I've heard from most people that they've never really encountered harmful gasses in storm drains, and I'm well aware of the other risks. Since I'm not always going to have time to go with others, I was wondering what your guys' input would be about draining solo.

I'm basically just trying to get more familiar with confined spaces and also have some fun while doing it, as I want to go caving someday and also cave diving after I get to that level of scuba, not that I'd ever do those things solo.

Probably...I mean, you could get away with it but I know more explorers that have died from drains than any other cause.

Most of drains I've explored were by myself. But, I am also an idiot. I wouldn't encourage anyone else to do the same.

Hoover2 will give you a very detailed response

Posted by Cross- Probably...I mean, you could get away with it but I know more explorers that have died from drains than any other cause.

I would imagine this is mostly from getting caught in floods rather than gasses, and I would not drain if there would be rain within the next day even, so I imagine it would be fine. My main worry is passing out from CO or something and not being able to be rescued, but it seems like no one has ever had issues with that in storm drains. But I suppose if I go alone I'd go with the mentality that if I don't feel right or not comfortable doing something, I'm out.

Posted by fr00tCake- But, I am also an idiot.

I wouldn't call you an idiot at all. Though like most of us, we do stupid stuff intelligently, and dangerous stuff carefully. So to most others we are idiots I guess, but those who make it out come with cool pictures and even cooler stories, so I'd say it's worth it.

Posted by Cross- Probably...I mean, you could get away with it but I know more explorers that have died from drains than any other cause.

Really? I have an Urbex Tribute instagram page and in my experience more people have died from falling than drains.

It might be a bit closer if you include non explorers that have died in drains (graffitists, kids smoking bongs, even a couple of Geocachers, etc).

I'm definitely not saying drains aren't dangerous, but at lest the dangers are controllable to some extent. People have died in perfect weather by simply misjudging one step or grabbing one live wire.

That's just my opinion of course.

In regards to whether it's considered stupid to explore drains alone, you definitely should have a buddy with you, but I don't think you're stupid to explore alone if you plan your trips properly.

It also depends where you are. Some city's drains are a lot more dangerous than others.

When it rains, no drains!

Posted by Doug Really? I have an Urbex Tribute instagram page and in my experience more people have died from falling than drains. It might be a bit closer if you include non explorers that have died in drains (graffitists, kids smoking bongs, even a couple of Geocachers, etc). I'm definitely not saying drains aren't dangerous, but at lest the dangers are controllable to some extent. People have died in perfect weather by simply misjudging one step or grabbing one live wire. That's just my opinion of course. In regards to whether it's considered stupid to explore drains alone, you definitely should have a buddy with you, but I don't think you're stupid to explore alone if you plan your trips properly. It also depends where you are. Some city's drains are a lot more dangerous than others. When it rains, no drains!

I guess I was talking about people that I've communicated with personally as it seems more have died from drains than other causes. The two I can think of are DarkDays and Becca (not including other non-exploring related causes). Taking everyone into account could be falls like you said. That's just my experience that you can be a seasoned explorer and still end up in trouble in drains.

Posted by Doug People have died in perfect weather by simply misjudging one step or grabbing one live wire.

Could you explain where you could misjudge a step in a drain? Ladders obviously, but I'm not sure if you're talking about stepping while traversing the drain.

To be fair, I have watched your videos and have seen other Cave Clan pictures and it seems Australian drains are wayyy different that what we have here, so maybe in Australia there's bigger drops, slides, or anything I suppose. I personally have never come across a big enough drop to kill or seriously injure someone except a pretty tall ladder I climbed down into one which probably was a little more than 6 meters.

Posted by Thecurious Could you explain where you could misjudge a step in a drain?

I once fell into a hole hiding in the bottom of the drain. Murky water, not the best flashlight, and moving too quickly were all to blame. Hiding under the water was a collapsed portion of the RCP. Carelessly walking along it swallowed my leg whole. I was really lucky in that it was only big enough for my leg, but it was deep enough that I fell all the way to my hip, and never felt the bottom. It ripped my hip open as well, and by another stroke of great luck I never got Hepatitis or an infection of any kind. The experience and how bad things could have gone in that moment genuinely terrified me and I didn't drain for almost 2yrs after that. Even since, I rarely drain anymore.

I've no clue what LDB entry it was, but there is a pic somewhere here of a similar collapse, although with crystal clear water so the observant explorers avoided it. I also vaguely recall a comment of one of them pushing their tripod down into it and not finding the bottom.

Some of tamest drains with the best air flow and cleanest water still hide dangers....

If it's RCP it would be buried in the dirt would it not? How could there be a gaping void beneath it? I'd expect just dirt on the exterior unless there was some kind of sinkhole or something weird. Maybe I'm just being oblivious to some more obvious cause, but It'll give me something else to watch out for.

Posted by Thecurious How could there be a gaping void beneath it?

IDK. Maybe it was a sink hole. Maybe when a defect in the concrete broke loose, the rushing waster slowly eroded it. There is a known river phenomena in which tiny under water eddies can spin bits of sand and literally drill holes in rock over time. They are called "drill holes" despite it being a natural occurrence. So, multiple scenarios as to how it could have happened. Regardless, it can, and does happen.

Posted by Kabes Hoover2 will give you a very detailed response

Thanks for remembering that (LOL).

To be honest with you and I might of mentioned this before, so sorry for the repeats (LOL). Anyway, In my opinion it's really not stupid to explore storm drains as long as there's no rain in the forecast at all, so please check the weather to make sure in doesn't rain. Also, you need to let your family/friends know where you are going in case something bad happens. If you don't have any very good flashlights/headlamps, then I highly suggest getting at least 2 good headlamps and 2 or more flashlights and extra batteries. If you do get any headlamps, then I highly recommend getting ones with rechargeable 18650 batteries, if you can, then try to get headlamps that the light beam shoots light far in the distance and I reason I tell you this is because I feel that those batteries I mentioned last longer than normal batteries and the ranged light beams from your headlamps allow you see way far in the distance, so you can see possible dangers (like animals, holes in the bottom of the tunnels, deep water and possible dangerous people). Also the ranged beam lights can allow you to see animal eyes way the distance. Keep in mind that I've been exploring drains for 10+ years now and about half of that time I've gone alone and I've never really had any super bad dangerous things happen to me besides me falling off a ledge and into the river and slipping/falling in the tunnels. I've also never been caught in a storm while I was in the drain. If you get snow where you live, then I would be careful of snow melting and going into the drain. That's very dangerous if that happens and I've actually gone through that before (LOL). I highly recommend when you go into drains, then you should put anything that you don't want to get wet into Ziploc bags with plastic sliders on them, so you don't get water all over your electronics. These are all just ideas for you to keep in mind. If you are planning on getting super into exploring drains then I say "GOOD FOR YOU" because drains can be scary and it's very critical to have the best, brightest light you can afford plus I think it's very cool that you want to explore drain alone but please be safe. Also, if you are new to exploring drains, I suggest not messing with manhole covers right now until you get comfortable but it's totally up to you if you feel ready to do that. To give you the right answer to your question, I don't think it's stupid for you to go into drains alone unless you know it's going to rain but besides that, in my opinion it's the safest place you can be unless it rains (LOL). Honestly I would rather be underground than above ground because that's where all of problems are (LOL). Does this help at all? If you have any more questions about drains, then I'll be happy help you out with that.

Again, very helpful. You did mention this on my last post, but I decided to make a new post about this since my last mention of this question was subtle and I was getting antsy, and you replied to that literally while I started this thread. Sorry for making you type all that out again for a question you answered for me, but I do appreciate you writing another long post to help me out. You included some new info here that wasn't in the last one so I learned even more. I do have a headlamp that is really bright, but doesn't have a long distance focused beam, but I was planning to use a laser to be able to get some kinda sense down the tunnel, not that it'd really give me notice for dangers. Thanks for the ziploc bag tip too, since my headlight requires 3 AAA batteries and I used it up a little, and I wanted a safe place to store the batteries in case of me needing to swap some out. I also bring two normal flashlights in my pocket in case my headlamp dies, or if my hair gets in front of it. (I finally cut the long hair, but it still gets in front of the light).

Since you seem like an experienced, passionate explorer, I was wondering something as many of the drains I've found are barely wide enough to crouch-walk in. Is it common for the storm drains beneath big busy streets to be larger? From what I've noticed is the manholes on this street are larger and wider. So I know of a way to get in via manhole literally almost in the woods behind a building, so it's easy access, but then it's a long walk before I possibly could get to get beneath the big road, judging by a map. It's one of the main streets in my city, so I was hoping that the storm drains beneath would be larger, big enough to comfortably walk in. Of course this depends, but I was hoping if this was something that occurs normally. In fact, I plan to explore this drain next Friday at night, so wish me luck. Thanks again for the tips, half of these probably could save my life someday.

Posted by Thecurious Again, very helpful. You did mention this on my last post, but I decided to make a new post about this since my last mention of this question was subtle and I was getting antsy, and you replied to that literally while I started this thread. Sorry for making you type all that out again for a question you answered for me, but I do appreciate you writing another long post to help me out. You included some new info here that wasn't in the last one so I learned even more. I do have a headlamp that is really bright, but doesn't have a long distance focused beam, but I was planning to use a laser to be able to get some kinda sense down the tunnel, not that it'd really give me notice for dangers. Thanks for the ziploc bag tip too, since my headlight requires 3 AAA batteries and I used it up a little, and I wanted a safe place to store the batteries in case of me needing to swap some out. I also bring two normal flashlights in my pocket in case my headlamp dies, or if my hair gets in front of it. (I finally cut the long hair, but it still gets in front of the light). Since you seem like an experienced, passionate explorer, I was wondering something as many of the drains I've found are barely wide enough to crouch-walk in. Is it common for the storm drains beneath big busy streets to be larger? From what I've noticed is the manholes on this street are larger and wider. So I know of a way to get in via manhole literally almost in the woods behind a building, so it's easy access, but then it's a long walk before I possibly could get to get beneath the big road, judging by a map. It's one of the main streets in my city, so I was hoping that the storm drains beneath would be larger, big enough to comfortably walk in. Of course this depends, but I was hoping if this was something that occurs normally. In fact, I plan to explore this drain next Friday at night, so wish me luck. Thanks again for the tips, half of these probably could save my life someday.

Yeah you're welcome. I hope you find some cool drains that you can enjoy exploring and walking in.

best thing you can do if you are going alone is to tell at least two responsible people where you are going, where you are entering the drain system from, when you are going and when you are expected to return. And then, upon exiting the system, call those two people to say that you are out and on your way back home, or where ever.

i live in the Adirondacks Mountains of New York and this is one of the systems that Department of Environmental Conservation has in place to not so much keep track of people, but to be able to find people should something go wrong and it would amaze you how remote those mountains are... At each trailhead is a box with a sign-in ledger. Your name, where you are heading, when you left the trailhead, how many in your party, when you plan to return. That way when concerned parties call EnCon panicked that little Timmy and his band of merry hikers have not checked in, they have a place to start the search. Just using that as an example...

once inside the drain, think redundancy. Bring more than one flashlight with extra batteries just in case. Dress appropriately. I'm not sure a GPS works in a drain system, but that's something to consult with an experienced drainer. also, using something to keep track of where you have been might be keen too.. One of the things you 'might' face in a drain is a thing called 'dead air... basically air that has no oxygen in it or has more of some other gas in it. I doubt you will encounter anything like hydrogen sulfide, but it is a possibility when you have organic matter that has decayed. It was an issue at my last job- acids would be caustics and give of the gas. Low concentrations smell like a bad fart or rotten eggs. High concentrations? One whiff of it kills you instantly. We had to wear these H2S crickets when we went out on the floor... and of course, we got very blase about them.

again, probably the best thing to do is go with someone who has done this type of thing regularly to learn the in's and out's so you can perform solo explorations from then on.

anyways, these are just some best practices that should be used doing any type of exploration. Personally, i stay the fuck out of drains. I am waaay too claustrophobic for that shit.

Posted by Samurai best thing you can do if you are going alone is to tell at least two responsible people where you are going, where you are entering the drain system from, when you are going and when you are expected to return. And then, upon exiting the system, call those two people to say that you are out and on your way back home, or where ever. i live in the Adirondacks Mountains of New York and this is one of the systems that Department of Environmental Conservation has in place to not so much keep track of people, but to be able to find people should something go wrong and it would amaze you how remote those mountains are... At each trailhead is a box with a sign-in ledger. Your name, where you are heading, when you left the trailhead, how many in your party, when you plan to return. That way when concerned parties call EnCon panicked that little Timmy and his band of merry hikers have not checked in, they have a place to start the search. Just using that as an example... once inside the drain, think redundancy. Bring more than one flashlight with extra batteries just in case. Dress appropriately. I'm not sure a GPS works in a drain system, but that's something to consult with an experienced drainer. also, using something to keep track of where you have been might be keen too.. One of the things you 'might' face in a drain is a thing called 'dead air... basically air that has no oxygen in it or has more of some other gas in it. I doubt you will encounter anything like hydrogen sulfide, but it is a possibility when you have organic matter that has decayed. It was an issue at my last job- acids would be caustics and give of the gas. Low concentrations smell like a bad fart or rotten eggs. High concentrations? One whiff of it kills you instantly. We had to wear these H2S crickets when we went out on the floor... and of course, we got very blase about them. again, probably the best thing to do is go with someone who has done this type of thing regularly to learn the in's and out's so you can perform solo explorations from then on. anyways, these are just some best practices that should be used doing any type of exploration. Personally, i stay the fuck out of drains. I am waaay too claustrophobic for that shit.

Are the drains in New York that you've explored very small or were they pretty big, like walking height big. Just curious. I think you are right about a GPS not working in the drains but sometimes my cellphone goes off while I'm in a drain and it's pretty funny when it does (LOL).

Posted by hoover 2 Are the drains in New York that you've explored very small or were they pretty big, like walking height big. Just curious. I think you are right about a GPS not working in the drains but sometimes my cellphone goes off while I'm in a drain and it's pretty funny when it does (LOL).

i don't go in drains.

Posted by Samurai i don't go in drains.

Sounds good.

I will add that whenever I walk in tunnels, if I can't see the bottom due to muck, sand, as well as rushing water, I always take my time with walking in the tunnels because I'm a very cautious person because I'm worried about slipping, falling, stepping into holes and getting stuck in the muck. If the tunnels are mostly dry to 100% dry, then I walk faster but I'm still careful if that makes sense.