Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 31, 1993 TAG: 9303310186
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: SU CLAUSON-WICKER SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Long
"Every time I look at this, I wish I'd been able to cut it off him myself," she says, shaking her head. "It would have saved time and fabric."
When the rescue squad was removing the hypothermic caver from his suit, no one thought about whether he would wear it again.
Now, just weeks after Don Bittle was rescued from a Missouri sinkhole, he's thinking about future expeditions. And he wants to make sure he'll be wearing a Wunderwear caving suit crafted by James' Blacksburg shop - a suit he says saved his life during the 10 hours he was trapped in an underground sinkhole that was slowly filling with cold water.
According to the letter the Southern Illinois University professor wrote James when he returned the outfit for repairs, the padded, waterproof suit kept Bittle dry until the 38-degree water rose over his collar and began spilling into his suit. Luckily, his wife found help to free Bittle from his rocky entrapment before he suffered permanent physical impairment.
James, a longtime caver herself, imagines that rescue workers cut off Bittle's soggy suit in an attempt to warm him as they rushed him to the hospital.
"When someone is that cold, you don't want to jar his extremities - that would send cold blood to the heart and could do severe damage," she said. "So I can see why they cut the suit off. It looks like they had a hard time. They started to cut through the padded layers, and then had to jag back to a thinner layer."
Putting the suit back together will be challenging, she said.
"It did what it was supposed to do - kept all the water out," she said. "Having the right suit can make a crucial difference in extreme situations. Be ginners often tell me they're not sure it's important for them to invest in a caving suit, given the number of times they go caving.
"I tell them, `You're the ones who should use caving outfits because you don't know how to handle yourselves in a cave yet and you could make mistakes. You need protection.' That's what my caving suits are - protective layers."
Since James added Ensolite padding to the knees, elbows and rump of her own caving suit almost 10 years ago, she has been adapting outfits for spelunkers based on their recommendations and her experiences.
Three years ago she formed B&C Wunderwear in the basement of her Eakin Street home to produce suits and bags for cavers.
The "C" stands for Cecile. The first `B' was her son, Ben Keller, who dropped out of the business to get a doctorate in computer science. His place was taken by Bob Handley, a West Virginia caver who works with caving hardware ideas and does some marketing for the company. Through his efforts, a West Virginia phone company soon may sport Wunderwear rescue bags.
James, who works as a marriage and family counselor four days a week, spends many spring and summer weekends hawking her gear at caving events or attending outdoor-gear trade shows. Her heavy-duty sewing machine goes along with her to caving events, where she does repairs or adds adaptions such as flashlight pockets, extra padding or underarm zippers for venting.
"This is really a service," she said. "It doesn't pay, but I learn a lot when I see what cavers want and what other companies are doing."
B&C is one of only two U.S. companies making caving suits. Most commercially produced suits come from Europe, where a higher percentage of the population caves.
James doesn't worry that others will copy her ideas.
"My designs are too much trouble," she said. She has spent years perfecting a suit that will bend without being too bulky and hold in warmth without restricting movement. Her search has resulted in contacts with fabric companies around the globe and in a pattern that uses small folds and pleats for extra room.
James and her part-time workers assemble the bulky suits in pieces.
"All pockets - and there are a lot of them - Velcro and tabs go on before the suit is put together," she said. Any waste pieces that aren't recycled into fabric bags are donated to a school art department.
B&C Wunderwear produces about five suits a week, except in the busy summer season, and has outfitted expeditions in China, Germany, France, Mexico, Poland and Russia.
The company features two main suits - the top-of-the-line, well-padded Wunderall for about $150 and the Notsowunderall without padding for $85. They also make dozens of bags of various sizes.
James uses one - a see-through mesh number to carry her wireless phone as she pads through the house in her parachute top and leopard-look pants. At 58, she easily could pass for 15 or 20 years younger. Caving, they say, is good for the skin.
Although James doesn't have the time to cave two or three times a week as she once did, her interest is apparent as soon as you set foot in her yard.
Passing at least four vehicles adorned with caving stickers, you spy an impressive pile of ropes and other cave club equipment just inside her entry way. From the high ceiling of her barn-board paneled living room hang ropes on which cave club members periodically practice their maneuvers.
An elaborate caving-rope maze separates living area from business space. Space that once housed the Montessori school she directed now holds bright nylon, fleece and canvas fabrics. Cavers may get dirty, she says, but they love bright colors.
"Caving began as a great escape for me," she said. "You forget about the rest of the world when you're down there. I still love caving - in fact, I went caving under New York City not too long ago. That really was an experience. About midnight when things started getting quiet, we went down a manhole in the Bronx to see some wonderful formations."
Now, she says, meeting with her Virginia Tech Cave Club buddies every Friday night has taken on more of a social function. They also provide a steady supply of demanding gear testers.
One week they'll go on a wet expedition just to test hot pink pants made out of wet-suit material. The next week purple nylon knee pads are getting a trial.
"We work together," James said. "I design things and they give me some good suggestions. Now all I need is more space for my business."
by CNB