According to an old saying, “the nail that sticks up gets hammered down.” The meaning is simple – don’t be the one that stands out from the crowd. That’s advice worth considering at any time, but if the SHTF it becomes essential. If you get noticed during a crisis, your chances of survival will fall dramatically.
As a prepper you’ll almost certainly have a plan to defend your home from looters, but there’s no point ignoring the ugly truth: If enough people want to overwhelm your defenses, and they’re determined enough, they’re probably going to succeed.
If everyone around you is cold and hungry, but you’re comfortable and well fed, a lot of people will soon be very determined to get their hands on your equipment and supplies. To survive, you need to avoid being noticed; that means you, and your home, need to be invisible.
Obviously you can’t literally be invisible, but you can achieve the same effect. Your goal is to make your home blend into the background. You don’t want it to stand out; you don’t want people walking past to stop and think “That’s unusual.”
Your home might be powered by a generator, heated by a woodstove, stuffed with food and medical supplies, and defended to the best of your ability – but you want it to look like just another anonymous house, not worth paying attention to. That won’t throw a Harry Potter-style invisibility cloak over your roof, but it’ll make you invisible enough.
Making Your Home Invisible
There’s one way to make your home as close to literally invisible as possible – camouflage. Of course, how practical this is for you depends on where your home is. If you live on a street with neighbors, it’s going to be basically impossible to conceal your home with camouflage. If you live in an old farmhouse surrounded by trees, it’s a lot easier.
Look at old photos of military buildings from WWII. Allied forces didn’t have to worry about satellites or thermal imagers, but if the US military is searching for you with reconnaissance aircraft you’re not going to successfully hide anyway.
On the other hand, you can camouflage a remote house well enough that anyone passing by won’t notice it until they’re close enough that, with any luck, you have already seen them – and had time to prepare.
The most obvious way to camouflage your home is to paint it in colors that match its surroundings. That doesn’t need to mean ugly, military-surplus paint, either – matching brightness levels and general color scheme is a lot more effective than a coat of flat olive green.
Try viewing your home from a distance. Look for highlights and lowlights – places that catch the sun, or cast a shadow. You can use tasteful natural colors to eliminate those and make your home blend in a lot better.
In an actual crisis, more options open up. Camouflage nets can be very effective in breaking up the outline of your home and slashing the distance it can be noticed from. The downside is that if it does get noticed, people will be curious.
You might even be planning to move to a bunker if the SHTF. These are a lot easier to camouflage than a house.
⇒ How To Build a Cheap Underground Bunker
Letting vegetation grow on the roof will do most of the work for you; painting entrances to match the surroundings will hide the rest.
Hiding in Plain Sight
Sadly, for most of us, actually hiding our home isn’t an option. Instead, we need to make the inconspicuous and anonymous. To do that we need to look at the things that could attract attention.
That boils down to things people will want after a crisis and signs that there’s something inside worth protecting. Here are the things that need to be hidden to make your home invisible.
Power
If the power’s off all over town, but all your lights are on, it’s pretty obvious you have a generator or some other alternative power source.
Some people might decide to steal your generator, but that’s not the real problem. The real problem is that it will be obvious you’re prepared for disaster, and people will start wondering what else you have in there that they could use.
Food? Medical supplies? Guns? Once they start wondering, rumors will spread – and before you know it you’ll have a mob at the door.
Do everything you can to reduce your generator’s signature. Put it at the back of the house, enclose it in a shed, add soundproofing. Hide the fact it’s there as much as you can.
Don’t turn lights on unnecessarily. Use blackout curtains at night to hide the fact you have power. Don’t play music or do anything else that reveals you have electricity.
Food
All that canned food you have in the basement won’t be obvious to anyone passing by, but what about vegetable gardens and livestock? Keep these out of sight of the road if possible. If you can’t keep them out of sight, try to disguise them. Plant taller plants around vegetable gardens – even something simple like bamboo or long grass.
Disguise a chicken coop as a shed – the sort that looks like it might fall down if somebody sneezed nearby, not a sturdy one that might have valuables in it.
Security
You’ve done all you can to make your house secure; now make sure that isn’t obvious. Rely on thorny plants instead of barbed wire where you can. If you do use barbed wire – and it’s so effective it would be a shame not to – hide it where possible.
Concertina wire or low wire entanglements can be disguised by simply letting grass and weeds grow up around them; anyone trying to walk through will get an unpleasant surprise. Rely on hidden wire inside your boundaries than obvious security fences on them. Warning signs beyond a simple “Beware of the dog” tend to attract attention; avoid them.
It’s a good idea to patrol your property at least daily, to check for signs of intruders. Don’t be obvious about it, though. If you walk the perimeter in full tactical gear you’ll draw attention. Instead, look shabby and pretend you’re foraging for edible weeds. Anyone who sees you will assume you’re at least as badly off as they are; they certainly won’t assume you have plenty food stockpiled in the house.
Because we can’t rely on magic, we need to aim for the sort of invisibility that’s actually achievable. Unless you’re lucky enough to have a home that’s remote and isolated it’s impossible to stop someone seeing it – but what you can do is make sure they don’t notice it. Be prepared, but do it quietly and unobtrusively. You don’t want to be the nail that sticks up.
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The best way to make your house invisible is to use invisible paint or burn it down or move.
No one knows what a real time SHTF scenario will actually be like.
We can see what happens around the world, usually in war torn areas. To give us a taste of what may be on the horizon. The internet expert have extensive book knowledge but few of them have been on a battlefield in live combat situations. Most of our Concepts of what is a SHTF are pieces of the whole concept to relate to.
A lot of our information is paste and serve from others on the internet. Who may have borrowed information from another site that looked like true information.
AI in today’s world will further a bunch of nonsense together as fact. People without some sort of experience will except that as fact.We all had a part in this information by using the internet, social media and smartphones.
True fact information is being eroded away by high tech and AI as the opium for the masses.
Do our research from many sources and printed books to find what is important to what we think may happen. Most of us are smart enough to discern what we need to survive.
My homes are both surrounded by lots of edible “weeds” allowed to grow or planted on purpose. The garden areas areas are out of sight from the roads. I’d need to move the solar set up at one home so it’s less obvious. My supplemental power at the other home is unseen. At that home I’m on a hillside out of sight until you get to the top of a very rough dirt driveway that is genuinely impassible if it snows and iffy at best after a good rain. Chicken pen is out of sight at the edge of a young fruit orchard that is also out of sight unless you know where to walk to. The garden area is unseen until you walk into it or happen to be in the orchard and look down on it. Nice quiet place. Other place is grown up in elm trees- I hate them but when I was living away for a while they took over and I’ve only cut out a few of them. They did make a nice privacy screen.
Good thing my main home currently is out of sight… I have a lovely pink climbing rose on a white trellis out in front. It would get your attention if it were where you could see it from the road.
A good subject to discuss but I personally cant do much except blend in and look like the rest of the neighborhood. My tools are at risk being in a detached garage but my deep pantry is pretty well concealed. I have people on the block that I feel have my back if someone was to mess with me but if things get real bad I am not much better off than the average person living in a small town.
I think you speak for many, as most people live in some sort of neighborhood. Knowing your neighbors can really help.
I’ve been blessed to have good neighbors in most of my living situations. In a crisis situation, it really is a best guess as to what each of us will do. Some are prepared, some never will be. Some are prepared for one kind of event but not necessarily another. In my neck of the woods, the most common events are weather related. A few of these required us to get by for several days. I found this as a good indicator for how we as a neighborhood handle things. Most prepare for these and tend to check on each other to see if help is needed to clear downed limbs or trees, or to shovel some snow. I’ve heard many generators humming during these times.
Now I realize that a weather event isn’t the same as the zombie apocalypse, but I know in others places I lived, people lived next door but wouldn’t bother to help, or check if you had any sort of situation where you might need an extra pair of hands. They might even have been more likely to help themselves to stuff they’d find useful.
I also understand that if it’s an event where immediate medical help is needed, that requires a different skill set and supplies, and a medical event is a possibility if one finds an intruder.
I agree with not wanting to stand out and understand the idea of wanting to camouflage a food garden, but I would caution to use camouflage that will work well for where you live. Bamboo tends to be invasive, and you want to keep long grasses short enough to prevent shade for sun-loving plants. Even better is if you can make an edible yard. Or the long grasses that you grow can be green nanure plants for a new garden space or foraged for animals. Even if you don’t have livestock, the grass barrier you have about your garden can be a forage food for a neighbor’s animal and a bartering chip for you.
If you have good neighbors half of your problems are solved regardless of the situation. If they are preppers its even better . Damn i wish i could say the same
Dome living, yurts, underground bunkers are not practical for many bug-outers, these structures are specialized. We might be better off using the traditional Native American Teepee for shelter, that is portable.
Living in these shelters for any giving time period will have their pros and cons that should be research before committing to anyone such shelter.
What else can we add to the list?
The illegals and terrorist cells coming across Biden’s open Southern Border will determine what we see as a SHTF.
In America we see the SHTF in our terms. Now we have several cultures who Biden’s administration has transported by air planes flight to the interior, buses to our doorsteps and border getaways.
The elite have their hidden hideouts and gated armed communities to not worry. We did it to ourselves by electing these vermin into public office. The unelected bureaucrats are another story, later.
These illegals or whatever we call them don’t think in our form of prepping, security, they have been brought up slightly different form of mindset.
Which means we must be sharp in how we view how people react to us.
From prepper sites we know how a Western mind would react. These foreigners have an edge from realistic war torn environment on how they will react to us in potential hazardous situations they have experienced.
This next civil war will be a mind bender for most Americans in what they thought is or was the SHTF.
Remember those Iran backed Hamas and Hezbollah, use human shield targets of innocent victims. How many of us are prepared for that type of action on American soil?
They shoot men, women, decapitate babies. These Middle East protesters are already here to cause mayhem. We thought Antifa and BLM riots were bad.
It is your America, you decide what is the real truth.
Wake up America, we go to war by Biden’s stupidity, civilian ammo will be nonexistent for us Americans.
It’s not stupidity, it’s by design and it’s been coming for 80 years.
It’s adorable that you believe all of that…
So please explain what is wrong or un-true with that statement
Prepared one, what are you prepared for?
Kiss my grits!
Prepared one off, your another troll.
Its not Bid.n that is really the cause of worrying. . .It is those persons handling him that must focused on. .
..
I agree with most of this article as good advice.
The house and property, from street view looking like no one would want to go there. Trashy, polluted, little chance of shelter or water or refuge or resources. (Some of you have already achieved this lol!) Obvious defenses, preps, sights and certain sounds AND smells will invite more of the general public to your door.
Poorly implemented/obviously fake concealment will make it look like you are trying to hide something and will make people even more curious about what is there.
Displaying deceased people with “looter” signs around their necks is going to attract the wrong kind of attention.
I don’t advise being predictable, i.e. taking the same path at the same time each day to patrol your property. Vary times and routes. Have places to observe without being seen.
Have a secure place to sleep where you won’t easily be sneaked up on. If you snore, plan on sleeping underground or behind something that will deaden the sound.
Don’t put all your preps in one place, and don’t reveal the extent of your preps.
You can take the same path about the same time every day if you can make it look like it’s for exercise to stay in shape.
A lot of these cache methods are someones pipe dream. The majority of the population are in the city to suburbs. Most soils are hard rocky to clay from home construction. Digging is more or less not happening.
Cooking food will always be a problem no matter how we try to hide the cooking aromas.
Underground bunkers are a myth, they are your casket of doom. Eventually you will need to breath fresh air and get rid of the sanitation garbage.
Living in the suburbs is hard to build an underground structure without being noticed.
In the burbs we have for the most part, the front door with stage left or stage right, occasional the rear door path going through a neighbors yard.
Living in the rural country why would we want to live underground, at least in America. It is basically a deathtrap for most.
A lot of these prepper notions are not for a generalized one size fits all methods. Many suggestions are not ground by experience, they are something a person thought might work. But not tested out to know if that does work or not.
A lot of preps buried do degrade over time or a drifter dug those up.
Our caches in vacant lots or in the country may not be there when needed, that is a gamble.
You’d better live underground so you don’t freeze to death… It’s not the first time in history that people look for shelter underground.
Obviously its always good to have a conversation about every scenario…BUT…having said that there is no real answer to any of these questions…I always thought to make your home invisible would to make it look already looted…throw some items you no longer want into the front yard…have a curtain or two hanging out a window..then as someone else said…use blackout curtains and never let the generator run when its obvious to everyone…put a sign in the yard…”WILL WORK FOR FOOD”…so you can literally hide in plain site.
Signage works bad and good advertising to the punks who will steal to barter later. Signs of the obvious terms can get you in trouble. Looters will be shot on site, even beware of the dog stuff. Those might work in mild chaos, SHTF might not be good to advertise anything to the curious walking by. Curiosity is what killed the cat comes to mind, setting up unintended consequences.
Making a home or house look looted is overrated. Many people won’t properly do the looting trashy look well, which will still bring in the rubbernecks.
Yep, and people who are really hurting will go investigate to see if the last looters happened to leave anything behind.
Best to Build into hardened area , embankments , mounds , side s of mountains with valleys to the opening side s , with lots of trees, brush, items to throw the view
with the entrance from sides L concept entrance , multiple layered doorways so it takes more than one access to enter , like a Man Trap concept , look it up
other ideas is like in the movie s built into mountains
Yeah BS, those are pipe dream ideas, who is going to have time to get to the mountains to carve out a decent home to survive in. And carrying all those heavy items up and down hills to the final destination.
Mantraps are BS too. Dream on.
I agree that signage is just a way to let others know that you have stuff worth having. In a nutshell, there really isn’t any foolproof way to fly under the radar. Even if you insulate your generator to where it doesn’t make a sound, lights shining through the windows will give you away. Solar panels are a dead giveaway. Gardens, coops, baby animals – unless you’re on a farm out in the boonies, you won’t be able to protect your property. Remember the season of The Walking Dead when they came upon Herschal’s farm. Sooner or later, people will make their way out of the city and ‘burbs to the rural area because they know folks there will have livestock, chickens, etc. And no matter how well armed you are to protect your property, you won’t be able to fend off when an angry, hungry mob descends upon your home
Heading to the hills, bugging out unless there is a complete home fire is not good. Bug out has too many variables, ambushes, highway robbers, as we go to unknown destinations. People may have come by the same path we are on.
Depending on our age, we might have to defend against younger age vermin on our way to the promise land.
Not saying we can’t, most people leave in city limits, we have these dreams of the rural lands are the end game. There are other people in the same boat wondering where there next meal is.
Hunting animals will be a challenge competing with others for the same food source.
No matter bug in or out eventually our food, water supplies will be depleted.
Then what?
Foc, I agree that bugging out should be a last resort. I figure it would take fire, flood, or hazmat spill to get me out. You are also correct about the slim chances of hunting and living off the land. Every animal will be killed and every bush picked clean in very short order. You will do better to stay put, have enough food put away to get you thru a winter, have the ways and means to grow some crops the next year and thought ahead to be able to collect and purify water almost indefinitely. Then I feel you can say I am reasonably prepared.( As for your earlier comment about domes and other alternative homes having pro/cons you are right but i went in to it knowing that and lived in the dome for over 20 years.)
To make yourself “invisible” keep on hand some clothing that is too big. The goal is to look like you’ve lost weight. If you need to go out where folks may see you, wear that.
The only successful scenario is to have an off grid cabin, stocked, and only accessible by helicopter. All other scenarios do not end well!
Why not live in a GRAY house?
1) Do not landscape your yard. Mow it yourself.
2) Drive a USED( three to five year old) car. If you own a newer one;park it in your garage.
3) if you own firearms;Do NOT tell anyone that you own them. Do Not openly display them in your house.
4) Discretely buy prepper items. If possible;take them inside late at night.
5) Be careful about what you set out out for your city trash pick up.
6) if you own a barbeque cooker; store it in your garage when you’re not using it.
Good Ideas . One must de side for your self is what is best for you,
Stand and fight or run like hell, .
Or take point and shot to kill,
If they come looking for it ,
I live in a small village and I am tolled they have a gang of looter.
threw out the county,
They flock to gather,
So I have not bothered to in prove the property.
I planted some flowers and over 20 cars drove by in two hours,
They must of been looking out there windows and on there cell phones.
There is never that much traffic on this street,
Real rubber nicker’s ,
I am waiting for them to rip out my flowers and steel them.
They have pick my lock s, .
Filed a police report, .
Did no good.
Monkey Monroe county Wis.
Where people have nothing better to do, .
Small Village living, ,
It not cracked to be what you think it is,
Thanks and thank you for the great post people on this site,
They are all worth reading, It always something new here.
Question What would the Amish do if some on tried to rad them .
Maybe get out there horse wipe , and a pitch fork
I