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caverken
United States
Registrace 3. 02. 2008
If you have one of my cards click here
A handful of cave and caver related videos. Some about science. A little about cave photography. And some just cool cave explorers. The channel is about the caving or cavers I find interesting at the time. A video gets made when every one goes along with my stupid idea of creating this channel. To learn more about saving Big Bat Cave see Facebook KentuckyKarstConservancy/
A handful of cave and caver related videos. Some about science. A little about cave photography. And some just cool cave explorers. The channel is about the caving or cavers I find interesting at the time. A video gets made when every one goes along with my stupid idea of creating this channel. To learn more about saving Big Bat Cave see Facebook KentuckyKarstConservancy/
Cave Mold from Robert's Hollow Cave
Sarah swabbed petri dishes with samples collected from the cave walls in Robert's Hollow Cave in Kentucky. She grew the mold and then documented the growth. If you know the names of any of the mold samples please post them in the comments. To see the video with the in cave sample collecting see czcams.com/video/QsT7uU9s7iM/video.html. For more about the slime mold music see www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/machine-makes-music-slime-mold-180956864/ #caver #slimemold #Kentucky #cavescience
zhlédnutí: 32
Video
Blue Springs Cave Trip at the 2024 NSS Convention
zhlédnutí 185Před měsícem
Allie Shellhammer and Jordan Gates talk about our trip into Blue Springs Cave. Both cavers went to the National Speleological Society's pre-camp. They obviously had a great time and everyone who does something with the Huntsville Grotto always has great things to say. The Blue Springs Cave trip was led by legendary Caver Sharon Jones. #caver #NSS #NationalSpeleologicalSociety #BlueSpringsCave #...
Mark and Diane Lucas from the Central Connecticut Grotto (CCG) Cave in Big Bat
zhlédnutí 82Před 2 měsíci
Mark and Diane Lucas took the quick tour into Big Bat Cave in late June 2024. It was a great trip with some cool waterfall features and a side trip or two. Mark and Diane have been with the Central Connecticut Grotto (CCG) for over twenty years. They stopped by Kentucky to explore a few caves and hang out with a few displaced CCG members on their way to the National Speleological Convention in ...
Speleofest 2024 Talk
zhlédnutí 31Před 2 měsíci
I was honored to speak for a second time at Speleofest. Speleofest is the annual cave event put on by the Louisville Grotto. I spoke about the formation of the Kentucky Karst Conservancy (KKC) owner of Big Bat Cave and some of the early projects and grants that the KKC has gotten. There is also a little background on the geology of Big Bat Cave. Past projects include a vertical program and a Li...
Frenchman Knob Cave 2024 Bat Count
zhlédnutí 49Před 2 měsíci
On February 11, 2024 bat biologist Price Sewell of Copperhead Environmental Consulting, Inc (www.copperheadconsulting.com). along with Will Seiter, Gregg Janos, Brian Dennis, & Taylor Fagin did a bat count in Frenchman Knob Pit. Frenchman Knob Preserve is owned by the Southeastern Cave Conservancy Inc (SCCi). I have been part of a few surveys over the years and this cave used to have quite a fe...
Cameras, Cave Gear and Leftover Christmas Lights Coalesce in Roberts Hollow Cave
zhlédnutí 59Před 3 měsíci
A little after Christmas we had these battery powered lights and the dream of a light suit. So we headed off to Roberts Hollow Cave for a proof of concept (yea I know big concept crap) photo session. The crew included Elliott Woolsey, Sarah Starr, Paul Gemperlein, Maggie and myself. We played with shutter speeds at low ISOs with mostly wide open apertures. It is hard to tell what I like best. I...
Spider Shares His "Professional Cavers Test" Post your score in the comments.
zhlédnutí 40Před 4 měsíci
Galen "Spider" Hekhuis NSS#9464 has put together a "Professional Caver Test" and if you ever take the test in person Spider will give you some cool prizes. He was camped next to us at the 2024 Cave Cavort hosted at Jerry's Farm in Williston Florida. #caverken #caver #cavecavort #NSS #test
Caving with Minter at 2024's Cave Cavort
zhlédnutí 60Před 5 měsíci
On a cool weekend in Williston, Florida at Jerry's Farm Jeannie my wife and I caved with Minter Goodson NSS# 28237, Steve and some local cavers at the annual Cave Cavort. Cave Cavort is held every spring and usually in a different part of the state so every year there are different caves to explore. There were great caves, great food and great music at Jerry's Farm. They are very protective of ...
A Talk on The Big Bat LiDAR Project with The Underground Texas Grotto
zhlédnutí 77Před 6 měsíci
I gave a presentation on the ongoing LiDAR mapping project in Big Bat Cave at The Underground Texas Grotto monthly meeting on May 6th, 2020. This was back during Covid and we were all figuring out how grotto meetings worked. I appreciate the Texas hospitality I was shown by the cavers and was probably the coolest caving thing I had gotten to do during that time. Links: www.youtube.com/@UTGrotto...
Cave and Cavers of Crawford and Harrison Counties, Indiana by Gary Roberson
zhlédnutí 164Před 8 měsíci
Crawford and Harrison Counties have many more caves to be explored, but most will have to be discovered by enlarging small holes or digging projects of all scales. Still caves are possibly the only place left where an ordinary individual can fairly easily go where no man has gone before. Gary Roberson gave this presentation at the Crawford County Historical and Genealogical Society on November ...
Aaron Mikottis Shares How He Visualizes a Cave Photograph Before the Shutter is Pushed
zhlédnutí 140Před 10 měsíci
Aaron Mikottis, Paul and myself spent Saturday at TAG in Tumbling Rock Cave. Aaron while new to cave photography brings more than a few years of photographic experience and a unique perspective. His work with architecture, photographing abandoned buildings and a really good working knowledge of camera equipment made for some great photography. Paul, cave photography assistant extraordinaire and...
Bourbon Britches Perform "Leave the Lights On" in Robert's Hollow Cave
zhlédnutí 426Před 10 měsíci
Bourbon Britches perform their original song in Robert's Hollow Cave in Breckinridge County Kentucky. The band members are Anna Blanton on violin, Kelsey Lee on drums and Arianna Barton on guitar and vocals. Arianna also wrote "Leave the Lights On" The crew for the video was Dave (who organized a bunch of the project so he kinda made it happen plus being a camera man) Lydia on the clap board, A...
Bill Torode NSS5013RL, National Speleological Society Librarian Shares the History of Shelta Cave
zhlédnutí 263Před rokem
William "Bill" Torode first visited Shelta Cave in Huntsville, Alabama in 1959. He was part of the crew that mapped the cave in the early 1960's. He was there when the National Speleological Society (NSS) purchased the land the cave is under. Bill has been a steward of Shelta Cave since his first visit. "Since I live across the street it is easy to keep the weeds trimmed and the gate repaired" ...
JPat Stephens and Angelo George Recall Discovering West Cave in Big Bat Cave
zhlédnutí 247Před rokem
James Patrick Stephens (NSS# 8320FE) and Angelo George (NSS# 7149PH-FE) recall the trip and details that lead to the discovery of the West Cave in Big Bat Cave, Breckinridge County, Kentucky. This story is just one of the many significant discoveries these two men made in Big Bat Cave. Both men have added greatly to the exploration and science of caving in Kentucky. #caver #BigBatCave #Kentucky...
"Life is Like a Carbide Lamp" by Barbara MacLeod, read by Preston Forsythe, sung by Shari Forsythe
zhlédnutí 513Před rokem
"Exploring virgin cave while surveying is what we did." Preston Forsythe. Chorus was preformed by Shari Forsythe "Life is Like a Carbide Lamp" is traditionally sung to the tune of “Life Is Like A Mountain Railroad,” is a gospel song written by Charlie D. Tillman, M.E. Abbey, and J.R. Baxter. The cavers in the photographs are Chuck and Karen Chapman, Mike Dyas, John Ganter, Tommy Shiflett, P and...
Preston Forsyth Recites "Dark as a Dungeon" the caver version by Jan Canns
zhlédnutí 314Před rokem
Preston Forsyth Recites "Dark as a Dungeon" the caver version by Jan Canns
Sarah Samples the Walls and Ceiling of Roberts Hollow Cave for Fungi, Mold and Bacteria
zhlédnutí 137Před rokem
Sarah Samples the Walls and Ceiling of Roberts Hollow Cave for Fungi, Mold and Bacteria
Roberts Cave at 2022 Indiana Cave Capers
zhlédnutí 208Před rokem
Roberts Cave at 2022 Indiana Cave Capers
Dave Black Experimenting with 360 Video at Indiana Caverns
zhlédnutí 81Před rokem
Dave Black Experimenting with 360 Video at Indiana Caverns
Bethlehem Cave in South Dakota (NSS Convention Trip 2022)
zhlédnutí 369Před 2 lety
Bethlehem Cave in South Dakota (NSS Convention Trip 2022)
LiDAR in Mumyo Ana, Akiyoshidai, Yamaguchi Japan with Yuki Isono
zhlédnutí 63Před 2 lety
LiDAR in Mumyo Ana, Akiyoshidai, Yamaguchi Japan with Yuki Isono
360 Video of Master Cave Photographer Dave Black Creating a Photograph
zhlédnutí 104Před 3 lety
360 Video of Master Cave Photographer Dave Black Creating a Photograph
Glenn LeMasters and Dave Black Share Stories About Eploring/Mapping Oregon Springs Cave in Indiana
zhlédnutí 182Před 3 lety
Glenn LeMasters and Dave Black Share Stories About Eploring/Mapping Oregon Springs Cave in Indiana
Megan's First Cave Trip into Well's Cave, Kentucky
zhlédnutí 138Před 3 lety
Megan's First Cave Trip into Well's Cave, Kentucky
I don’t know what molds they are but I know you need blue dye to identify any fungi. You can make it with clothes dye. And to store the Petri dishes upside down to reduce illness/contamination. Awesome lab coat!
Looks like we may going to look for fungi next. Sarah does rock the coat. Makes the video.
Everybody's freaking out about the MrBeast drama, but *this* is what youtube was made for! Homemade vids about cave mold! Hell yeaaaaah!
Thank you for your very kind words and somehow convincing the algorithm to show our work. Looking for the odd little things in a cave is the coolest way to spend one's life. Hell Yeaaaaah
Neat!
Thanks Dave
Great video
Glad you enjoyed it
Nice video. It looks like a fun trip.
Yea it was. It is getting harder and harder to do those long trips.
howdy?, Caverken~interesting ~ have a great day~=)
Thank you
Looks like a cool one.
It was a really cool trip. Great cavers and a great cave.
I thought that cave looked familiar.
It is an iconic cave.
Would anyone be able to enter this cave or do you need permission or be a member of the KKC? Me and my friend like to explore abandoned places and caves with only interest in history, adventure, and exploration.
Me and my friend live in Breck County
Anyone can get into the cave with proper gear but you would need to go with a KKC member or join the KKC. Big Bat is a flood cave so understanding the danger is important also. My email is in the channel description. Send me a message and we will start figuring out how to get you guys in a cave
@@caverken I'm aware that this cave is a wet cave, I've been in a few and have even found uncharted/unknown ones in the middle of nowhere in the backwoods of Kentucky. Me and my friend are both 17, he's almost 18. We are respectful of locations and the history of the area and never vandalize.
@@SturmtruppKriegGaming1916 A wet cave is an understatement. This will flood to the point of drowning. I have some land out near Big Spring. Love the area. Did you find my email? It is under the section call it "If you have one of my cards click here"
It is great to see the final video. Nice video clip.
Yea it was pretty cool playing with the 360 clips and the color files on the Olympus are really good so they were fun to adjust. Your shots with the selfie stick were way better than the cable cam. Thank you for all the help on this one.
Neat!
Proof of concept for the vertical light suit photos. We need a cave with an easy drop where we can move back away to get the whole scene in the shot.
Love the questionnaire! 😂
Yea Spider is a pretty funny guy. You can appreciate this. He lost his trailer to a hurricane and FEMA did not give him enough to get back on his feet and the insurance company ripped him off.
nice
Thank you. Caving in Florida when it is cold up here was a pretty good idea. How have you been?
Looks like you had a fun time at the caving event! I enjoyed the video.
Yea it was pretty cool. Hey the price of convention went down so I might be down there.
Well look at you being the interviewee for a change. 😆
Yea I can do a talk if I need to. I just think other people are more interesting than me.
Actually what is the perfect definition of "karst window" for class 12th geography syllabus....? Please tell me as soon as possible....!
From "Cave Geology" by Art Palmer Karst Window: A sinkhole with a flowing cave stream at the bottom. I hope this helps.
Why don't they use this tech with drones to explore supposed "dead ends" in caves to see if maybe a little grinding might open up more rooms in caves we havent fully explored?
Unfortunately the scanner needs to be on a tripod and have survey monuments (minimum three) to connect the scans. With new tech coming out then it may be possible. All of this stuff is pretty heavy and expensive so you have to have the people to carry it back into some pretty rough places. With grants, rented equipment and volunteers pushing the edges of exploration and the equipment doesn't always get on the list. Great question and would be a great project.
@@caverken so many rooms for us to explore… it’s very tempting. I hope the tech improves soon. Happy splunking.
Thank you and Happy Splunking to you also
He's a legend!!! I've met him a few times. The king of TAG
Yes he is. I consider myself pretty lucky to have gotten to do this project with Bill. Great to see your appreciation for what Bill has done in TAG.
Hello! I am currently trying to implement a similar project with a photogrammetric overlay here in Germany. I am very interested in how the data was aquired and which specific LIDAR system was used?
Thank you for your interest. This is LiDAR data and not photogrammetry. It would be impossible to carry enough lights and batteries into Big Bat Cave to capture RGB data. With the LiDAR we could scan in darkness. We used Faro scanners. I will be glad to answer any questions. My email is in my about page.
@@caverken Thank you for your informative reply! You would be surprised how sensitive modern camera systems are and where there is a will there is always a way. It becomes a question of time. With modern top of the line cooled cameras it is theorhetically possible to image a section of cave just using photons flouresced from salts being excited by radioactive decay. This might take anywhere from a day to a week per section! however, depending on if a photomultiplier tube is used. On a more realistic timescale, one can without problems use a conventional 360 degree array of high sensitivity astro cameras. I think a good led of 10 watts should produce circa 1000 lumen, giving a surface brightness of circa 10 lux in a sphere with a 3 meter radius, which is quite bright for these cameras and should enable at least exposure times of maybe 50-100ms or 20-10 FPS or so, you should be able to get a basic semi realtime photogrammetric measurement. How large are these cave systems typically and what is the albedo by the way? Are my numbers about right? Lastly, how long does one usually stay down there for? A 2+KWh lipo or lithium ion battery should fit decently into a backpack enabling at least 200 hours of operation for the light, and maybe 100-150 hours at least with the camera systems, so based on this I would disagree about the light statement. Thanks again for the information about the email!
@@ivanrodionov9724 I had to go get another cup of coffee before tackling this. Thank you for making me think. Lets start with the 3 meter light distance. In some areas of the cave we are < 10 cm from the walls and ceiling and other times we are 20+ meters from the ceiling. On long passages being able to space the LiDAR scanner 15+ meters between scans gets good quality data and moves the project through the cave. No one has ever measured the albedo since we are not dependent on light but the LiDAR does record the reflective indices. We used those numbers to create the gray scale in the video. We rent the equipment on a holiday weekend so we can get up to four days scanning for a day and a half rental fee. A group of four will scan for four hours and then be replaced that requires twenty four volunteers for a full day working around the clock. So we get three days for one day rental. Cavers usually spend with travel time eight to ten hours underground with travel time to the work site. We have three miles scanned and we will have to do overnighters in the cave to get more of the project scanned. We had a grant and caver support for that project but Covid hit and our cache of stored batteries and food turned to junk and had to be thrown away. Maybe next year. Thank you for the great discussion. I have an article in the NSS News (March 2017 Vol 75, Num 3) explaining the project. I can send you a copy if you let me know where.
@@caverken Intriguing! The question becomes what is the average distance to the wall in the caves? The problem with LIDAR grayscale values is that this reflection intensity is only measured in the infra red (or whatever wavelength band is used) and does not nesseserilly represent the true brightness visible to your eyes. I think assuming a 30-50 percent albedo is fair for smooth ish shiny ish rock. I think 3 meters would make a fair average distance that will be a bit conservative actually. Even going by 10 meters radius as a worst case scenario, for the same reflected flux to the observer, an 11ish times increase in power is needed from a 3 meter distance case or circa 100-110 watts, which is still reasonable. Even at this brightness, the same battery pack can provide at least 20 hours of operation (100 watts is an insane light level by the way for an LED, comparable to a smaller sized football stadium light). At worst case scenario of 8-10 hours and at a worst case of 10 meter radius cave in all directions, you will have a margin of safety of 100+%, so incredibly safe in my opinion. Is there a proper margin of safety standard you use by the way? I try to aim for at least a 50 percent margin when working with critical systems. Staying overnight in a cave sounds like a very interresting prospect. If possible, I would be very interrested to read the NSS article. I'll check in your about if I can find the email, maybe you can send it to me there.
Look and sound great. Many thanks for all the help.
Any project requiring me to eat pizza is an automatic yes.
Wonderful!
Thank you
Great work by both of you.
Thank you. We need to get back underground
❤
Thanks Dave
I didn’t read “Britches”
Great comment
@@caverken thanks
Awesome
Thank You Tim
You wanted to do this for a long time. Glad you made it happen. Turned out great. I can see the work.
Yea it was a lot of editing but I learned a lot. Now I am not sure what is next but I have some ideas.
@@caverken Tech question on how you mic'ed everything?
@@adventureunderground2234 I rented a pro stereo mic and put it on a pole and connected it to its' own recorder. It came out pretty good.
Amazing ! 🎵
Thank you for your help.
I love it!!!
Thank you Dave. I appreciate all you did to make this happen.
Where is this? would love to visit it
A good start would be to contact the Kentucky Karst Conservancy on Facebook. facebook.com/search/top?q=kentucky%20karst%20conservancy
so this hole goes to an underground river?
The hole or Karst window empties the water into a creek sized passage. The creek flows into a larger passage but no one knows what happens when the water is up. It would drown anything that is in there. Watching the weather is part of trip planning in Big Bat Cave. The internet has made that a lot easier. Thank you for the question.
Its crazy to hear him speak on cedar spring saltpeter cave. Very blessed to have it as a on going project.
I am glad you enjoyed Marion's talk. He was a heck of a guy and added a lot to some cool projects.
Chicago stand up💪🏽‼️
It was a great trip with some great people.
Yeah, Ken, what's wrong with you? Lmao Good interview.
Yea I seem to get shit from everyone.
First Comment, First like.. Looks like an awesome trip. Great video work!
Thank you. We need to get back underground soon.
@@caverken Yes we do. Dean wants a BigBat trip. He has never been in BigBat. Maybe a Ky Hole and water fall trip?
@@adventureunderground2234 That sounds like a great trip.
Wow
Any way u can give me precise directions to this cave ? I'm on lick creek trail now
Unfortunately not. It has been a few years back since I went and the two times I have been there some one led the way. I am not even sure where to park. There was no trail.
Beautiful Ava Maria....thank you all. What a fine resonating location for a song. PLF
Thank you for the kind words. I need to check up on Tiffany. I have some other projects planned with music.
Very nicely done!
Could not have done it without you. Thank you for the help.
@@caverken Glad I could be of help. It was a good day, anytime a person has a good day - it was a good trade for a day of thier life!
@@elliottwoosley553 Could not have said it better.
While I never used a carbide lamp in a cave, I caved with many cavers that did. I recently purchased several carbide lamps off ebay and they bring back fond memories of a simpler time. I really could relate to this poem just working on the lamps to get them to function correctly.
My only carbide caving was when a was lent a lamp. It leaked down my face on every crawl. Thank you for reminding me of that trip long ago. Let me know when you get the lamps working.
Unbelievable is a very good description.
I am glad you made it to the end.
I went here with NOLS in 1994. The video brings back memories. Thank you for sharing.
It is a great cave and we had a great trip. Very cool that NOLS uses the cave. Thank you for sharing.
Great video! Love the old photos!
Yea Shari did a damn good job of digging out some old shots.
Preston sent me the link of this video. Nice to see a 40 year younger us underground. That was a muddy cave!
It was a pleasure hanging out with Preston and Shari dug through the pictures to come up with all the ones with carbide lamps in them. I am glad you showed up with your carbide that day forty years ago. It made the video that much richer.
Awesome video Ken. I like it. I never heard this song. Future video project idea. Show a carbide lamp and how it works. My great grandpa was a coal miner in Alabama. This is the type of light he used.
Sounds like a cool project. Should we plan a trip back to Alabama?
@@caverken I've always wanted to go in and check out an old coal mine. Specially in Alabama near Birmingham / Warrior area. Specific enough? LOL I've always wondered if this is why I've always enjoyed caves. I have no contacts though. There is another little cave near Burnside KY past Somerset that has had a big part of my interest. I've wanted to take you there for years. Its just hard to justify a 3+ hour drive each way for a 30 minute cave.
I am mapping a cave in Somerset. I go down there about every three months. I always try to find a small cave every trip. Sounds like the perfect cave for the project. Let's make it happen this spring.
@@caverken sounds good
Is it Oregon Springs Cave? Or is it Organ Springs?
That is a great question. I will get with Dave and see if he has map or some sort of documentation.
I.cralled throuthwellscave37plusyearsago .thislooks Likebullitcave Itsashortcavedownunderabridge.
There is a cave down the road under the bridge that cuts through the mountain but this is the second entrance into Wells. Thank you for sharing the memory.
Nice!!!
Thanks!
Are you looking for anything or suspecting anything specific?
Sarah is not looking for anything in particular. She is getting a base line of what is in there. So the next sample in the future will look for change over time or if there is stability in the cave. Great question.
Nice video. What are the results.
Stuff is growing and I bought an adapter for the phone to fit on the microscope. I might figure something out for macro also. Then we can post and hopefully get the internet to identify the stuff.
Nice video!
Thank you.