Caverns Measureless to Man

by Sheck Exley

Caverns Measureless to Man is the story of the passion of an extraordinary individual who spent his life exploring underwater caves.
For nearly 30 years Sheck Exley was the leader. He set records, he developed the techniques, and he maintained the highest standards of excellence.
Sheck lived a life of adventure, danger, and excitement of a degree that few people can ever dream of, or, if they do, those dreams are nightmares. Cave diving is the world's most dangerous sport. If you participate on the highest level, you know that some of your best friends are going to die. If you continue to push yourself and your equipment to the limits--if you persist in being a world class diver as Sheck was--the chances are very high that you, too, will die.
This book may terrify you, but it will unquestionably fascinate you, and in the end, Sheck Exley will convince you that his death came to him in the midst of the incredibly intense joy he took in diving into the depths of the earth.

Genres: Nonfiction, Adventure, Memoir

325 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1994

Reviews

[Sebastian]

5.2/10

I found the first half of the book thrilling and exciting. Then it kind of drifted of on me, with much, to my feeling, repetition.

Also as an european with the constant use of the imperial system i struggled to get a flow in my reading having to convert it to the metric system constantly.

If you are intrested in cave diving this is a book for you and I dont think you'll be disapointed.

[Scot Parker]

After my 4th time through this book, I still think it's the best collection of cave diving stories I've encountered. I highly recommend it.

[Kevin Gibbs]

Probably the foremost and definitely one of the most popular cave and cavern diving books in the world. Sheck set the tone for Cave divers worldwide and definitely was a pioneer. He died for exploration and gave the rest of us a set of rules to follow if we wanted to live doing what our hearts demand we do as Cave divers.

[Steve George]

An extraordinary story of an extraordinary man. For me, this book stands taller than any other stories under the encapsulating genre of ‘extraordinary people’. I read this quite young, and it still carriers the weight of awe as it delivered then – I sometimes look back moments that potentially shaped who I am today, and ‘caverns measureless to man’ is amongst them.

[David Syzdek]

An outstanding collection of cave diving stories from a man who pushed technology, human physiology, and human bravery to the limits. He made the sport much safer for other by pushing safety rules and forming cave dive safety organizations. He was a great storyteller who shared harrowing stories and the people who are driven to explore and push the limits.

[Abner Butterworth]

White knuckle reading at its finest. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book as fast as this one.

[Raymond Eller]

As a diver I found this book very interesting and also gave me anxiety. It's well written and the stories are exciting and intense.

[E.]

4.5 stars
An ideal book for anyone who has some knowledge of cave diving (or just even diving in general) and is interested in reading about some of the most notable dives of one of the most influential men of modern cave diving. The only thing that would have made this better is if there was a timeline of the events in the book (while I believe they’re approximately in chronological order, I’m not great at keeping up with dates, so a timeline would have been helpful) as well as a map of the cave(s) explored in each chapter (maps for the major caves are included, but having one for each cave would have been helpful for visualization purposes).

[Andrew Harper]

Caverns Measureless to Man was an interesting read about the cave diving world and how these mysterious underground worlds are explored.

[Tack Reads]

Cool book by a cool guy; great read! If you are interested in cave diving at all, this is a must read.

[Lachlan]

4 going on 5

[Clare]

My review is here: http://www.learntodivetoday.co.za/blo...

[Dave]

Fascinating, kind of makes me want to do it, but at the same time, is a giant list of dead people.

[Ryan]

Very good book. Especially if your a diver and can appreciate what Sheck was trying to and in most cases did accomplish.

[Scott Grizzard]

An excellent book, filled with adventure (and good safety tips for divers). This is a must-read for anyone interested in cave diving.

[Enzo]

Excellent.