Equipment

Equipment

Having already discussed some of the Basic Equipment that you will want to gather up in the Open Forum, I thought I would update that list here with some other useful tools:

An expanded basic list first: 

-A notebook, a pen or pencil, and a sketch pad.

-A flashlight.

-A tape recorder.

-A Digital Recorder.

-A compass.

-A measuring tape.

-Scotch Tape and thread.

-Digital or film camera or both.

-Video camera.

-Extra batteries for everything.

-Trigger Objects.

Additional Equipment to Consider:

-Portable motion detectors.

-EMF Meter

-K-2 Meter

-Night Vision Goggles.

-Portable security system with IR cameras.

Equipment Notes:

A notebook and pencil, for taking notes on things that happen and when. This could be  very important documentation and could correlate to what other investigators are experiencing when you compare notes later, which equals investigation results.

A sketch pad could come in very handy for making maps of the building or area that you are investigating. It can also be used for tracing around trigger objects in order to document movement of those objects.

A tape and/or digital recorder for capturing EVP’s, (Electronic Voice Phenomena). Also a useful tool for documenting the time of an investigation, and who was present. This is essential to good record keeping and documentation, especially when activity is caught.

A compass is the simplest form of EMF detector, and reacts basically the same way that it’s more expensive counterpart does, in that it reacts to a abrupt changes in the energy field of a location and begins spinning. It has been used by some investigators along with the more sophisticated devices and found to react pretty consistently.

A measuring tape. When working with a trigger object, you will want to be able to measure how far the object moves if it changes from where it was first placed.

Scotch tape and thread. If there are instances of doors or other items opening and closing you can use the tape and thread to put a sort of seal across the crack of the closed door. That way if the door is opened when you are in a different room, you can see when you come back if the thread has been pulled out of the tape, just a little more documentation!

Cameras. The camera is one of the best tools for documentation that we have, and yet the evidence that is gathered with them is somehow always questioned. I recommend using both types of cameras, as there are differing views on both sides about which is better..

Video cameras are great documentation, and the new digital ones have the options for taking pictures in little or no light.

Trigger objects. Trigger objects are objects that you utilize specifically to try to engage the intelligent spirit. For instance, I used jacks to interact with the spirit of a little girl on one of my investigations. I chose jacks, because they would better fit the time frame of when she was alive, according to the historical research on the site, and that would be something she could relate to.

Portable motion detectors-I could think of a hundred ways these would come in handy!

EMF meter-EMF stand for Elector Magnetic Field detector and it is used to measure and detect electromagnetic fields and abrupt changes in those fields which might signal the presence of a spirit.

The K-2 meter is the most recent addition to the Investigator’s tool box, and one of the first pieces of equipment to be designed specifically for Paranormal Research. It is a more advanced version of the EMF and measures more than just magnetic fields. It’s use is controversial, but reports from investigation teams are coming back to show that it may have great potential for not only signaling the presence of an spirit, but also for communicating with one.

Night vision goggles, used for navigating and seeing in the dark.

There are many security systems available in all price ranges that are sold for home security that have the capability of recording in dark that can be adapted to use for an investigation. Giving the capability to capture video in several roms at once.