Wow! So cool that your first cave was Salamander in Indiana, near me. I remember 50 years ago, when four Indiana University students drowned in it. So horrifying and sad. I tried photography in Salamander, but failed miserably. Thanks for all your truly excellent videos. Great that you have done so much underground and have shared so much of your experience.
Your videos are fantastic, keep up the great work! I love the balance of education, entertainment and the superb production that you put into your channel.
I dig your integrity sir. I'm far too big to be a caver but I am deeply interested in your sport and love seeing it portrayed in such a professional and passionate light. Thank you.
Yes, the positives of your work far, far outweigh any alleged negatives. Keep up the good work. I'm still in the "trying to make connections" stage of being a caver. Every trip under just leaves me wanting to go caving more. I live in between the Mammoth Cave and Pulaski/Rockcastle karst regions, so I've got plenty of caves on the "to do" list!
Great place to be for caving. I did many, many trips in Sloans Valley Cave near Somerset to hone my skills. I'll also be at Mammoth Cave for a survey trip in 2 weeks.
Exploring this channel brings back great memories of caving during college in Georgia. Thanks for sharing and the hard work of producing all of this. Humanity needs more windows into the beauty of the natural world above and below.
You're welcome. Glad to see the videos are of some use. I'm getting close to video #200 and might do another update at that time. I've been on a bit of a break from putting out caving videos, although I've been doing quite a bit of actual caving. I have quite a lot of video content waiting to be edited and hope to get back to roughly weekly uploads this winter.
I'm am so shocked that the beginning of my caving experience was so similar to yours just 15 years earlier. I learned of caves through Jim Rebmans Caves of Rockcastle county and found Sloans from an article in Outdoor Magazine before finally bumping into some NSS cavers who got me involved. I understand the reluctance of people to publicize locations but I also know what a hard time I had in the 70s finding the NSS. I've always felt that we do a lousy job of outreach to young people who might become cavers. The BGG and MVG were my home and I'm sorry we never crossed paths.
Good job.. Thanks for your time.. I hve skiped through quite few of your videos, what I realy like - in detail constructive descripions and only technical stuf without nonsence useless conversations about the "cats" or "wether", from very first second to the end. The title of the video very clearly describes what this video about thats why you know if you need to watch it or not and then you know that is just pure technical stuf with no "woman" talks. Keep going and greetings from Lithuania.
Your videos have been most informative about caving and been a go to guide for me. I live in Indiana it’s cool to see someone else’s journey in caving. Thanks for not being stingy and trying to keep the sport alive.
Hey Derek, just discovered your channel and thank you for sharing. I have never caved before, but I am fascinated by caves, and watching your videos makes me feel like I am there .... keep up the brilliant work!
i stumble upon your youtube channel about 2 weeks ago, and it's been awesome to see the beauty of caves and the way you document the experience makes me feel i'm going on the journey. if you come to mexico any time soon hope you give a visit to nuevo leon and visit some of our many mountains and caves.
Awesome job producing videos! Always enjoy. I met an old caver in North GA recently and told him about your videos. When I said your name he replied “Derek Bristol?.. Sounds familiar. I think I know that guy”.
Derek Bristol His name is ET Davis. Leads a cave preserve management for the protected Fricks Cave in Walker County. Said he’s mapped caves in Mexico. Jolly old fella
Derek Bristol, your videos are the absolute best!!!!!! I love watching them and wouldn't change a thing. If you ever need to crash a trip in TAG just let me know.
Fantastic, informative, professional looking videos. Really enjoying them. The surveying videos are the best I’ve seen and I’ll be putting the knowledge gained into good use this week in a newly discovered mine in the UK. Thank you
You do a great job on the videos Derek. Don’t stop what your doing! I grew up in Carlsbad NM and was “raised” in the caves since I was 6. I am now 46 and I have learned a lot from your vids. You have even inspired me to start videoing in caves. We have compiled a bunch of footage on projects that we are currently working on. I have never understood why cavers want to keep caving a secret, but in the same breath, preach conservation. The best tool for conservation is education. Thanks for what you do!
I agree 100%. If people don't go underground to see the beauty and experience the adventure, then they won't care enough to want to see these places protected. Of course those visits need to be made with minimum impact, but trying to prevent others from going caving via secrecy is counterproductive to the long-term goals of most cave enthusiasts. We definitely should educate for conservation and safety as we share to avoid the mistakes of the past.
I am very happy to have stumbled upon your RU-vid this month when looking into the Caverna del Oro. A friend was trying to convince me that it would be fine for me to go with no caving experience and little climbing experience!! Haha, we have since set our bar much lower and are going to practice climbing and go to a few easy local caves he has been to before. It's been a true gift to be able to see this magical world that lies underneath and I thank you greatly for that! Congratulations on 1000 and looking forward to seeing your growth even further! cheers!
I'm glad you found the channel. I would strongly recommend additional experience and to reach out to cavers who know that cave. Many of us, me included, consider that the most challenging and dangerous cave in Colorado. There is an open trip every August (usually the first or second weekend), and that would be a good way to be introduced to the cave by people familiar with the hazards, the gear needed, and the complex route-finding.
@@DerekBristol Thanks for replying Derek! There is no way I would go into any caves without an experienced person. I live in the Boulder area, so perhaps this spring I will reach out and get involved...
I'm glad your not letting a few critics change the way you make your videos. How are you supposed to get new people into caving if you don't share a little information? Keep up the good work!!!
Thanks Debbie. I considered including some additional background on how I got into project caving and learned to survey through mentors in the Miami Valley Grotto, but I'm not sure people are all that interested in my personal history. Joe Morgan and Mark Turner, in particular, showed me how to read instruments, how to sketch, and how to draft maps. I owe them a huge debt.
@@DerekBristol Mark taught me my surveyings skills and Joe stretched my wings. For having the reputation of being a party grotto, there were some serious kick-ass cavers in the group. I personally like background stories about cavers, it was one of the cool things about being SpeleoSoap - I got to meet all kinds of cavers with all kinds of stories! Keep up your good work :-)
you clearly make awesome videos, all of your instructional stuff is just spot on(well atleast for stuff i am familiar with), your lighting reviews and other stuff that caver may use is quite cool.....well, i hope to make my self watch your cave survey(making cave maps) some time in near future......only criticisam i would have is that music tends to get anoying, not like sometimes but quite often....but thats no reason for not watching stuff you make.
Thanks for the videos, It is always great to see really nice footage from other caving areas. It is so difficult to light for good video I usually don't bother and stick to photography but your work inspires me to give video a try.
Yes... professionally I work for a manufacturing company doing product development using my chemistry degrees. I try to use my vacations, holidays and weekends efficiently to get underground as much as possible. I'm extremely fortunate to have so many excellent opportunities and a supportive family.
@@AthamAldecua You can't go wrong with any field of engineering. Time off and flexibility will depend heavily on the exact career path and your employer. I've known a number of caver/engineers who work and save, then take a break from employment to travel and explore, then go back to work. One of the advantages of engineering is that you will be in high demand and you can always find work.
Agreed! The argument is that I shouldn't show caves or caving technique because more people will want to go caving and that will ruin caves. Very elitist attitude - "it's okay for me to cave, but not for anyone else".
Yes, the positives of your work far, far outweigh any alleged negatives. Keep up the good work. I'm still in the "trying to make connections" stage of being a caver. Every trip under just leaves me wanting to go caving more. I live in between the Mammoth Cave and Pulaski/Rockcastle karst regions, so I've got plenty of caves on the "to do" list!
