I thought I was done with OPSEC last week, covering the basics that everyone likes to talk about, including lighting concerns, noise concerns, and smell concerns, but then I got to thinking, there’s more to it than that.
As obvious as it might seem, there are quite a few activities that we do on a normal basis that we certainly should not be engaging in post-SHTF… assuming your intentions are to keep a low profile, of course.
Considering that lawn mowing season is in full force these days–and I was out mowing the other day–I got to thinking about how dumb it would be to be the only house on the block with a regularly mowed lawn (although I could do so) and began to contemplate other “no-no” actions that are sure signs of a human presence and, equally important, a prepared human presence.
Again, this isn’t about light, noise, or odor disciplines as they’ve already been covered last week. This post is about the seemingly “obvious” OPSEC violations and, so, besides mowing the lawn and other blatant landscaping activities, here’s a list of other activities I thought of:
- Keep you garden, perennials, and other growing food sources out of view – I know many of us have gardens, berry bushes, fruit trees, greenhouses and so on, as well we should. But, have you ever taken a step back and looked at your house and food sources from the street or even other angles? That is, what does it look like to anyone walking down the street? Can any or ALL of it be seen? Or, is it well hidden in the backyard, behind a privacy fence, or otherwise disguised as something “normal” people wouldn’t see as food?
- Don’t build a roaring campfire at night – I know I mentioned interior lighting last week but I don’t think I mentioned campfires. Considering that it may well be a vital aspect of your preparedness in a post-SHTF world, if you’re going to get a fire going outside then do it during the day! I can’t imagine how far off a campfire might be seen in the darkness of night, especially considering that the artificial lighting we’re so accustomed to in modern society will be non-existent. Granted, smoke from a campfire may be seen during the day too, but it’s a bit less likely to be seen than a roaring campfire at night.
- Avoid walking in the snow or after a heavy rain (and don’t shovel the driveway)- Sometimes these activities are unavoidable but if you can at all avoid walking around outside your house after a fresh snowfall or even a heavy rain then you’re better off. Look, you don’t need to be a trained tracker to understand what a human footprint looks like and to understand whether a footprint is relatively fresh or not. Oh, and don’t bother to shovel the driveway after a snowfall either. 😉
- Vary your daily routines – In a similar train of thought as the above bullet point, we humans are creatures of habit. With that in mind, think about your habits (and that of your family). That is, do you always take your dogs out at 7:30 each morning? Do you gather firewood promptly at 8:00? These things become quickly obvious to alert eyes and ears. Think about what you do and whether it makes sense to your OPSEC needs.
- Quiet generators, chainsaws, and barking dogs – I’m surprised I didn’t mention generators or chainsaws in my noise post last week, but these are obvious sources of human presence. Eventually, gasoline (or whatever fuel source you rely on) will run out so this won’t be a problem but it could be a very significant signal for you for quite a long time. There are ways to quiet noisy generators, but chainsaws are a more difficult problem to deal with. Perhaps the best course of action is to already have a good stockpile of firewood? As for barking dogs, perhaps training is in order but my dog barks at everything–no, we never trained him properly–so that’s a problem.
- Bartering supplies – To me bartering is generally a bad idea for a variety of reasons, but I also understand that people are going to do so at some point in time and may even have need to do so after months of living in a post-SHTF world. In my opinion, do your absolute best to ensure your family has everything that they could possibly need to survive for many months on end. In so doing you won’t need to barter. If you must barter then don’t advertise what you have to barter (either by bringing what you have with your or via “loose lips”), try to barter via a third party, and NEVER barter anything that can be used against you (e.g., ammo and firearms).
- Avoid highly visible security measures – Things like ten foot fences and guard towers come to mind. Ok, I know I’m being a bit silly here and, to be honest, I’m still on the fence about this one. On the one hand I understand the desire to show others you’re “not to be messed with” but at the same time is also says “hey, we’re really prepared over here!” so there’s a decision to be made here. Of course, if your intention is to lay low then this might not be the best of ideas.
So, what can you think of? I’m sure there are plenty of other ideas that I may have missed and would appreciate hearing what you think.
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