Why do paranormal investigators always have terrible equipment?

Genuine question: I watch these ghost hunting shows sometimes (usually because my wife puts them on) and I'm absolutely gobsmacked by the kit these people use. It's 2024 and half of them are still using camcorders that look like they're from 2005, temperamental digital thermometers, and voice recorders that couldn't pick up an elephant in a library.

You'd think with how much money these shows must make, they could invest in proper equipment. Especially the thermal imaging stuff - most of the time the images are so degraded you couldn't tell a ghost from a dodgy boiler.

Is this deliberate? Like, is there some unspoken rule in paranormal investigation that your kit has to be rubbish? Or is everyone just massively broke?

It's partly genuine lack of funding, but also partly cargo cult thinking. People see the 'classics' use rubbish kit and think that's what you're supposed to do. Then there's the whole 'spirits interfere with electronics' excuse when nothing shows up. If you use proper modern equipment and still get nothing, you can't really blame the equipment anymore, can you?

temperamental digital thermometers, and voice recorders that couldn't pick up an elephant in a library

This made me laugh out loud. But you're right - half the paranormal research community seems allergic to actually good equipment. I think genuinely it's because most investigators are hobbyists spending their own money, and thermal cameras cost more than a decent car.

The TV shows are deliberate though. Bad equipment = more 'mysterious' results = better drama. Modern kit is too accurate. You can't gaslight the audience if you've got a 4K thermal camera showing there's just a drafty window and bad insulation.

Also honestly a lot of investigators don't understand how to use proper equipment. You give someone a £3k thermal camera and they don't know about calibration, emissivity settings, or environmental compensation and suddenly you've got a useless expensive brick.

Fair points all round, but it's also worth noting that expensive kit doesn't help if you don't know what you're doing. I've seen people with thousands of pounds of equipment produce worse results than someone with a decent torch and a notebook. Training matters more than budget.