 Fifth edition cover | |
| Author | Sheck Exley |
|---|---|
| Subject | Cave diving |
| Publisher | National Speleological Society – Cave Diving Section |
Publication date | 1979 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Pages | 46 |
Basic Cave Diving: A Blueprint for Survival, also commonly referred to by the subtitle alone,A Blueprint for Survival, is a short book on safe scuba diving procedures forcave diving by pioneer cave diverSheck Exley, originally published in 1979, by the Cave Diving Section of theNational Speleological Society. It is considered to have had a significant impact on the number of cave diving fatalities since publication, and is considered one of the more historically important publications in recreational diving.[1][2]
The book is in ten chapters, each based on the analysis of an accident report. The pdf version of the 5th edition has 46 pages.[3]
There are four appendices:[3]
A Blueprint for Survival was one of first manuals on cave diving safety, and was written at a time when cave diving fatalities were relatively frequent; despite this, the book is still considered relevant, as the basic principles of cave diving remain mostly unchanged.[4][2][1]
The work was first published in 1979, then again in 1980, 1981 and 1984. The fifth edition was published in 1986.[3] It is available for free download from the NSSCDS.[1]
