothes or coveralls, work gloves and good (but not expensive) hiking boots. If it's a wet cave you may need polypro long johns or even a wet suit.
• Carry two other reliable sources of light in a small backpack or fanny pack, plus new batteries and spare bulbs.
• Never go caving alone or without the owner's permission. Go with at least three other experienced cavers; if one is injured, two can go for help while one stays with the victim.
• Always tell someone responsible where you will be and what time you will return. Give them directions to the cave and the phone number of the owner or other responsible contact.
• Stay within your limits. Do not use ropes or cable ladders until you have been adequately trained by experienced vertical cavers. Do not jump in a cave. Do not climb down shafts that you cannot climb up again. Do not go underwater in a cave without being totally trained and certified as a cave diver (open-water scuba divers are not certified in cave diving, which is a very dangerous sport).
• Don't smoke in caves. Tobacco smoke contains thousands of harmful chemicals; nicotine is poisonous to cave animals.
• Don't break stone formations or remove already broken ones--it is illegal, and it encourages others to break and remove them.
• Do not kill, collect or bother animals in the cave. A scientific permit is required from the Missouri Department of Conservation to collect.