I figured I would spend this week (three total posts) talking about OPSEC concerns. We need to have a plan on how to minimize the ability of others (the bad guys) of detecting our presence as much as possible. In particular, we need to consider our three most important senses: sight, hearing, and smell. Today we’ll focus on sight.

The ability of humans to see things like movement and light are pretty darn good. Sure, we’re not as capable as a cat in the dead of night but humans don’t need to be that good, just good enough to detect the presence of other people, in this case, YOU and your family. The fact is that it’s probably not that hard at all, unless YOU take serious steps to make being seen difficult.

Just consider that a human can see the glow of a single candle at night from over a mile away… that’s pretty amazing! Now consider how easy it would be to see a flashlight or lantern from inside an open window and, voila, your cover is blown.

The way I see it, however, is that we’re not trying to be completely invisible to an up-close and personal inspection. That is, if somebody is literally snooping around the outside of your house then you’re not going to be able to “pass inspection” for the simple fact that there WILL be other giveaway signs that there is human activity here. In this case, people shouldn’t be allowed that close to your house, but that’s a topic for another day.

The point here is that we need to be able to pass a “cursory inspection,” one where somebody (or a group of people) may be walking down the street scanning houses for any sign of activity.

The most obvious answer is to put up blackout curtains, which I certainly suggest (I’m sure there are a few links in the How-to Knowledge Base about constructing them). But, I must then emphasize how important it is to ensure your blackout curtains work as anticipated. You might be un-pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to see light through any number of substances, from window blinds to window blackout film to garbage bags and curtains. Even a combination of various things still won’t do the trick. As an example, we have very dark window film, blinds, and occasionally curtains drawn in our bedroom and you can still see light at night. And, to make things worse, even a small speck of uncovered window WILL allow precious light to escape, which means all of your efforts were for naught.

So, the moral of the story is to check your plans, and do it soon. Things like several layers of newspaper or several layers of black plastic should work but you need to test it. Put up your blackout curtains in a single room and then use your brightest lantern to test… adjust accordingly. And, you need to ensure you have enough of whatever it is you plan to use to cover ALL of the windows that need to be covered. The typical house has dozens of windows, which means A LOT of something to get the job done. Do you have enough? Do you have the tape needed to put it all up? How long might it take you?

And, let’s not forget about the cracks around doors. You may find need to cover those as well, especially around french doors and even sliding doors too.

While I’m thinking about it, this could be a good time to consider exactly what area or rooms of your house that you will occupy in such a situation. Rather than trying to blackout all rooms of the house, if you focus your efforts on a single floor or maybe a few rooms then your blackout job–among others–will be a bit easier. Of course, this also means strict discipline in the use of lights and lanterns too.

Oh, and just to be sure you understand precisely how dark it will be inside without lamps and lanterns, find a room in your house that has no exterior windows or doors (maybe a bathroom) and close the door… yeah, it’s going to be like that every night all night, so you will be using something to light the interior… just in case you thought you could get away without doing so.

I should also touch upon the use of directional lighting while outdoors, you know, a flashlight. If you thought a light from inside your house can be seen from a long way away, just think about how easily a flashlight might be seen when you’re pointing it all over the place. In order to combat this problem, consider fashioning a simple lens filter over the end, red seems to work out well. Or, consider very judicious use of it by turning it on only for short periods of time and perhaps even covering most of the light output with your hand. Heck, anything has to be better than doing nothing at all.

That said, probably the best way to avoid detection is to utilize some form of night vision goggles, but that can get very expensive very fast. The least expensive option would be something like a night vision monocular, which would be my first choice with cost in mind.

Basically, lighting OPSEC isn’t that difficult as it mostly depends on being aware of what you do and how it might be seen from afar. Think about it and consider your actions accordingly.