Hello! Long-time lurker, finally joining. Quick q about starter equipment

Hiya everyone, been reading Quirk Reports for about eighteen months now and finally decided to create an account and actually engage. Apologies if this is a basic question!

I'm in Yorkshire (near Haworth, actually - proper spooky area), and I've got mates who are into ghost hunting as a hobby. We've been doing it pretty informally (just torches, notebooks, and a mobile phone) but we'd like to be a bit more systematic about it. What's the absolute bare minimum kit we'd need to do proper investigations?

I've seen people mention ghost boxes, EMF meters, thermal cameras, but honestly it's overwhelming. What would you recommend for beginners who want to stay under £200 budget for the whole lot?

Welcome! Haworth's brilliant for investigation - the Parsonage is famous but the whole village has decent history. For £200 I'd suggest: (1) A basic EMF meter (£25-30), (2) A decent handheld torch with spare batteries (£15-20), (3) A digital thermometer (£10), and (4) a digital voice recorder for EVP work (£30-40). Leaves you change for a notebook and pens, which sounds boring but are genuinely 80% of what you'll actually use.

Skip the ghost box for now - most of them are just AM/FM radio white noise and honestly they're more entertainment than evidence. Stick with EMF and temperature readings plus voice recording. That's the holy trinity of beginner investigation. Once you've got technique sorted you can upgrade.

Are you planning to investigate licensed locations or just your mates' houses? That matters because public sites have rules about equipment (can't leave stuff unattended, no electromagnetic interference if there's sensitive equipment nearby, that sort of thing). Happy to give location-specific advice if you tell me what you're thinking of investigating.

Nice one, welcome aboard. Honestly your best investment is joining one of the Yorkshire paranormal groups - there's some good ones - because you can borrow kit before buying. No point dropping two hundred quid on gear just to realise you hate thermal imaging or whatever. Plus having experienced investigators around keeps things evidence-focused rather than ghost-hunt-as-party-game.

Whatever you do, don't buy those Chinese 'professional' paranormal kits off Amazon for £50. They're plastic nonsense. Much better to spend £30 on one proper EMF meter than £50 on a kit with six pieces of rubbish gear.