The most dangerous and probably the scariest thing I’ve came across was a booby trap!

I posted about it a while ago, here’s the link:
http://www.uer.ca/...urrpage=1&pp#post0

I found Yokes smoking Poles once.

Posted by silenceofthebandos I've found a few knives and animal sacrifices freak me out when I find them. I've come across some sort of ceremony in an abandoned cemetery in the woods (luckily wasn't seen) and had a gun pointed at me while exploring once. Stay safe out there guys!

I’ve been confronted at gunpoint three times while exploring and every single one of them were property owners. All three of them let me leave without incident after I explained why I was there. The most recent one even granted me permission to carry on with my exploring. He also told me a story about the last intruder he caught on his land (he owned land which had an old school gymnasium on it with old cars inside, which is why I was there). He said that a guy pulled a van up to the side of the building in the middle of the night and just started loading it up with anything of value. He went on to explain that out there in the Oklahoma panhandle, the closest sheriff’s deputy was over an hour away, so he held that guy at gun point for over an hour until the police arrived.
Rural folks do things a lot differently than urban folks and this man’s story reminded me of this fact. It’s not that these people do things better or worse, just different. We adapt to our environment and when you live hours away from the closest hospital, police department or Dollar General, you know that if you don’t take care of something, there may not be help on the way.

Keep in mind that if you explore almost anywhere in rural America, it’s safe to assume the person you’re talking to is armed, even if it isn’t immediately obvious.

Posted by Dee Ashley Keep in mind that if you explore almost anywhere in rural America, it’s safe to assume the person you’re talking to is armed, even if it isn’t immediately obvious.

quoted for the truth...

My wife.

Inloc and I found this barrel of radioactive material at an abandoned medical facility. We were mildly alarmed to notice that the lid appears to have been tampered with. After leaving he checked the bottom of his shoes with a Geiger counter and found that it did detect elevated radiation levels, though not to an alarming or dangerous extent. So yeah, radioactive material is probably the most dangerous thing I've found while exploring.

Posted by Dee Ashley Keep in mind that if you explore almost anywhere in rural America, it’s safe to assume the person you’re talking to is armed, even if it isn’t immediately obvious.

I am curious of what you opinion is (or your collective opinions are) on the likelihood of actually being shot by one of these people?

In Canada where I live, gun laws are much different and a property owner has to be certain that the trespasser poses a genuine threat to the person and his family before they can act in self-defense.

Has anyone ever heard of an explorer actually being shot or do you think you would actually be shot if you just walked away and said fuck this I'm out!?

Posted by Freaktography I am curious of what you opinion is (or your collective opinions are) on the likelihood of actually being shot by one of these people? In Canada where I live, gun laws are much different and a property owner has to be certain that the trespasser poses a genuine threat to the person and his family before they can act in self-defense. Has anyone ever heard of an explorer actually being shot or do you think you would actually be shot if you just walked away and said fuck this I'm out!?

My opinion, 50/50 maybe 40/60 depends on the situation

Break into somebody's residence probably greater.

Look up Texas Penal Code use of deadly force, some little teenagers with a camera on my place would rate a warning shot, creepy crawly dumbasses try to get in or prowl my stuff at night Im inclined to shoot but, well at least hold at gunpoint until the deputies arrive. We got too many meth freaks stealing stuff, one less aint gonna matter in the grand scheme.

Odds of a prowler being an urban explorer where I live is practically zero and I have marked my property with no trespassing signs and purple paint stripes.

Posted by Freaktography 1. click to view

Well, that tops anything I could share.

- Partial collapses within mines
I've only found evidence of a recent collapse once at Emancipation Mine, BC. Less than a month earlier another local explorer shot some video inside the mine, while reviewing his footage after my visit I noticed that an entire section of the mine that he was exploring had completely caved in between his visit and mine.

- Open vertical caverns within mines
In larger mines you often find what is called an "open stope" where a particular area is chosen to mine outward from, resulting in massive caverns. In abandoned mines there is no light, they're incredibly dark. The moisture in the air diffuses the light of your flashlight so much that regular flashlights are almost useless and only light your path ahead maybe a dozen ft, like headlights in dense fog. The older the mine the less likely that any of the original stope fencing is still in place. Combine all of the above and well... watch your step.

- Commercial bee hives
A staple of rural exploration mishaps. Don't run, they will chase you.

- Occupants
It happens. If you spend enough time snooping around abandoned houses you'll eventually commit an accidental B&E. Hopefully you hear somebody before they see you, has happened to me twice in 6 years.

- Black mold and asbestos
Has been said countless times but it's probably the most common danger we encounter.

Posted by Aran Inloc and I found this barrel of radioactive material at an abandoned medical facility. We were mildly alarmed to notice that the lid appears to have been tampered with. After leaving he checked the bottom of his shoes with a Geiger counter and found that it did detect elevated radiation levels, though not to an alarming or dangerous extent. So yeah, radioactive material is probably the most dangerous thing I've found while exploring. click to view

Sometimes the most dangerous things are the stuff you can't see. Crazy that they would just leave this behind? At some point this is a danger to someone, you can't just expect if you leave it behind then that's the end of the story. Glad to see at least the levels were safe enough for you guys. There's a few spots on the west coast I have been meaning to check out, but radiation contamination has always been a concern for me at these locations. You kinda don't know till it's too late.

Posted by Goste Sometimes the most dangerous things are the stuff you can't see. Crazy that they would just leave this behind? At some point this is a danger to someone, you can't just expect if you leave it behind then that's the end of the story. Glad to see at least the levels were safe enough for you guys. There's a few spots on the west coast I have been meaning to check out, but radiation contamination has always been a concern for me at these locations. You kinda don't know till it's too late.

To be honest, I don't actually know if the radiation levels were safe for us. We didn't have a Geiger counter with us, but the explorer I was with measured his shoes before and after the three hour drive each way and his shoes measured at +0.07mSv/h post explore, within the acceptable safe range for background radiation so it should be fine. We don't know what the radiation level on site was though.

Posted by Aran To be honest, I don't actually know if the radiation levels were safe for us. We didn't have a Geiger counter with us, but the explorer I was with measured his shoes before and after the three hour drive each way and his shoes measured at +0.07mSv/h post explore, within the acceptable safe range for background radiation so it should be fine. We don't know what the radiation level on site was though.

Well hopefully the levels were safe for you guys! It’s a pretty crazy hazard that being unprepared for can get dangerous quickly and without knowing.

Posted by Aran To be honest, I don't actually know if the radiation levels were safe for us. We didn't have a Geiger counter with us, but the explorer I was with measured his shoes before and after the three hour drive each way and his shoes measured at +0.07mSv/h post explore, within the acceptable safe range for background radiation so it should be fine. We don't know what the radiation level on site was though.

I always measure more shoes with a Geiger counter before exploring too!

I've run into asbestos a good bit, not sure I've run into anything else more dangerous.

Posted by EPOCH6 - Occupants It happens. If you spend enough time snooping around abandoned houses you'll eventually commit an accidental B&E. Hopefully you hear somebody before they see you, has happened to me twice in 6 years.

I have a story that relates somewhat along these lines. Me and an exploring buddy went to check out a pre ww1 school out in a small country town. It was clearly abandoned when we got to the place, many broken windows with vines growing from the inside through the windows, and peeking on tiptoe through some of the windows revealed old empty classrooms that looked unused for years. There were some signs of activity around the school, one part of the school had some curtains covering the windows, grass was freshly cut, multiple tire tracks around the place, and on one of the back steps there were some random tools, buckets and VERY fresh cigarette butts. We figured that all this pointed towards the early stages of renovation work being done. There was one thing my friend pointed out as being strange was on one of the inside window sills were some shampoo bottles and other toiletries that didn't look old and dusty, but we really didn't put much thought into what that could mean, other than being strange. We tried some doors which all were locked, and we couldn't find a window with enough broken glass to squeeze up through. We did find an area where we could crawl underneath the building through the crawlspace, which we did. There were plenty of small holes but none big enough to crawl up through, we finally found one big enough for him to fit through. I had to go a bit further to find one I could fit through. I go to meet up with my friend, checking rooms for anything cool to shoot in passing, but they're all empty and dusty. When we group up I can tell something is amiss by the look on his face. Some of the rooms he passed by had clear signs of habitation, and not like a homeless squat. The one that put us on edge the most was a room with a bunch of high end video cameras set up on tripods and other photography and video equipment, green screens, flash umbrellas etc., everything was very clean and new. A little ways down the hall we found another very clean room that was furnished as a bedroom, there was a bookshelf, a flatscreen tv on some drawers, a nightstand with a couple redbox dvds that were due to be returned in a few days, some cases of 9mm ammo and other random personnel items, and then a partially made bed with a glock on it. We decided it was best to fuck off at that point.

Posted by Aran Inloc and I found this barrel of radioactive material at an abandoned medical facility. We were mildly alarmed to notice that the lid appears to have been tampered with. After leaving he checked the bottom of his shoes with a Geiger counter and found that it did detect elevated radiation levels, though not to an alarming or dangerous extent. So yeah, radioactive material is probably the most dangerous thing I've found while exploring. click to view

Reminds me of this incident: https://en.wikiped...%C3%A2nia_accident

Scrapper found a radiation source in an abandoned hospital and took it home. Sold it to a scrap yard and the owner thought the blue glow was cool, so he brought it home too. Ended up killing half the guy's family and contaminating the whole neighborhood.

Posted by Freaktography I am curious of what you opinion is (or your collective opinions are) on the likelihood of actually being shot by one of these people? In Canada where I live, gun laws are much different and a property owner has to be certain that the trespasser poses a genuine threat to the person and his family before they can act in self-defense. Has anyone ever heard of an explorer actually being shot or do you think you would actually be shot if you just walked away and said fuck this I'm out!?

Depends where you are honestly. I live in the Northeast, and with the exception of Western Mass, and No Mans land in Maine, id say pretty slim.

Most of the abandoned rural property gets destroyed really quick due to harsh winters and hurricanes.

UPDATE: We went back with a Geiger counter to determine whether it was actually dangerous or not and determined that it was actually safer to be standing directly next to the barrel than anywhere else, as the ambient radiation there was actually lower than the usual background radiation outside.

Huh. Guess it was a false alarm.

The police.