Bigfoot is out there, lurking in a wooded area near you. TV shows like Animal Planet’s Finding Bigfoot have put the spotlight on the hairy Sasquatch, and have contributed to the increased interest in hunting for Bigfoot. To be clear, this activity, also known as Squatching, simply involves searching for and observing the elusive man-beast. Some shows, like Destination America’s Killing Bigfoot, highlight idiots who attempt to hunt and kill Bigfoot. People like that are just assholes. Please, don’t kill Bigfoot. If you’re not an asshole, and you just want to find Bigfoot to prove to yourself, your friends, and everyone else that Sasquatch is real, then here are some items that will help you in your quest. A VIDEO CAMERA Still cameras are great. But video is better. Besides, what good does it do to find Bigfoot if you don’t have sweet video to upload to YouTube? Any video camera will suffice, but, obviously, higher quality is preferred. Footage shot with a high-quality video camera will stand up (a little) better to scrutiny when presenting your evidence. This is 2015. There’s no reason for your Bigfoot video to look like the Patterson-Gimlin film. You can shoot better footage with your cell phone. But, please, take a better camera than your cell phone.

An easy-to-operate, small, lightweight video camera with a good zoom and decent low-light imaging is a wise choice. You don’t want a cumbersome, complicated camera when you’re running through the forest trying to capture your Bigfoot footage.

AUDIO RECORDER Bigfoot researchers believe the gentle giants communicate to each other through grunts, groans, whistles, and other vocalizations. Some researchers also believe that repetitive knocking using rocks or wood is a communication method employed by Bigfoot. So it’s a good idea to take something with you that records audio on your Sasquatch search.

Night vision scopes and goggles are great for spotting something in the dark woods. But not all of these have the ability to record still images or video. So make sure that the night vision equipment you use can either record to internal memory, or has the ability to send video to an external recording device.

WITNESSES: If you happen to spot Bigfoot or hear some noises you suspect might be from Bigfoot, that’s badass. But, even if you manage to capture audio or video, your friends probably won’t believe your Sasquatch story. It certainly helps corroborate your evidence if you have witnesses with you who can back up your claims. Plus, hanging out in the woods by yourself if pretty creepy. Get some friends to join you, and you’ll have a better experience, even if you don’t spot Bigfoot.

PATIENCE: Like UFO watching, Squatching requires patience. Lots of patience. So if you aren’t the type who can sit for hours just waiting for something to happen, then Bigfoot hunting isn’t for you.

BUSINESS BUCKET: When you’re hanging out deep in the woods all day and night waiting for Bigfoot to make any kind of movement, you’ll eventually need to make your own movement. You won’t usually find toilet facilities in the middle of the woods. So you might want to bring along a makeshift port-o-potty like the Business Bucket.

OM’S #1 RECOMMENDATION Tom DeLonge has spent some time searching for Sasquatch. So I asked him what he would take Squatching if he could only bring one thing. “A Thermal Camera. When all else fails, you can see a warm colorful entity following you around in the darkest of nights . . . And even if it ends up just being a deer or a coyote, you get a sense that it’s definitely paranormal and trying to eat your soul.”