Caving Gear Checklist Generator
Pick a trip type, a duration, and a party size to build a categorised gear checklist — essentials, lighting, food and water, group safety, and gear specific to horizontal, vertical, or wet trips.
Why the list changes with your inputs
Trip duration scales the consumables — water and snacks per person grow with the hours underground. Party size scales the shared, group-level items — spare batteries, first-aid kits, and rescue gear are sized to reasonable ratios per person rather than duplicated needlessly for every single caver.
Trip type adds a dedicated category on top of the shared core: vertical trips add full SRT rope gear, wet trips add a waterproofing and thermal layer, and horizontal trips add knee and elbow protection for crawling passages.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does the gear checklist generator work?
Pick your trip type — horizontal, vertical (SRT), or wet — and your trip's duration and party size. It builds a categorised list: always-on essentials like a helmet, primary and backup light, and an oversuit; lighting and food and water scaled to your numbers; group safety items scaled to party size; and gear specific to your trip type, like a harness and descender for a vertical trip or a wetsuit layer for a wet one.
Why does the list scale spare batteries and first-aid kits to party size?
Some gear makes sense per person, but group-shared items scale more sensibly by headcount — one spare battery set can reasonably cover two people's contingency needs, and one first-aid kit is normally enough for a party of up to six. The generator applies those ratios so the list grows sensibly with a bigger group rather than doubling everything per person.
What's different about a vertical (SRT) trip's gear?
Rope work adds a harness rated for single rope technique, a descender, ascenders for climbing back up, cross-safety lanyards (cowstails) for clipping in at rebelays, rope protectors for edges, and — scaled to party size — rescue or haul kits in case someone needs assistance on the rope.
Is this list complete enough to skip my own trip planning?
No — treat it as a solid starting checklist, not the final word. Every cave system has its own quirks, and a qualified leader or your local caving club will know specifics this generic tool can't: known hazards, required permits, or gear conventions particular to that system.
A starting point, not gospel — adjust for the specific cave system and confirm rigging and safety gear with a qualified leader or your caving club before a trip.