Equipment advice

[Natah-X]

Hi All
It's been some time since my last explore and I'm starting to set my sights on harder to access places and I'm looking for advice on kit. I've got decent clothes and camera gear but i need some reccomendations on torches and ladders.
For the former, I'm looking for something i can mount to my DSLR or a headmounted one. cost is more important than quality (under £30).
As far as ladders go I'm not sure if i should go for a telescopic or a rope ladder. Obviously a rope ladder is more portable and discreet, but my concern is that i will find myself against a wall with no place to tie/hook the rope. I'm in an urban area of london so discretion is important. If you have any experiance or advice on either of these then I'd love to hear it.
Also if I'm missing something that would make explores easier that i haven't thought about please let me know. I'm a broke college kid so I don't really have the luxary of dumping £40 on something that might be useful so I've aired on the side of caution.

Edit: I'm also keeping my ears open for a good drone. Ideally cheap and small for scouting sites, not photography (so i dont care about the cameras on it). Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance
-Natah-X

 

[HughieD]

Telescopic ladders are great, but a good one that is pretty stable and of decent length weighs quite a bit!

 

[GRONK]

Torches- It ultimately depends what you’re planning on doing, but my advice would be not to cheap out on a torch, you don’t want a cheap torch packing in on you in the wrong place! I use the below two, I’ve never been let down by a Lenser they’re little workhorses that survive anything I throw at them.

- Ledlenser P7R SE (Normal)
- Ledlenser HF4R (Head Torch)


Ladders - I’ve just got a 3.6m telescopic one that I got from Aldi, cost me about £50 6/7 years ago, I’d back up @HughieD ’s comment about getting a good quality one. There are loads of cheap ones online which are dodgy as fuck which I’d stay well clear of.

 

[Natah-X]

Torches- It ultimately depends what you’re planning on doing, but my advice would be not to cheap out on a torch, you don’t want a cheap torch packing in on you in the wrong place! I use the below two, I’ve never been let down by a Lenser they’re little workhorses that survive anything I throw at them.

- Ledlenser P7R SE (Normal)
- Ledlenser HF4R (Head Torch)


Ladders - I’ve just got a 3.6m telescopic one that I got from Aldi, cost me about £50 6/7 years ago, I’d back up @HughieD ’s comment about getting a good quality one. There are loads of cheap ones online which are dodgy as fuck which I’d stay well clear of.

Alright thanks! I wasn't sure if they were a gimmick or actually worthwhile. I guess I'll have to budget for one in next month's payslip

 

[Natah-X]

Telescopic ladders are great, but a good one that is pretty stable and of decent length weighs quite a bit!

Thanks! At the least it'll keep me fit

 

[tigger]

Detailed and informative torch guide - Information - - Torch Buying Guide & FAQ - 2021 (Updated) | Kit / Clothing / Equipment

Ladders - hate them. Rope every time for me!

 

[Natah-X]

Detailed and informative torch guide - Information - - Torch Buying Guide & FAQ - 2021 (Updated) | Kit / Clothing / Equipment

Ladders - hate them. Rope every time for me!

Do you ever have difficulty with finding somewhere to wrap/tie a rope? Trying to get over crane barriers and other such smooth walls comes to mind

 

[Mikeymutt]

Definitely don't cheap out on torches. Lenser are definitely fantastic. I have a hand and head one. The new DJI neo is perfect for what you want as well. It's tiny, cheap, you can control it from your phone.

 

[Speed]

Hands down the most useful bit of kit I've ever invested in for exploring was my 5m Fibrelight ladder (rope ladder) Can obviously be used to drop down into places but also with a scaffold hook and a pole provides a much more covert way to get up onto certain stuff too. All in a small bag that packs away into the top of my camera bag.. Fills the gap between a couple of knotted slings and a full on SRT setup very well.

Telescopic ladders have their uses too so wouldn't say they were a bad thing to have but more bait if caught with one, less discreet to use and definitely leave behind outside a building so you can exit again. No offence to people who use them (ive done it too) but I always find them a bit amateurish. Generally used by lazy explorers who are too fat to climb stuff/ arnt clever enough to reduce their risk of getting busted!

 

[Natah-X]

Hands down the most useful bit of kit I've ever invested in for exploring was my 5m Fibrelight ladder (rope ladder) Can obviously be used to drop down into places but also with a scaffold hook and a pole provides a much more covert way to get up onto certain stuff too. All in a small bag that packs away into the top of my camera bag.. Fills the gap between a couple of knotted slings and a full on SRT setup very well.

Telescopic ladders have their uses too so wouldn't say they were a bad thing to have but more bait if caught with one, less discreet to use and definitely leave behind outside a building so you can exit again. No offence to people who use them (ive done it too) but I always find them a bit amateurish. Generally used by lazy explorers who are too fat to climb stuff/ arnt clever enough to reduce their risk of getting busted!

I’ve looked into it and the rope ladders look a lot more practical. I was thinking about the telescopic for things like construction barriers but I reckon with hooks they shouldn’t be too hard

 

[Natah-X]

Hands down the most useful bit of kit I've ever invested in for exploring was my 5m Fibrelight ladder (rope ladder) Can obviously be used to drop down into places but also with a scaffold hook and a pole provides a much more covert way to get up onto certain stuff too. All in a small bag that packs away into the top of my camera bag.. Fills the gap between a couple of knotted slings and a full on SRT setup very well.

Telescopic ladders have their uses too so wouldn't say they were a bad thing to have but more bait if caught with one, less discreet to use and definitely leave behind outside a building so you can exit again. No offence to people who use them (ive done it too) but I always find them a bit amateurish. Generally used by lazy explorers who are too fat to climb stuff/ arnt clever enough to reduce their risk of getting busted!

I’ve looked into it and the rope ladders look a lot more practical. I was thinking about the telescopic for things like construction barriers but I reckon with hooks they shouldn’t be too hard