VTC Training Resources

Ideally everyone will have their own vertical gear; however, we understand that equipment is expensive and not available to everyone that wants to take the VTC Level I course. Talk to the members of your grotto, or your trainer, to determine what equipment might be available for you to use if you don’t have everything you need.

As this is a course for cavers, we expect that everyone will bring their minimal caving
equipment:

• A climbing-rating helmet
• Gloves
• Three sources of light appropriate for caving
• Clothing appropriate for caving
• Boots/footwear appropriate for caving

We also recommend the following:

• The VTC Level I student materials (which should be reviewed in advance of the course)
• A pen for taking notes
• A portable chair
• A water bottle (hydration is important)
• Food (discuss with your trainer the event plans)
• Depending on the weather:
  • A hat, sunscreen, long-sleeves for being outside in the sun.
  • A rain jacket, rain pants, appropriate for being outside in the rain.
  • A wooly hat, gloves, and down jacket appropriate for being outside in the cold.

Any kind of glove that are able to withstand the friction of the rope is fine. Some people say that you need to have leather gloves because of the heat and friction. That could be an issue on very long drops, but not necessary for the VTC training. You should wear gloves that will give you adequate protection, are comfortable, works for the kind of caving you do, and allows you to manipulate the rope while wearing are good.

Dipped work gloves work for many vertical caves, but don’t have the resistance to wear of an leather glove. A double or even tripled-dipped glove can provide more protection and resistance
to wear.

Leather work gloves work, as long as the leather isn’t so thick that you can’t feel the rope, or make it difficult to manipulate the rope. One disadvantage is that leather doesn’t work well in wet caves.

Leather rappelling gloves are also available, which have thicker leather on the palm (where the rope passes through); however, these are expensive and have the same drawback in wet caves.

While there are multiple descenders that work in climbing, there are a variety of reasons they don’t work in caving. Instead, cavers tend to use one of the following:

● Open Frame Rack
● Micro-rack
● Bobbin
● Brake-assisted bobbin

The decision on which type of descender to use is personal, but is generally influenced by the type of caving you do; if you plan on primarily descending the long drops in TAG, then the rack would be ideal. If you plan on caving where there are multiple short drops, mid-rope obstacles, or on international trips, then the bobbin or micro-rack would be a better choice. To help with your decision, here are some pros and cons of each descender. There is a detailed discussion on the types of descenders used in caving (and their pros and cons) in Module 9 of the VTC
student materials.

There are a lot of harnesses out there, but not all of them are suited to caving. Climbing harnesses have a higher attachment point, to help protect the climber in the advent of a fall. They are also often padded for comfort. Caving harnesses tend to have a lower attachment point, to increase efficiency while climbing. They also lack padding, which can become heavy when wet, and have additional protection on the webbing to prevent abrasion. But for both harnesses, comfort is an important factor.

If you don’t already have a harness, we recommend reaching out to your trainer to discuss the type of harness that might work for you: What type of ascending system are you using? What type of caving do you plan on doing? What is your body shape?

Some harnesses that come recommended by trainers include:

The MDTE Amazonia Harness

A review can be found here.

On Rope 1 Goliath Padded Frog Harness

Petzl Superavanti Caving Harness

Petzl Aven Caving Harness

We recommend trying on a number of harnesses to determine comfort and fit before deciding on your purchase.

It is important to avoid online aggregate sellers (such as Amazon), who do not differentiate between legitimate and counterfeit climbing equipment for sale – it can be extremely difficult to distinguish counterfeit gear from the real thing, even for experienced cavers. It is therefore important to buy equipment rated for climbing from companies with established reputations for buying directly from the manufacturer.

There are a large number of commercial retailers that sell climbing gear, such as REI. But caving gear is quite specialized, and unless you are in a large metropolitan area or in a significant cave area, it is unlikely that you will find the equipment you need in the stores.

There are a number of companies that specialize in selling caving equipment. These include:

• Elevated Climbing (www.elevatedclimbing.com)
• Final Frontier Sport (www.finalfrontiersports.com)
• Inner Mountain Outfitters (www.innermountainoutfitters.com)
• Karst Sports (www.karstsports.com)
• On Rope 1 (onrope1.com)
• West Virginia Underground (wvunderground.net)