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TAG CAVING FAQ |
WHAT IS TAG?
TAG simply stands for the geographical caving area defined by the state boundaries of Tennessee Alabama and Georgia. The geologic history within a large portion of this area centered around the tri-state boundary has created a complex terrain of exposed limestone bedrock that has produced over 14,000 known caves. TAG has the greatest concentration of caves in the entire United States.
WHO COINED THE TERM TAG?
Based on an interview of Jim Wilbanks by Benji Von Cramon, Richard Schreiber and Jim came up with the term "TAG" to identify a group of friends from the tri-state area that came together in the 1960s to explore caves in the region where the three states meet. Jim and Richard explored caves with an evolving group of close friends. At first they called themselves, "The Family." Experiencing discomfort with this term, Jim and Richard tried to come up with a new name for their group one night on a long drive home after a weekend of caving. They came up with the term "Southeastern Cavers" or "The Dixie Cavers", but settled on a permutation of the letters for the three Sates. As soon as they said, "TAG" they knew that was it. It represented the area where they caved, members of their caving group came from all three states, it formed a word, and it rolled off the tongue.
WHAT DOES TAG SYMBOLIZE NOW?
From use by Richard, Jim, and their friends the term TAG rapidly expanded to identify all cavers in the tri-state region. The term has continued to expand to have deeper meaning and identification. Early TAG cavers who dominated the sport shaped it by their personality and accomplishments. The culture of TAG caving has been passed down to the succeeding generations. The "next generation" have continued to add their own contributions to TAG caving. TAG caving has undergone tremendous change in the last 40 years.
WHAT ARE TAG CAVES KNOW FOR?
TAG is primarily known for it's sporting wet vertical caves and deep pits. TAG has a large concentration of deep wet multi drop caves and large number of deep pits, including the 586 foot deep pit in Ellisons Cave, Georgia. Many of these are very fun and sporting caves that cavers from all over the U.S. and the world come to explore. TAG also has its share of deep wet multi drops that are long tight knarley grim caves we call "Horror Holes." The hike to many of these caves requires a muti-mile long ridgewalk across the rugged Cumberland Plateau that we call a"Death March." Most often the plateau edges are covered in tree tops from recent logging and overgrown into the worst jungle of briars, vines, and thick vegetation imaginable. Combine this with high humidity and sweltering temperatures of the Deep South in summer, and it makes just getting to the caves a major challenge. Finding TAG cave entrances is considered a challenge in that you are often looking for a body sized hole within a square mile of a thousand other dead end body sized karst features known as "Nerd Holes."
WHAT ARE TAG CAVERS KNOWN FOR?
TAG cavers have a reputation within the U.S caving community for being strong cavers who are vertically competent and competitive. Among the hardcores, they also have a reputation for being very agressive and pushing caves to the bitter end. This aggressive style of caving has often led to instances of your secret cave being found and virgin cave scooped. If you have a secret cave or new virgin cave passage and you are sitting on it, I would recomend you explore it before any TAG cavers come near. Most TAG cavers were born in the South and may have a little "Streak of Red" in them. The shear number of TAG caves has meant that an equal number of TAG cavers have formed to explore them. TAG cavers have the largest number of NSS members of any regional group of cavers in the U.S. caving scene. From this diverse amount of talent all kinds of different cavers can be found. TAG cavers have a large number of NSS fellows and cavers with NSS awards such as the Lew Bicking award.