Now ye're talking - to an Urban Explorer

lfc200 wrote: »

How did you get into this and where did you meet the group that you go exploring with?
It's something that I've always had an interest in but wouldn't have a clue where to go to try and meet up with groups..

I used to do a photography technique called light painting, and found abandoned buildings made good locations to do that, so started looking for more of them. That lead me to the world or urban exploring, which I found far more interesting and was hooked from that point.

When you start doing it, you naturally get talking to other like minded people online, there are few forums dedicated to the hobby which are a great place to start - you can find other people and locations on them pretty easily. It's these online communities where I met my group.

Turbulent Bill wrote: »

What's your opinion on people who do urban exploring, but focus on themselves rather than the location? YouTube has plenty of these. Is it good that the locations get documented (even in a limited way), or is it missing the point of the exercise?

Great thread topic BTW.

There's a huge rift developing between the new wave of YouTube "explorers" and the original urban explorers, and the whole scene is changing as a result. I'm going to link you to an article following an interview I did with a newspaper last week, as I discussed this topic:

https://www.mylondon.news/news/zone-1-news/revealed-adrenaline-fuelled-secrets-londons-15749689

In the article, I explain that urban exploring was traditionally an underground hobby - an activity for the few, unheard of by the many. The style of exploring done by the YouTubers has changed this massively, mainly because watching an urban exploring video is, to be honest, pretty boring! As a result, the videos are dramatised, and the people in them sometimes even get caught on purpose, because it makes for a more entertaining video. All this attention has a very detrimental effect on the hobby, portrays the rest of us in a bad light, and draws attention from the police and other authorities, who would otherwise not have too much of a problem with our activities.

Nekarsulm wrote: »

What's the most còmmon type of location you find in Ireland?
Industrial or ex .HSE, or old disused religious sites?

I find Ireland has a slightly higher proportion of religious sites than other countries, although not excessively more. There are a lot of large old manor houses dotted around the countryside, some verging on castles I guess, built out of stone and quite imposing - it's those old rugged buildings that I think of when I think about locations in Ireland. I'm looking forward to visiting a few of those during an upcoming trip.

miamee wrote: »

Interesting article. I'm surprised to hear them list Alain Robert as an urban explorer, he doesn't really fit in the same category as what you do at all, does he? Maybe in the eyes of the police he does.

Are there any urban explorers that you look up to or would like to emulate or whose work you follow closely? I suppose the ones I am thinking of are the very public ones that you don't rate much like US-based Seph Lawless. Even just looking at the thumbnails of his videos here, it does look very 'clickbait-y' but I enjoyed his videos for a while, haven't looked at any recently.

This is a big part of the problem - other activities are increasingly being classified as urban exploring, when in reality they aren't. It's becoming more and more the case that if it involves trespassing, it will be referred to as urban exploring and that's something I'm not really keen on. I'd never heard of Alain Robert before, if I'm honest, whereas I'm at least aware of anyone who's relatively high profile in the urban exploring community. Which brings me onto your next point nicely actually... When I started this hobby there were quite a few people I looked up to, and couldn't even begin to imagine how they managed to find and get into so many amazing places. As I progressed, I got to know all the people I followed or looked up to, and we have a great community whereby anyone who's "doing good stuff" for want of a better phrase, will be accepted and friended. The people I look up to are my friends! (That is something that has just happened naturally over the years, so not something I'd specifically thought about, so I'm really pleased you have made me think about that.)

Muahahaha wrote: »

Wow that oil rig photo is something else. Can you explain about the physicality of urban exploring in terms of climbing? Are participants typically good climbers, it is part of what they do? Any safety equipment used when climbing or is it all freestyle?

Also actually gaining entry to these sites, you say you never break locks or cause damage to get in. So what kind of things do you have to be prepated to do to get in? Is scaling tall barbed wire fences and walls with broken glass cemented into them a typical way of getting in? Any tools or tips or tricks used to get in? Whats the toughest entry you've ever had and what did it involve?

Generally urban explorers will be relatively adept at climbing, and although it helps, it's not essential. Climbing is the most common way to access a building, whether that's up a wall, over a fence, up a drainpipe, to a first floor (or higher) window, etc. But some aren't so skilled in climbing, and rely on more down-to-earth access points or simply letting someone else do the climbing then open a firedoor (for example) from the inside. The types of buildings and access points are so varied that there are locations where some people will get in easy and others will struggle, whatever their skills.

I know some people who utilise full rope and climbing gear, and are capable of abseiling into buildings, etc. I'm nowhere near that level! Safety is always on our minds, but taking calculated risks is often part of the game. The rope guys will have safety ropes included in their setup, but for the rest of us it's freestyle really, but certainly not at the same heights!

Each explorer has their own skillset, usually suited to their preferred type of building. I favour industrial sites, so climbing barbed/razor wire or spiky fences is common for me, and I'm quite technical when figuring out an obscure and not immediately obvious route.

My toughest entry... This depends on how you look at it really. The oil rigs were a challenge, but most of the hard work was done at home before I even tried to get on them. It involved getting a boat and motor, timing with the strong currents in that area, avoiding the coast guard patrols, and physically getting up onto the things - but we did a lot of research and planning, which was a lot of work but it ensured it was easy when we got there because we knew what we were doing! There have been so many other tough entries that I've lost count. I'm not going to state where, but one location involved bypassing a perimeter that cost millions to install that included 15ft electrified fences with shake and climb detection, followed by a clearing all the way around covered by infrared sensors and CCTV cameras with video analytics automatically monitoring the space all the time, cameras arranged so each one can see the next, automated alerts in the security office, and constant patrols by security personnel, both in vans and on foot with dogs. It looked impossible at first, but we discovered a surprisingly simple way to avoid it all! It's just a case of thinking outside the box.