What gear do you need for a first urban exploration?

What do you actually need to carry?

Seven items, and nothing that opens anything.

Our guide to abandoned-building hazards already lists this equipment and its limits. These test measurements, summarised by INRS and the cited manufacturers, help you read a label; they do not establish that a building is safe.

No equipment makes an unknown atmosphere or an unstable structure safe. These tests cover defined hazards and conditions; abandon entry when the situation has not been assessed.

Boots: what do S1, S2 and S3 mean on the label?

Three standards separate three families, and "safety" has a precise meaning among them. France’s INRS sorts them by toe protection:

1. ISO 20345, safety footwear: toecap withstanding an impact of at least 200 J and compression of at least 15 kN. INRS translates 200 J as an object under 20 kg falling from one metre.
2. ISO 20346, protective footwear: 100 J and 10 kN, an object under 10 kg falling from one metre.
3. ISO 20347, occupational footwear: no toe protection at all.

The categories stack on top of the SB basic requirements:

P, PL and PS do not describe interchangeable tests. The 1,100 N reference describes resistance measured under defined conditions; methods and criteria vary with the marking. INRS notes that a fine point, body weight or a carried load can defeat protection. Check the model’s instructions: compliant soles do not guarantee protection against every nail.

Two further markings matter on a floor covered in rubble. AN flags malleolus protection against lateral impacts below 10 J, a 5 kg mass falling 20 cm. SR flags a slip-resistant outsole, tested on ceramic tiles coated with glycerine, which resembles neither plaster dust nor moss. INRS writes that passing this test "is not sufficient to conclude that the pair will be slip resistant in the working environment", and that grip drops sharply as the tread wears or clogs.

Height also appears in the type: A for a low shoe, B for an ankle boot, C and D for taller boots. Choose a suitable, properly fitted model; a high upper does not guarantee freedom from ankle injuries.

Standard editions and markings change. Check the declared edition, instructions and condition of the model rather than dating a pair from one abbreviation.

The European marking described here is not a substitute for checking the standards and instructions applying to equipment sold in another country.

Light: why carry two, and what is "8 hours of runtime" worth?

Technical sheets from Streamlight and Bayco explain six measurements in ANSI/PLATO FL 1. They summarise tests; they do not certify every light or promise performance in real conditions.

Runtime. The cited sheets measure it from the output recorded 30 seconds after switch-on until it falls to 10 % of that initial value. This does not guarantee constant output throughout the stated time. Consult the manufacturer’s output curve or data.

Beam distance. This is the distance at which illuminance falls to 0.25 lux, a level manufacturers’ notes compare to a full moon on a clear night in an open field. A lamp rated at 200 m lights that far the way the moon lights a field: enough to make out a shape, not enough to read a floor.

Two more marks read quickly. Impact resistance assumes at least a one-metre drop onto concrete, six times, with no crack and no loss of function. IPX4 covers water splashed from every direction, IPX7 submersion at one metre for thirty minutes, and both water tests run after the drop test.

The second light source earns its weight. A sealed building has no ambient light: when the lamp dies, the dark is total, and nobody finds a staircase by feel. A phone does not fill that role. It is the device that still needs battery when the time comes to call.

Gloves: what does EN 388 actually measure?

The EN 388 pictogram carries numbers and letters for separate tests. This table follows the levels explained in Ansell’s manufacturer guidance of 30 July 2026. Check your model’s edition and markings; do not automatically transfer a rating to another standard.

The letter A to F distinguishes the TDM cut-test result under EN ISO 13997. It does not use the same scale as the rotating-blade index. An additional P indicates that the impact-protection test was passed; X means a test was not performed or was not applicable.

A high EN 388 puncture rating is not needle protection. Ansell explicitly distinguishes these hazards. Do not search rubble by hand or treat any glove as universal protection against sharp points.

They also do nothing about tetanus, which our guide to the real hazards covers.

FFP3: what it filters, and the two cases where it is useless

A disposable FFP3 filtering half mask stops at least 99 % of aerosols, against 94 % for an FFP2 and 80 % for an FFP1. Those figures come from EN 149 and are measured in a laboratory. NIOSH certification uses a separate scale; an N95 is not an FFP3: NIOSH-approved N95, N99 and N100 respirators filter at least 95 %, 99 % and 99.97 % of airborne particles.

The useful number lies elsewhere. INRS separates the nominal protection factor required by the standard, 50 for an FFP3, from the assigned protection factor, defined as the level expected in real work for 95 % of wearers who are trained, correctly fitted and using a well-maintained device. For an FFP3, INRS uses 10. Britain’s HSE uses a different assigned factor for FFP3, with a scale: FFP1, FFP2 and FFP3 "can reduce the amount of dust you breathe by factors of 4, 10 and 20 respectively".

Three conditions hold that factor up, and none of them comes free:

• A model suited to the face, selected through a fit test by a competent person. Facial hair can prevent a seal.
• The instructions and use marking. An NR model is not reusable beyond a shift; replacement instructions also apply when it is removed, dirty or damaged.
• A seal check every time it is put on, which does not replace fit testing.

Then come the two situations where the mask contributes nothing.

An oxygen-deficient atmosphere. A filtering respirator does not supply oxygen. Cellars, wells, tanks and passages can present this risk without a perceptible warning. Do not enter or improvise a rescue: confined-space intervention requires trained teams, assessment and specific procedures. Buying a different mask does not make entry safe.

Gases and vapours. A particle filter does not stop them. NIOSH is explicit: filtering facepiece respirators "do not provide protection against gases or vapors". Carbon monoxide is the case that kills quietly, and INRS recommends supplied-air devices against it, reserving CO filters for escape and survival apparatus.

So the respirator does one job: it cuts down how many fibres and how much dust you inhale from breathable air. It does not replace the rule that actually protects against asbestos, set out in our hazards guide: leave suspect material undisturbed, and walk out of any room where sprayed coatings or floor tiles are damaged.

Helmets: is a construction hard hat enough?

It protects less than its shape suggests. INRS writes of helmets meeting EN 397, the everyday industrial hard hat, that they "are not intended to provide protection against impacts applied outside the crown of the head". They are built for an object falling on you, not for a head hitting a beam on the way down.

Two other standards exist, and the difference is worth knowing:

• EN 14052, high-performance industrial helmets: better protection against falling objects, against impacts outside the crown and against penetration, with a mandatory retention system.
• EN 812, industrial bump caps: they protect when the head strikes a hard, fixed object. INRS is blunt about their limits. They "are not designed to protect against the effects of falling or thrown objects" and cannot substitute for a protective helmet.

The chin strap must be provided and adjusted according to the instructions and the risk of losing the helmet. It is not always supplied; check accessory compatibility with the manufacturer.

That leaves the question nobody asks about a helmet found at the back of a garage: is it still any good? INRS answers in four points.

1. The date moulded into the shell is the manufacturing date, not an expiry date.
2. A helmet whose colour has not faded has not necessarily kept its strength.
3. On a thermoplastic shell, bend the peak slowly. Faint cracking sounds signal advanced internal degradation of the polymer, and the helmet goes in the bin.
4. Any helmet that has taken a serious impact gets replaced even with no visible damage, because the energy is absorbed by partial destruction of the shell and harness.

A helmet with no known history is worth nothing, and one stored for years behind a window is worth less: INRS recommends storage away from light, heat and weather.

What goes in the first-aid kit?

INRS answers with a sentence that most online packing lists contradict: there is no standard contents list for a first-aid kit.

The contents follow from two things: the risk assessment for the situation, and the training of the person who will open the kit. A compression bandage does nothing in the hands of someone who has never been taught to apply one. Training defines the kit, not the reverse.

The example INRS gives falls into two blocks: protection for the first aider (gloves, hand sanitiser, mouth barrier) and wound care (soap, antiseptic, dressings, bandages, scissors, survival blanket). The institute adds one maintenance instruction that everyone forgets: set a check schedule and replace expired products. Expired antiseptic takes up the same space as usable antiseptic.

Phone, alerting, and what no equipment replaces

112 is the European emergency number, free in the EU. In France, 114 provides accessible emergency contact, including SMS, an app and video calls, for people who have difficulty hearing or speaking. Plan the appropriate way to raise the alarm before a visit.

Keep battery power for an emergency and carry a separate light source. Reception can be absent in a basement or building; do not rely on a connection being available everywhere.

The rest cannot be bought. Our hazards guide reduces it to two rules that outweigh any row in the table above: never alone, and someone outside who knows the place, the people and the time you are due back.

What is useless, and what does not belong in the bag

• A surgical or cloth mask against fibres. Surgical masks are designed to stop large droplets going outward; INRS notes that such a mask does not protect the wearer from inhaling very small suspended particles.
• An FFP1, whose assigned factor drops to 4.
• A phone torch as the primary light.
• A helmet with no chin strap on broken ground.
• A high puncture rating treated as a guarantee against a needle.
• Any tool that opens things. Bolt cutters, a pry bar and a set of picks are not protective equipment. They are the objects that move a visit into the offences described in our guide to French law, where the operative word is "manoeuvres".

What this guide does not do

It recommends no brand, no model and no retailer, and it carries no affiliate links. It does not explain how to get into anywhere, or how to get past a fence. It is not training either: the standards quoted here govern protective equipment worn at work, by trained people, in situations assessed in advance.

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