Your First Urbex Experience?

Echo · 16 Apr 2015, 7:11 pm

So I'm just wondering what everyone's first experience with urbex was?

My first ever drain was Anzac, and I'm talking before they had that dam in the entrance. When you could walk all the way in without getting your feet wet. I'd read a bit about it online so I went armed with my iphone torch. That was mistake number one. I had no money to buy a proper torch and I was really keen to just go and do it.
Now anyone who has ever owned an iphone 5 can probably tell you that the battery life is below standard.
Anyway I walk all the way up to the Chamber, admiring the graffiti and just thinking how cool all of this is. And almost as soon as I make the Chamber my phone dies. At least it wasn't pitch black in there because of the grill that let's natural light in at one side of Anzac.
Long story short if you hold down the power button on an iphone even after its dead a faint glow will appear with the charging symbol for a few seconds. So I very slowly had to do that all the way back along the tunnel to the outflow. It's probably 200m or so but when you can't see basically anything it feels like a lot further.
After that experience I went and bought a torch.

So what was your first urbex experience? Were you prepared? What did you do wrong? Etc.

phytrix · 16 Apr 2015, 7:18 pm

My first serious explore (that is, not just sticking my head in a drain or briefly looking around an abandoned building) after I heard about urban exploration was at Burford's. There were 3 of us and 2 of us used the torches on our mobiles. Upon entering, one of us slipped and fell into the river

From here, we continued through the rocky formation, being very cautious of time as a result of the tides. The bats were freaking us out for a bit, to the extent that one of us was constantly falling behind because he was so cautious of the bats, but we got used to it. Eventually we reached the Hell Hole, in which we wasted a lot of time and caused ourselves a lot of pain. Unfortunately, we hadn't done sufficient research and wasn't sure how much longer the drain would go on for, so we decided to head back to the entry, despite us being so close to the exit. Again, this was a result of caution in regards to tidal patterns. Overall, it was a lot of fun and it was a pretty new and exhilarating experience.

Echo · 16 Apr 2015, 7:20 pm

phytrix wrote:My first serious explore (that is, not just sticking my head in a drain or briefly looking around an abandoned building) after I heard about urban exploration was at Burford's. There were 3 of us and 2 of us used the torches on our mobiles.

There should be an unspoken urbex rule that states to never use phones as torches.

blakjak · 16 Apr 2015, 7:22 pm

The first time we (my mates and I) did urbex was when the Reschs brewery shut down in Redfern (early 80s). We didn't call it urbex then, we'd play war games with BB guns and CB radios, build BMX tracks with ramps, get with girls, make cubby houses, smoek ciggies, and chase pigeons, the usual crap kids get up to.
It's all flats now, but they refurbished some of the original buildings so I can kinda still get a bearing of where things were.

You can get a free app (Flashlight etc) that makes your phone's screen bright enough to use as a faint torch. It uses less power than the flash light. They are good for emergencies, but nobody in their right mind would use a phone as a primary light source.

phytrix · 16 Apr 2015, 7:24 pm

Echo wrote:There should be an unspoken urbex rule that states to never use phones as torches.

I don't know, iPhone torches are actually relatively reliable. Obviously there are better choices, but as a newbie, I think it does the job relatively well. Plus, phone cameras can always be used as backups. No point investing money into something that you may not even be interested in though

Echo · 16 Apr 2015, 7:29 pm

phytrix wrote:
Echo wrote:There should be an unspoken urbex rule that states to never use phones as torches.
I don't know, iPhone torches are actually relatively reliable. Obviously there are better choices, but as a newbie, I think it does the job relatively well. Plus, phone cameras can always be used as backups. No point investing money into something that you may not even be interested in though

Didn't you just read Uncle Blakjak's post.

Uncle Blakjak wrote:Nobody in their right mind would use a phone as a primary light source.

phytrix · 16 Apr 2015, 7:31 pm

Echo wrote:
phytrix wrote:
Echo wrote:There should be an unspoken urbex rule that states to never use phones as torches.
I don't know, iPhone torches are actually relatively reliable. Obviously there are better choices, but as a newbie, I think it does the job relatively well. Plus, phone cameras can always be used as backups. No point investing money into something that you may not even be interested in though
Didn't you just read Uncle Blakjak's post.
uncle blakjak wrote:Nobody in their right mind would ever use a phone as a primary torch

No serious explorer would, but I would understand why a first-timer would. Not saying it's an amazing idea, but it's not as horrible as you're making it seem

Echo · 16 Apr 2015, 7:41 pm

phytrix wrote: No serious explorer would, but I would understand why a first-timer would. Not saying it's an amazing idea, but it's not as horrible as you're making it seem

Horrible? It's a crime mate. Anyone who uses a phone as a torch should be locked up. They're a danger to society.

Just wait until I'm Prime Minister.

blakjak · 16 Apr 2015, 8:38 pm

Phones are easy to drop, and they are usually not waterproof so if you do drop it you're up sh1t creek without a paddle (literally). More than one person has died in a drain due to having a hand held torch which they dropped when the proverbial hit the fan (I wont go into details). A phone's battery endurance sucks, especially when you're thrashing the torch function, and they project a very weak beam that can only be used to see a foot or 2 in front of yourself.

And apart from those reasons and Echo's warning, we shouldn't be trying to encourage people to use a phone as a torch.

Will-043 · 17 Apr 2015, 9:33 am

used to use some of the local drains on the south side of brisbane to get around as a kid, most of them were big enough to ride a bike through.

cool_guy85 · 17 Apr 2015, 10:07 am

A few early experiences stick in my mind:

My old man took me caving around the south west of Western Australia a fair bit when I was very young. I remember exploring a drain when I was about 6-7 behind my grandparents house in Perth with an old dolphin torch. Also, when I was about 8 or 9 a friend and I explored an abandoned cattle farm where the owner had killed himself a few years beforehand because he was going bankrupt. It was pretty creepy, local teenagers of the time were using the main house to throw parties, have sex and smoke weed. I remember walking around the main farm house and there were cow skulls, condom wrappers, porn mags and bongs and being like "what are these things?"

Edit: Actually, I think my early UE experiences led me down a path of decadence and depravity.

timdole · 17 Apr 2015, 1:34 pm

My first experience was hearing about a tunnel-like structure and wanting to go locate it for myself. After researching google maps, paper maps and historical articles, I went of and found what I was looking for first go. Pretty damn lucky in retrospect considering that it *might* be in this part of the bush.

In regards to using a phone as a torch, that'd be my last option, as it is you're only way of letting others know if le poop hits le fan. And when, not if, the battery is drained from the torch function, you'd be left with a useless brick.

aussiemacka · 17 Apr 2015, 7:15 pm

Got onto the roof of Novotel in Darling Harbour the day after they Sydney seige.

Guess how that turned out...

Echo · 17 Apr 2015, 7:27 pm

aussiemacka wrote:Got onto the roof of Novotel in Darling Harbour the day after they Sydney seige.

Guess how that turned out...

Please elaborate.

aussiemacka · 17 Apr 2015, 11:22 pm

Echo wrote:
aussiemacka wrote:Got onto the roof of Novotel in Darling Harbour the day after they Sydney seige.

Guess how that turned out...
Please elaborate.

The whole area around The Novotel was cornered off and around 20-30 police came into the building. By the time they had got to the roof we were inside the building and casually walked out, later we got a warning for ticket evasion but I guess it was a pretty ok day.

JVE1 · 24 Apr 2015, 9:42 am

Mine was stumbling across the Dunlop/Slazenger factory while visiting my Cycling Wheel Sponsor next door in the industrial estate. Noticed all the graffiti on the roof and a hole in the fence.. Be rude not to

kjwx · 06 May 2015, 10:21 am

As previously mentioned elsewhere here, my father took my brother and I to an abandoned theme park when I was 10.
I'd forgotten all about it until he reminded me during a recent family dinner but that outing obviously sparked my current endeavours.

Back to the controversial topic of phone flashlights: Guilty as charged. I use mine all the time, though not as a primary light source.
It helps that my iPhone is safely ensconced in a waterproof Otterbox and I carry an external battery pack on my keyring.
But can anybody here honestly say they'd give up an unexpected opportunity to explore just because they didn't have their regular torch/es with them?

DFEX · 06 May 2015, 12:15 pm

kjwx wrote: But can anybody here honestly say they'd give up an unexpected opportunity to explore just because they didn't have their regular torch/es with them?

I'm fairly new to the world of urban exploration but I have worked out that it pays to have a torch at all times. I carry 2 in my bag now always, 1 mini keyring dolphin torch and one that charges in a car cigarette lighter. Both very small and very handy for impromptu missions.

Aydun · 06 May 2015, 12:30 pm

kjwx wrote:But can anybody here honestly say they'd give up an unexpected opportunity to explore just because they didn't have their regular torch/es with them?

When I finally found Checkmate after months of searching, all I had was my phone and a 10 year old torch that was worse than a phone. Needless to say, exploring was had

Midget · 06 May 2015, 2:14 pm

Currently I always have my proper torch in my bag, but the iPhone 6 flashlight is surprisingly good. Another thing is that the battery drain isn't that crazy. I'd be happy to head into a local drain (where I know the length etc.) with maybe 40% battery. I do also carry a small external battery for the phone though.

blakjak · 06 May 2015, 3:42 pm

kjwx wrote:But can anybody here honestly say they'd give up an unexpected opportunity to explore just because they didn't have their regular torch/es with them?

Get the fone app the turns your screen into a torch, helps sometimes.

blakjak · 06 May 2015, 3:43 pm

Midget wrote:I do also carry a small external battery for the phone though.

Surely it's easier to just have a small torch on your person.

kjwx · 06 May 2015, 6:21 pm

blakjak wrote:Get the fone app the turns your screen into a torch, helps sometimes.

Those apps have stopped me from killing myself dozens of times; I have one on each phone. That said, I've also used a lighter to explore, though I don't recommend it. Wasn't giving up easy access to a site I'd been dying to visit that easily.

Midget · 06 May 2015, 6:38 pm

blakjak wrote:
Midget wrote:I do also carry a small external battery for the phone though.
Surely it's easier to just have a small torch on your person.

I do also carry my M7 with me. The iPhone is just useful for when I don't want to blind myself.

blakjak · 06 May 2015, 7:03 pm

Midget wrote:I do also carry my M7 with me.

Is that like the cashless toll-road?