How do you fit a cave into a trailer? With a lot of careful design and hard work. Dave has been working daily to put CaveSim into the new trailer to get ready for events in September, including the Flight For Life conference and a trip to Gold Camp Elementary School for 75 kids. The six boxes that make up CaveSim used to be configured in an L shape, but the boxes get connected differently to fit in the trailer. This means that Dave is building additional cave passage to connect the boxes together. In the picture below, Dave reinforces some heavy-duty cribbing that elevates one of the boxes above another box. When the additional passage is complete, CaveSim will be about 10′ longer, and will include more climbing, with an alternate route for those who aren’t ready to chimney up 4′. The new passage allows CaveSim to be left in the trailer so that setup time is eliminated. The original passage can still be removed from the trailer if needed for indoor events.
We have also been working hard to send out rewards to our Kickstarter backers. If you haven’t gotten your reward yet, don’t worry, we’re working on it. Some of you haven’t received your t-shirts yet due to printing errors at the shirt company. These errors have been corrected and your shirts will ship soon.
One of our awesome Kickstarter backers asked, “How do I order more [CaveSim gear]? I’m thinking of Christmas gifts that I can purchase in support of CaveSim.” Great! Visit our online gear store to help us pay for all of the lumber that it takes to put CaveSim in the trailer.
Above left: Dave installs a giant mending plate to reinforce some cribbing in the new CaveSim trailer. Dave makes many of the mending plates from scrap electronics enclosures. This helps reduce the cost and environmental impact of the project. Above right: Dave about to install a wall in the new passage in the trailer. The old passage will continue to be used — we’re just adding to it. Photos: Tracy Jackson.
The trailer before any of the CaveSim pieces were installed. We’ll soon be able to post a picture of the finished product. Photo: Greg Pring.