Best budget ghost hunting kit under £300 - what actually works?

I'm not a committed believer yet, but I want to try some basic investigation without spending hundreds on kit I might not use. What's the actual essential gear for someone starting out, under £300 total budget?

I've seen reviews online and half of them are selling overpriced nonsense. EMF meters marketed as 'ghost detectors' that are just measuring electromagnetic fields (which obviously exist everywhere). Thermal cameras that don't actually prove anything paranormal. Expensive 'spirit boxes' that are basically just broken radios.

What would an experienced investigator recommend for someone who wants to actually investigate rather than just have a paranormal excuse for a night out? Looking for honest recommendations.

Honest answer: a good notebook, a reliable torch, and a decent digital thermometer. Seriously. You can get all of that for under £50 and it's more useful than most paranormal-specific equipment. For under £300: a basic CCTV camera (Argos or Amazon, around £60-80), a digital thermometer with logging capability (£25-40), a voice recorder (£30-50 if you don't use your mobile), and the rest as contingency. Then spend time learning how to use what you've got rather than buying more.

If you really want to spend the full £300, invest in a decent thermal imaging camera - you can get entry-level ones around £200-250 now. These actually show something objective (heat distribution) rather than relying on interpretation. Pair it with basic sound recording and motion detection. Avoid anything marketed specifically as 'paranormal' equipment because those words add 300% to the price. Buy regular kit and use it for investigation.

The Mel Meter/EMF combination is worth considering if you want one specialized tool, but honestly, a £15 basic EMF meter from Amazon does the same job. The expensive ones just have LCD displays and look fancier. Most paranormal phenomena that do exist are probably better investigated with audio/visual equipment than EMF readings anyway. Skip the bells and whistles, get the basics, and use your brain as your primary investigation tool.

You're absolutely right that most paranormal equipment is overpriced garbage marketed to believers rather than skeptics. If you want legitimate investigation equipment, buy what scientists use: temperature loggers, audio recorders, cameras. Use those to establish baseline conditions, document anomalies objectively. Then if something genuinely weird shows up, you'll have real data rather than interpretations of mysterious readings.