Don’t Be Like the Blair Witch Project: Safey Tips
Even though safety is the top priority, those with the wisdom to conduct a safe paranormal hunt will benefit from several tips to ensure maximum effectiveness. Familiarizing yourself with your video, still image, and voice capturing gear is key, but there are a few other things that should be noted as well.
One of the more obvious tips when camping and hiking translates perfectly when ghost hunting as well: bring extra just in case. Don’t load yourself down with everything you likely won’t need, but when you set up a central command station (be it a vehicle or temporary rondezvous point) make it in a location that can be seen from almost any location within the investigation perimeter. If a participant cannot see this perimeter easily, they could get lost easily. Place extra batteries, flashlights, and other materials here. Remember that everything you go in with you’ll have to leave with, so don’t load yourself down more than you need to. Priority items are those that ensure communication, medical assistance, contingency supplies, and general sustaining of the group while ghost hunting gear itself can be kept light in order to ensure everyone gets as much evidence as they can while they’re out.
You would typically want to move out with a group you’ve been out to haunted locations before, so you have one less thing to worry about. Be aware of what each member can be trusted with and what they cannot. As you gather evidence, any possibly artificial structure is a good place to photograph and record near. If you discover anything that may be of anthropological interest to a local university that you think may have been undiscovered previously, document its location and share your find. Navigation is the first sign of a successful investigation. Never go anywhere without being absolutely certain you can get back first. This is of the utmost importance.
Remember on previous ghost hunts the very real possibility of batteries spontaneously going dead. For that reason it is important to keep spares and if you can help it never be depending on your last battery for any essential documentation. This goes for all methods of observation. Food is like batteries for humans and should also be packed. Water is important not just on hot days, but any time when foot travel is a factor. Unlike a haunted house, you cannot just run out and know you’re in the clear.
Haunted woods are often said to be connected to a region, not just a specific location. For this reason it’s usually unnecessary to go off the trail at all in order to get some impressive pictures or EVP recordings.
No single article or book is exhaustive on either the subject of paranormal study or hiking, so it’s important to devour as much information as possible on both subjects before setting out. And no amount of reading is a replacement for field experience. For this reason a trusted guide is important for both. So make sure you stay safe, but don’t forget to have fun too.