DIY Exploring – 5 Essentials You Already Have

It’s all too easy for one to dismiss exploring as an activity that requires a slew of professional equipment. At first glance, the term “Urban Exploring” seems to imply a maze of slippery slopes, broken ladders, and heavy manhole covers. Without field experience, it’s very easy to fall into this unconscious fantasy and think about every dark turn as an event in and of itself.

Fortunately, we’re here to encourage you to drop the misconceptions, gather a few household items that you probably already have, and get out there! The following are 5 things that you most likely already have laying around the house that will get you started on the most basic of expeditions with as little risk for personal endangerment as possible!

1) Flashlight:

So we need you to be honest with yourself right here and now… If you didn’t realize that the flashlight is your first and most important tool for exploring – we’re going to ask you to leave now.

The Flashlight comes in many different shapes and sizes. From our experience, the size – outside of making the thing heavy or cumbersome, really doesn’t matter. What DOES matter is the light output vs the battery life. A high lumen rating may suck a lot of juice out of your batteries but you’ll be able to see more ahead of, or around, you. On the flip side, a low output flashlight will prevent you from seeing very much but will potentially* not use as much battery life. (*NOTE not always true).

When we first started exploring, our first run was in a pitch-black storm drain that ran under-ground for a good 200 yards. We had nothing but your average Joe, $10, incandescent  plastic flashlight from your local quick-stop. Outside of being very hard on our nerves, it shed enough light for us to see our way out.

A super bright Xenon bulb will blind the mouse 100yards down the tunnel but might kill your battery before you even get to pet the thing.

LED bulbs are really the way to go in my opinion. Not only are they easy on your battery but they are pretty bright. Especially the lamps with multiple LEDs – they add more light than your standard filament bulb and seem to last longer at the same time.

Bottom line with the flashlight, no matter what you bring, have a spare. Even better, stick it to Murphy and have a spare for your spare.

2) Trashbags and shoes:

Yep! Trash bags of the kitchen variety and shoes of the old variety. Socks or trash bags first, depending on your personal feelings towards your socks, then don your trusty old gym sneakers and you’re ready to rock in your new set of waders! You may get some stinky water on your shoes but it’s nothing you cant clean off. If you don’t trust the floor on a public bathroom, why would you trust the dirty, smelly, standing water in the storm drain?

3) Walking stick:

This one ties into the personal safety angle. Having some sort of long poking device is pretty useful for when you find a puddle where you can’t see the bottom. In addition to being able to “test the water” it can also be used as a deterrent towards pesky critters that find you interesting. Anything from small rodents and spider webs to annoying skater kids that cuss like sailors. Take that you snot-nosed little shits!

4) Reliable buddy:

Ever been a boy/girl scout? Remember the buddy system? Well same deal here. Not once have we gone into an explorable area without a buddy. This is just out of the question. We here at JSM always, ALWAYS, explore with someone that we have absolute faith in to get us out of a tight situation. It can be as simple as slipping on a rock to something as obscenely blue-moonish as slipping down a drainage pipe and not being able to get back up. Plus having a buddy to share your experiences with makes your expedition more enjoyable. (They can also vouch for your bravado!)

5)  Rope:

If its good enough for Charley Bronson to have at all times, it sure as hell is good enough for us. It’s not absolutely essential but it definitely can and will keep you safe and help you to explore the harder to get places. Plus it’s a great way to accessorize your Exploration wardrobe! For added bad-assery, make a large coil and wear it like Chewbacca’s Bandoleer. You’ll feel safe enough to sleep with it!

For now… Vik

~ by Viktor Morgan on April 3, 2009.