technology and the paranormal investigator

ihave been very lucky to be able witness many people and groups hard at work in search of their paranormals exprience(s). But it totally has blown my mind to see the money they have invested in equipment to purse these so called experiences. In your opinion is it nesscary to make such a huge investment(thousands of dollars) in equipment to have paranormal experience or to be considered a paranormal investigator.what were people doing 20+ years ago when so much of current technology didnt exist or wasnt commercially available. thanks yourmama119