Recommended reading
- Cave Exploring: The Definitive Guide to Caving Technique, Safety, Gear, and Trip Leadership by Paul Burger
- This well researched Falcon Guide details simple instructions for choosing the right gear for a caving expedition, understanding safety concerns, and how to explore with minimal impact.
- Cave Geology by Arthur N. Palmer
- Cave Geology is one of the definitive books on the subject and can be easily understood by beginners and those outside of the scientific realm. The guide is illustrated with more than 500 black and white photographs and 250 diagrams and maps.
- Caving by Peter K. Swart
- This all around guide to caving covers all the basics of speleology from safety, equipment, and conservation.
- Journal of Cave and Karst Studies by the National Speleological Society
- North America’s number one publication on speleological research from well known experts in the field. The publication is very much geared toward researchers and has features on new findings, studies going on at different speleological sites, and interviews with well known and important researchers. Published three times a year.
- The National Outdoor Leadership School’s Wilderness Guide: The Classic Handbook, Revised and Updated by Mark Harvey
- Everything you need to know guide about leaving no footprints, surviving on your own, what to do in emergencies, what to wear, and how to navigate. An all in one survival guide.
- NOLS’s Wilderness First Aid Book by Todd Schimelpfenig, Linda Lindsey, and Joan Safford
- Comprehensive guide to diagnosing, treating, and transporting patients with 75 illustrations.
- The NSS News
- A glossy print magazine published monthly by the National Speleological Society. Features are about cave exploration, conservation, history, and science, while regular columns include gear reviews, caving in the media, summaries of data from regional publications, interviews with well known cavers, news, notes, event listings, and photos.
- Of Caves and Caving: A Way and a Life by John E Gillett
- The book tries to explain why anyone in the world would want to go caving. Details in memoir format the past caving adventures of the author.
Useful Websites
General
- Planeta (http://www.planeta.com)
- Ron Mader’s website with features, book reviews, links, and much more on sustainable travel, including articles and links on caving. Slant towards Latin America.
- Virtual Cave (http://www.goodearthgraphics.com/virtcave)
- The Virtual Cave is an online reference to the minerals and features found within caves of all types.
North America
- National Park Service (http://www.nps.gov)
- Homepage of the US national park service with video features, trip planning, park stats, and news, including of major caves sites such as Mammoth.
- Caving Canada (http://www.cancaver.ca)
- There is no national caving organization in Canada, but this website links to regional caving groups across the country and loads of information on caving in Canada including the best locations.
- Caves.org (http://www.caves.org)
- The homepage of the National Speleological Society that ahs a bookstore, forum, links to caving clubs and societies, volunteer listings, tips and advice, conservation information, event listings, and membership information.
Latin America
- South American Explorer’s Club (http://www.saexplorers.org)
- Excellent non-profit organization dedicated to promoting safe and eco-friendly travel in Latin America. Loads of resources from clubhouses around the continent, trip reports, a magazine, book exchanges, and online databases and forums. Your best bet for finding information on spelunking in South America.
- Click here for Top 10 Caving Vacations - Overall