I just keep mine in notebooks written with pen. Currently, I write in a journal after each explore or scout. I don't like the idea of a huge database of information of this type on my PC. But maybe I'm just a bit paranoid...

I have a notebook with a bunch of locations listed in it for save keeping. I'm usually pretty good at remembering where a place is on the map and when i want to look up an address i'll find it on google maps and im good to go..
i should probably create an excel document for ease, but pen and paper has a positive vibe to it too..

I just use Streets & Trips 2013. It's really handy for figuring out how to get places, and coordinating trips. Plus it has a trip planner feature that I love.

Posted by TunnelRunner33 I just keep mine in notebooks written with pen. Currently, I write in a journal after each explore or scout. I don't like the idea of a huge database of information of this type on my PC. But maybe I'm just a bit paranoid...

You couldn't have said it any better, TunnelRunner.
People seem to forget that smartphones nowadays require a Google account (Uncle Sam watching you), and mostly every app you download asks for "permission" to "change and/or modify the contents on your sd card, text messages, etc."...yeah-f*** that noise. Better to be safe than sorry.

Disclaimer: The Google account synched to my phone with my wireless prepaid provider is "watchmeunclesam". Gotta stay a step ahead.

Personal location database? I pick a spot. I go. I take photos. I put the photos in a folder. I name the folder the name of the abandonment. I go somewhere else. Sometimes I look at a BING birdseye to get the intersection so I can punch it into the GPS plugged into my Merc's cigarette lighter. If it's cool, I may go again. When I discover something new through word of mouth, I remember it exists and maybe go there in the future. Sometimes a Google search happens for history of the place. Sometimes not.

One of the guys created a large database of mine claims. It's in KMZ format and is imported into Google Earth. It creates a pushpin waypoint at the site of each mine. We find it very useful when we head out to a new area.

I have modified the database to color code the push pins so I can keep track of mines I've been to and whether they are still open or if they have been closed off. I can also add a few notes about any special equipment or special features of interest.

Of course, mines I stumble across when out exploring get added when I get back.

Yeah, I get that this is a huge overkill for most UE applications but it has been really great as a tool for us as we travel to different parts of the west exploring old mines.

Abby Normal

Just my brain. If I forget the street name, I can find it again from internet searches, but if I've been to a site, I never forget the access details.

Posted by Abby Normal Yeah, I get that this is a huge overkill for most UE applications but it has been really great as a tool for us as we travel to different parts of the west exploring old mines.

Being the geography nerd I am, I've even gone so far as to use ArcGIS to keep track of potential abandonments.

I read somewhere the data base is dead i.e. deceased

I use "Your places" in Google Maps, it lets you keep private lists of unlisted locations based on coordinates. If I ever find something cool, I add it to the "Want to go" list, and the cool places I've been go in "Favorites".

It's great for more than UE too, I've found cool tourist attractions and places I'd forgotten from my childhood that way too. I love the 3D functionality of Google Maps, they have most cities LIDAR scanned and photo mapped with helicopters so you can get a sense of what a place is physically like.

It's how I plotted my way to this cool bridge.

Posted by Ciano I use "Your places" in Google Maps, it lets you keep private lists of unlisted locations based on coordinates. If I ever find something cool, I add it to the "Want to go" list, and the cool places I've been go in "Favorites". It's great for more than UE too, I've found cool tourist attractions and places I'd forgotten from my childhood that way too. I love the 3D functionality of Google Maps, they have most cities LIDAR scanned and photo mapped with helicopters so you can get a sense of what a place is physically like. It's how I plotted my way to this cool bridge. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48816134461_36ef8a9944_n.jpg

It makes you trackable, can be used as evidence against you... spyware.
I use a dedicated offline incoming data only device like Garmin.
Zero trust in Google especially Maps.
Best to to power down cell phones before you get there and in any sensitive site.

Posted by blackhawk It makes you trackable, can be used as evidence against you... spyware. I use a dedicated offline incoming data only device like Garmin. Zero trust in Google especially Maps. Best to to power down cell phones before you get there and in any sensitive site.

I generally find that to be overkill. Could government agencies track us with our internet usage? Almost certainly.

Will they? Probably not. Even the alphabet soup groups, as vast as their resources are, only have so much they can spare for any given case. With domestic terrorists, serial killers, cartel trade routes, and human traffickers competing for their attention, I suspect some harmless weirdos taking pictures of old buildings is pretty low on their priority list, unless you're poking around somewhere very sensitive.

Posted by Aran I generally find that to be overkill. Could government agencies track us with our internet usage? Almost certainly. Will they? Probably not. Even the alphabet soup groups, as vast as their resources are, only have so much they can spare for any given case. With domestic terrorists, serial killers, cartel trade routes, and human traffickers competing for their attention, I suspect some harmless weirdos taking pictures of old buildings is pretty low on their priority list, unless you're poking around somewhere very sensitive.

Best to develope privacy skills early.
Google is incredibly invasive.
Would you trespass and carry a real time tracker/beacon?
If it sounds like a bad idea it probably is.
Don't dime yourself out... remember shit happens and almost always you don't controll as to when.
Damage control starts with limiting information at the get go.

"spots.txt"

privacy wtf is that ? you guys must be from the 19th century

every venue on the web and cell phone providers either tracks you or forwards your info to retailers and Im sure somewhere on some cloud they have the date on exactly which room in my house I am buying plumbing supplies for and which tractor mower I bought a carburetor for and keep a log of it to sell to more retailers

it doesn't take much imagination to see how some politician or alphabet agent somewhere that doesn't like my use of flash photography gets a FISA type warrant and comes knocking to search my residence for my tripod (which I have not used in years as you might have figgered out) or just to ask how I got in those military installation, I mean that guy that looks like me did

of course we do this to ourselves 2 people here I AM aware of were busted for their personal blog photos

lolol privacy...

Posted by jhbj5h43bjh3bjhb3 Being the geography nerd I am, I've even gone so far as to use ArcGIS to keep track of potential abandonments.

Being the nerd that I am in the broadest sense (geography and otherwise), I've found ArcGIS to be surprisingly helpful for researching locations as well. If you get lucky, you can sometimes find a downloadable map with multiple places of interest.

Posted by 2Xplorations privacy wtf is that ? you guys must be from the 19th century every venue on the web and cell phone providers either tracks you or forwards your info to retailers and Im sure somewhere on some cloud they have the date on exactly which room in my house I am buying plumbing supplies for and which tractor mower I bought a carburetor for and keep a log of it to sell to more retailers it doesn't take much imagination to see how some politician or alphabet agent somewhere that doesn't like my use of flash photography gets a FISA type warrant and comes knocking to search my residence for my tripod (which I have not used in years as you might have figgered out) or just to ask how I got in those military installation, I mean that guy that looks like me did of course we do this to ourselves 2 people here I AM aware of were busted for their personal blog photos lolol privacy...

Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure one of those two people would be me. It isn't exceptionally common, but it definitely happens. I had always assumed that I wouldn't be fucked with as long as I wasn't engaged in any other illegal activity (i.e. burglary, vandalism). I was wrong.

I've been using Google Earth Pro to save information regarding places I've been and places that I want to go to. I also use it for other nerdy stuff like pinning locations of US Nike Missile Sites and Filming locations.

zeemaps

i'll write down the address or general street/intersection if I go out for an afternoon cruise or something or if I am on a long drive to where ever it is I am going. I try and generally keep locations consolidated in one file that I found all in one trip or one general area. Eventually I will transfer them to google or bing maps and plan little trips to visit locations.

My Maps is the truth.