The logbook is the place where we record the rigging of caves as soon as possible after we discover them. For a particularly fine example of rigging guides in a logbook, scroll through <ahref="../../years/2015/logbook.html">the 2005 logbook</a>.
<p><strong>SAFETY:</strong> Sketched rigging guides are most intensively used during the few days after the pitch is first rigged, and this is also the time when accidents are most likely, so this is an occasion where hours count. <em>Sketch the rigging in the logbook as soon as possible</em> and make sure a copy is at both base camp and top camp.
<p>When a cave is derigged,
a good way of getting the rope lengths for your rigging guide is to
leave the knots in ropes removed so they can
be <b>measured</b>, but these days our caves are a bit deep
and complicated for this to be feasible.
Although a good survey and details of the belays
can be used to estimate the length of rope needed, this is no substitute for
measuring how much rope it actually took to rig. So please do this during the initial exploration and write it down in your survey notes.</p>
You will already have an "Interim rigging guide" in the logbook entries of the trips, and also sketches on waterproof paper
which were made underground which were stored in the survey wallet and scanned to produce "notes-XXX.jpg" files in the online survey wallet for your trip. For small caves the logbook entry may be all you need.
<p>Collect together your notes for the rigging guide now, including all the pitch lengths. It is a good idea to copy these notes now and put them in the plastic survey wallet or to photograph them and put the files in the <ahref="newwallet.html">online survey wallets</a>. The next step of doing the survey can take some time so get the rigging data in order now so that it doesn't get forgotten.
<p>A <b>Rigging Guide</b> of the vertical sections is published with the cave survey and the cave passage descriptions in the cave guide after surveying is complete.
<p>The format is important. Please <em>don't</em> use PDF: if you are scanning a hand-drawn sketch then JPEG is best for our purposes as it is compact and we reuse it easily elsewhere in the system.
<p>If you are using a drawing package then produce the file in SVG format.
<ahref="https://www.theregister.com/2020/04/14/16_years_inkscape_v1/">Inkscape</a> is what most cavers use as it's free and stable. This will make it possible to edit and update your topo in future.
<p>When you first produce a topo, don't upload it to the server. Copy it to the right folder on the <var>expo laptop</var> in the potato hut and
tell a nerd on expo that it is there. Or, if you are confident with Filezilla, copy it from the <var>expo laptop</var> to the server and then move the copy on the
<var>expo laptop</var> to e.g. <var>expofiles/rigging_topos/2022/copied-to-server/</var>
<p>If you draw up the topo after expo is over, then email them to a nerd who will upload them into the right place.
