They call it "urban exploration." Cruising through abandoned factories, tunnels, sewage systems, bridges, and even "live" structures still in use. Why? Because they are beautiful, mysterious, exciting, and not open to everyone. Others simply enjoy "abandonments, decay and industrial mayhem."

This book is packed solid with great practical advice on how to explore this unexplored realm. Every page has something I didn't know about gaining access, staying safe, and discovering new paths in the urban wilds. While this activity is generally considered illegal, the respect for the buildings, and the owners, nurtured in this guide is impressive.

There's a related DVD in the same spirit which contains no advice at all. Rather it's an ode to urban archeology and the love of forgotten buildings.

-- KK

Access All Areas: A User's Guide to the Art of Urban Exploration
Ninjalicious
2005, 242 pages
$20
Available from Amazon

Echoes of Forgotten Places
Produced by Scribble Media
2005, 63 min.
$18, DVD
Available from Amazon

Still from Echoes of Forgotten Places

Sample book excerpts:

Sometimes you'll want to head through a room, hallway or stairwell that's off-limits and monitored by a camera. In many cases the best way past such a camera is to calmly walk past the camera. Certainly, this will work more often than snipping the wires, cycling the video feed or any other elaborate spy stunts.

*

Directions left by past tunnelers can be quite useful, though they should be taken with a grain of salt. People make mistakes.

*

While I'm a big advocate of properly researching a place to get the inside scoop on how to act like you're supposed to be there, sometimes it's also necessary, or at least fun, to fly by the seat of your pants. In such cases, you may suddenly find yourself questioned by someone, or needing to speak with someone in order to get through a particular barrier, without having any real idea what might be a plausible reason for you to be there.

In such a case, I recommend just stalling for a time and letting the person you're talking to supply your excuse for you. People hate uncomfortable silences and confusing situations and will often rush to supply the information they're looking for themselves. Good stalling phrases include: "I hope you can help me"; "I'm not sure exactly what the procedure is here"; "Do I need to show you some ID?"; "I didn't even know I was going to have to speak to anyone about this" or something of that sort. After you say one of these lines, wait for a response. People generally want to believe that the people around them are rational, so they'll more or less tell you the most rational reason they can conceive of for your presence -- "Are you here for the class?"; "You must be looking for Mark"; "Are you one of today's volunteers?"; "I guess you're looking for the way to the observation level"; etc. You don't have to come up with a good reason -- you just have to agree to the one they devise for you. Once you perfect the skill of stalling without seeming like you're stalling, this will work for you quite often.

*

In most cases, your focus shouldn't be on defeating motion detectors, but on spotting them and avoiding them. If you constantly keep an eye out for motion detectors at all times and in all locations, you'll gradually get a sense of where they're installed, and learn that you have to be especially careful near doorways, roof hatches, outside exits, the tops and bottoms of stairwells and similar locations. And you'll get familiar with the slightly more out-of-the-way routes that can be used to avoid them.