I have about a half barrel of that rock-grade carbide that has been kept col and dry for a few years. Contact off list if you are looking for some.
________________________________ From: Mixon Bill <[email protected]> To: Cavers Texas <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, August 24, 2012 1:45 PM Subject: [Texascavers] carbide lamps And Windy City Grotto used to buy Justrite cap lamps from the factory in Chicago for $2.85 each. Of course, back then handled ascenders (Jumars) cost $18.50 for two. I guess $2.85 in 1962 isn't all that different from today's price of $29.95 for a perfectly adequate LED caving light. Presumably the people who pay ten times that or more for a Stenlight or a Scurion are also the sort of people who pay $100 for caving pants instead of wearing worn-out street clothes. Within the last couple of years I've seen a semi-trailer carrying huge containers of calcium carbide--maybe a ton each, presumably to some metal fabricator. If you do a _lot_ of welding or cutting, that might still be the most economical way to get acetylene. After it became hard to find small cans in rural hardware stores (the main market for carbide cap lamps was coon hunters), the UT Grotto used to buy hundred-pound drums from Bob and Bob. To avoid the high shipping charge, I'd pick up a drum at NSS conventions, by prearrangement with Bob, and haul it back to Texas. Getting cold is not usually a problem in most Texas caves if you can get out of the water, but generally I'd recommend that any electric caver carry a couple of good stout candles, a lighter in a waterproof container, and a platic garbage bag. I've once or twice spent many cozy hours that way waiting for the rest of a party to return and pick me up after I've wimped out on some hairy traverse. -- Mixon
