Keson Case Study:
Cavers Look to Keson Long Tapes for
Rugged Reliability
Customer Profile:
Based in Sewanee, TN, the Sewanee Mountain Grotto (http://www.caves.org/grotto/sewaneemountaingrotto/) is an organization with more than
50 volunteers that are dedicated to exploring, surveying and conserving the
14,000+ caves and watersheds located throughout Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia
(TAG region).
Business Situation:
North American caves provide shelter and home to thousands
of creatures, in addition to pure, scenic beauty as daily tourist attractions.
But cave visitors do not always clean up after themselves.
Known as cavers, the volunteers of Sewanee Mountain Grotto
help keep caves clean while also enjoying the opportunity to explore and survey
caves throughout the TAG region. This work, which contributes to the
conservation and scientific study of cave environments, involves hours of
careful measuring in conditions that are often challenging to the cavers and
their equipment.
The equipment these cavers use must be rugged and able to
stand up to extreme weather conditions, from regular submersion in water to
extreme cold and abuse, including occasional drops from several hundred feet.
The cave surveys conducted by the volunteers of the
Sewanee Mountain Grotto must be accurate, because they are submitted to all
surveying groups in the state where the cave is located, including the National
Speleological Society (NSS) (www.caves.org), which counts the Sewanee
Mountain Grotto as an affiliate member/local partner.
Solution:
The Sewanee Mountain Grotto was first organized in
the 1960s, and has been using Keson fiberglass tape lines as part of its
standard surveyor's toolkit ever since.
"We usually send in a team of three-to-four people on
a surveying project, and we always carry a Keson 100-ft fiberglass tape (http://www.keson.com/products/Measuring/Long-Tapes.aspx) a compass and a chronometer with
us," said Jason Hardy, president, Sewanee Mountain Grotto.
Some caves feature free falls of more than 200-feet, yet
the Keson long tapes do not let the Sewanee Mountain Grotto down.
"We like the 100-ft line the best, but we've used the
200 and 300-ft lines before for some of the larger free falls," said
Hardy, who is also a cartography expert for the SMG. "When we draw the
cave, these fiberglass tape lines hold up better than other tapes we've used.
They are rugged!"
With 50 active members, the SMG also works with the Sera
Karst Task Force to gather information about caves that is then used by the
NSS, by state environmental conservation boards and by the US Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) as they work to eradicate
the white nose syndrome that is currently decimating bat populations throughout
North America.
"Some guys also like carrying the laser distance
meters, but even then they still carry a Keson tape, compass and
chronometer," Hardy continued. "The laser distance meters are fine,
but they run on batteries, they can't be used under water, and they don't like
to be dropped. We put the tapes through a lot of work; they are submerged in
water, sometimes pushed through 3-inch crawl spaces, and yet they are accurate
and easy to read in dark caves."
"We try to teach people how to survey, and Keson
tapes are the first things they learn with," said Hardy.
Benefits:
Rugged equipment proven to take a beating in harsh
conditions
Easy to read tapes, even in the dark
Molded handle is easy to grasp, even with wet hands
Crank handle is reinforced with metal to provide years of
reliable use
Double-throat roller guides prevent tape twisting
Shovel handle is ideal for rapid reeling.