It’s clear that from 2020 the attitude around general readiness and preparedness has changed radically.
What once used to be something reserved for survivalists and “paranoid” preppers, has now returned to just good common sense in an ever-changing world where daily threats make headline news.
The pandemic opened everyone’s eyes to how fragile the system is and how readily absolute power will be abused. My favorite example of this was when Governor Chris Christy shut down the beaches in New Jersey only to be filmed by a drone on his newfound private beach with his family!
With prepping reaching a new level of acceptance here in America and around the world, what does OPSEC really look like now. Should we all just keep our heads down and not say a word?
Should we use this moment to draft others who might be concerned into the prepper ranks? Should we completely open our coffers and show the world what we have been up to all these years?
I think there are some redlines when it comes to OPSEC even in an age where prepping is looked at with longing eyes by many rather than by suspicious eyes as it was in the past.
Related: 5 Things You Can Do If People Find Out You’re A Prepper
So, the big question is: What types of preps are for your eyes only?
Quantities
Do you store 3 months, 6 months, or even a year’s worth of food?
The correct answer to that question is: None of your business. I store food for emergencies.
Quantities of things like food, ammo, gold, and silver all your business.
There is almost no one who really needs to know how much of these things you have.
Storage Locations
Where you store the things listed above is also no one’s business! I am a huge fan of spreading the prepper message and getting people prepared. I talk a lot about my preps in public.
⇒ Why You Should Never Hide Your Stockpile In Your Basement
No one knows where I store these kinds of things. This is my information, and it really wouldn’t even benefit another prepper to know exactly where all my food or ammo is.
Emergency Plans
As preppers, we have all kinds of plans. You have plans, right? These could be as simple as plans to escape a fire in the home. They might be as complex as reorganizing the entire neighborhood in a collapse to create a headquarters, infirmary, and base of communications in a collapse of society.
No matter what your plans look like, they are your plans. Keep them to yourself.
Alternate Locations
Do you have a bug out location? What about alternate locations for storage?
These are common for preppers. When it comes to keeping things secret, these are high on the list. If you want someone at your bug out location when you show up, I would keep that information as close to the chest as possible.
By divulging alternate storage locations, you are simply asking for someone to go and take what you have stored.
Caches
Do you have supply caches in hidden locations? These are another example of preps that are for your eyes only.
Caches can be bartered with or given to other preppers, but it is completely unnecessary to share information about the caches themselves and locations.
Other Preppers
This is a matter of trust but if you know other preppers you should never share what you know about them with others, unless they have given you permission.
This could be as simple as location. I have people in my own neighborhood who prepare but I would never compromise their OPSEC.
Use A Tiered Approach To Sharing Information
How do we decide who we can share more sensitive information with? Well, I think it helps to use a tiered approach with your tier 1 being the type of people you would share the most information with and tier 4 being the group you share the least with.
Related: 6 Signs Your Neighbor Will Become A Looter As Soon As SHTF
I believe it is vital to share the preparedness message with everyone. This tiered system helps me stay aware of the type of information I divulge to those around me.
Tier 4: Curious Observers
There are a lot of these curious observers now. They may be considering prepping themselves, they may have already started some prepping, or they may just be curious as to what preppers are all about. Either way, these people are hardly acquaintances or maybe they are just work acquaintances and have questions.
These guys get the crumbs! Give just enough info to satisfy their questions and nothing more.
Tier 3: Just Getting Started
Sometimes there are budding preppers in your life who need a little motivation to really get going. I find it best to share some kind of project or prep to inspire them.
Maybe it’s something like having a coop of chickens in a suburban yard and eating only homegrown eggs. It could be a new tool for training with firearms, like the Mantis X.
Preppers who are just getting started need something to aspire to. Of course, there is a lot you do not tell them, but you can give them just a taste of what you are working on in one aspect of your preparedness.
Tier 2: Known Preppers
If you are lucky enough to get around known preppers in your area, then you have many great opportunities. It is very common for preppers to get around other preppers and divulge everything in the hope that they might appeal to them and create a powerful prepper group for surviving doomsday.
Take a deep breath and get to know them. Ask questions. You have a lot they should never know about, and you must keep that in mind. Just because a person is a prepper does not mean they have your best interest in mind.
Tier 1: Allied Preppers
There are some sensitive things that you must share with allied preppers. One thing that stands out right away is sensitive information about the firearms you use. It is best to carry similar weapons or ammunition as the others you have allied with. So, divulging that kind of information is important.
You might even consider a shared bug out location and that kind of information will obviously need to be shared between you. This is the group you can feel most comfortable discussing your preps with. Still, it is never your duty to tell anyone about everything that you do.
As prepping has grown over the years it is clear everyone can benefit from a little basic preparedness. There is no denying that this kind of prepping has gone mainstream and I, personally, think it is all for the better!
All that said, prepping requires a level of operational security no matter how popular it becomes. There is a level of privacy to it, and you should treat those aspects of preparedness the same way you would your bank account numbers, pins, passwords, and any other sensitive information. These things are truly for your eyes only!
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Tier5:
Tier 5: Home security cameras
OPSEC can be compromised by home security cameras, monitoring services. There are back-doors built in, sometimes hackers will find them.
Smartphone apps as experts have known can take pictures and record conversations remotely.
Virtual digital assistants like Siri can spy on us too.
Most security camera systems are made in China. Where malware can be programed into them.
The China social credit system has been eased into American homes in-disguised as our home security system. So that should provoke our thoughts on that part of OPSEC mentioned in the article.
Good and Timely article – thanks for the food for thought and a ‘Tier’ system gives structure to ones’ planning – I like it. I believe communications ‘Locally’ and ‘beyond’ should fit into this somehow. Oral, electronic and airwaves coms, before and after – for some, seems to be something that gets little attention in the planning. I would be interested in hearing what steps others may have worked on in the COMS department – of course that that one would feel putting out in an open forum.
This is a good system to adopt in the layers to levels people have access to our preps. Those that have military training have this mindset in place. Not sure if LEO’s have the same training.
This Tier Matrix example, is easy to follow for the general activities we encounter these days, post Covid reset. Signs, countersigns in commo, like daily passwords. But that’s for another article on OPSEC subject.
Communicating in a SHTF scenario can be a complicated issue. That being said, everyone wants to remain in the loop. We want information. When the media shuts down, it’ll be necessary to obtain your information in other ways. Emergency radios for alerts are fine if the infrastructure is still intact to run them. Private communications will become necessary for gathering and disseminating news or practical events. There are a plethora of personal radios out there to choose from as well. From the golden oldie CB, FRS, to the now popular Baofeng VHF/UHF radios, heck, even the kids GI Joe walkie talkies would work.
In an EOTWAWKI situation, all licensing rules go out the window, any of the radio services that are available to the public are fair game and should be utilized to their best abilities, i.e. Ham, Marine, Business Air, Fire Rescue, etc., the list is long. The main thing is to choose one and become proficient in its use and limitations. I recommend purchasing a couple of the Baofeng radios to start and then as you can, purchase a few more. How many will depend on the number of people that is in your group.
Scanners will be a valuable tool as well. They can be programmed with all of your local Law, Fire, Ems, and the private frequencies that you will choose to communicate on as well. I live near a major river with a lot of boat traffic and barges. I have a few Marine radios and their known freq’s. All of which can be programmed into a scanner. Their power and range could be an asset were it necessary for you to communicate over a large distance. Baofeng’s can be programmed with a near limitless range of frequencies, making them an ideal SHTF communications option.
If and when you decide to use radios for your private group communications, it would be advisable to pick channels that are not already in use by other groups. For instance, I have found a few frequencies on the marine radio that are not being used for commercial communications. Those can be hijacked in an EOTWAWKI event if need be. Perhaps if there were a group of survivalists that are sharing information, then those frequencies would be very beneficial to have programmed into a few of your radios as well.
In short, there are a lot of over-the-counter portable radios and mobile radios to choose from. Pick those that will compliment your needs. And most importantly, familiarize yourself with their capabilities, operations and limitations. And you should practice, practice and practice.
Caches have a secure mystic appeal to them on paper, but in practice are they over-rated?
How often do we rotate the cache items to avoid expired items?
Your bugout location maybe secure enough to have caches there.
When did the caches become mainstream in America, how far back in history?
Back in the 1970’s there was the underground survivalist movement that maybe the precursor to the modern prepper.
Are caches still viable today? With all the illegal being shipped around America on Biden aviation flights. How often do we check on the caches, to be sure they are there?
If we don’t own the land where the caches are, was there new construction done?
Did some animals dig up the preps?
As a Security Expert ( 35 years ) I can tell you
nothing you do in the internet world is safe
you are watched, tracked, recorded and complex algorithims written to keep track of your views
even this site
Real preparation and security Is Total disconnect , No Eyes, No Tell , not even Friends, Family or those you work with
secrecy in all you do
But that being said : with all the new technologies that can decide if, what , where, why you think in the direction you do , they use information to figure you out
May not always be correct , but gives them direction for moving forward
This is why when in positions of Grave Responsibility you have regular phyc evals to see what s really goiing on :
Well since evil has taken its course in the DDDDeeep State of our country and they have made thier decision to follow thier own desire, passion, lust, and direction thier are consequences
Just like the past civilizations , downfall , dimise , failure
Any Nation , Kingdom , or country which turn s thier back on GOD will suffer the consequence of thier leaderships consequence
Get Ready
Secrecy is Key and What you have, where you keep it and what you do with it is key to your own safety going forward
NO one needs to know , No one can be trusted , not even those in the family
90% of return robberies happen from those who knew, came in with , or have something to do with YOUR family relations
You are right on the money. This is a situation where you trust no one. I must trust my sons and daughters tho.
Some situations family members are just as bad for our preps and OPSEC.
Money can be a wedge in relationships. GOD, Guns and Guts built America an a little stupidity mixed in as well.
What’s that old pirate saying? Deadmen tell no tails or trails.
In a surveillance society today it’s getting harder and harder.
It use to be people would watch, some would pitch in to help people in trouble.
Now we got wimps breaking out their smartphones to put on social media. And plain watch the victim die in agony.
The old days are gone. Especially in the big city.
Agreed Robert. I trust my 3 kids and that’s it. The wife passed a while ago and I would not trust siblings, neighbors or “friends” with my life.
@ Christopher:
I agree with what you say, however, the thoughts are really difficult to understand due to bad spelling and punctuation…..
Maybe go slower and write a bit better….
As some previous posters have mentioned, we need an edit button. To correct the sentences and spelling mistakes made.
As a proofreader (a dying profession), I am constantly reminded (by the ‘who cares’ culture) that proper spelling and grammar is no longer important.
With the inundation by other cultures, as long as the word is somewhat legible, the content of what is being discussed will be understood. Whether it’s thier or their or theyre or they’re or there, it still basically means the same thing. As your eyes view it, your brain figures it out.
A good ‘Edit’ button is called Grammarly, which corrects spelling mistakes and suggests grammar changes as you type.
Totally agree. However, It should be acceptable to all ….even the alphabet spies, that we try to prepare somewhat for things such as hurricanes, floods, or EMPs. Instead many believe preparation is somehow sinister. Others believe you owe them a share of what little you may have prepared. Others simply forcibly take what they want given the opportunity. Family and friends included.
Use radio waves to be secure
so many people don’t get this or simply refuse to acknowledge that we are in the position we are in because we sold out. this is what we allow and let it be okay even if it goes against God. actions have consequences. so many sheeple thinking they are superior because they recycle their baggies and wear a mask or got their vax. oh well, God gave us all free will. George Washington’s Prophesy for America (here is a good link: George Washington’s Visions and Prophecies). Recorded in the Library of Congress. I had to learn about it thru my church, not school. Washington was a very spiritual man and I believe this. Notice, “the red light coming from the east” this can only mean one thing, godless communism. hope you are healthy and have some preps because unfortunately, we are learning the hard way……..it’s coming. God bless us to turn back to God so He can step in and save us.
Analog TV, Analog systems were slightly more secure than the digital tech systems.
The rush from landlines were slightly secure to WiFi smartphones open unsecured apps.
Use to be paper records were secure off grid, off internet to prying eyes. Big mistake every thing of value is online, open to hackers individual and State Sponsored Hackers.
That’s why we have BS internet security subscription services today.
Lifer-lock, Homer-title-lock and so on.
The old generations were more secured in the old days. Sure the hackers were the Alphabet Agencies who were supposedly fighting the commies.
Now we got everyone under the sun leaking, hacking any and all personal, private information data.
The smartphone generations are being held hostage by their lust for technology. Can they live a week without the digital deception, probably not.
They will have to leave their smartphones behind for personal OPSEC purposes.
I kept all my preps on a boat and while puttering around about 15 miles off-shore one night a massive squall line hit and sank my boat. I lost everything: guns, ammo, food, gear…..everything. I barely survived in my emergency raft.
I’m not lying (Thanks FJB)………..
It’s a shame that happened.
Keep all our eggs in one basket, stuff happens.
Well a lot of us are in a similar boat; we don’t have the money to afford a bugout location.
So we have to keep our stuff in one location. Feel bad for the seniors on fixed income. They can’t bugout fast and it takes money to move elsewhere.
The part most prepper/survival sites don’t address is what happens if we loose it all. Like your crisis did. How do we recover, after investing in all that stuff?
Another is what happens we get into a situation of a firefight, home gets burned down.
This may have been addressed on this blog a long time ago.
The supply chains are not like they were, we could recover fast. After Covid reset things are a little different now.
Us too. That boat just sank. Wish we could remember the name of that lake. 🙂
sorry to hear about that. well you better get started. In the Civil War they buried stuff in glass jars with metal lids so they could find gold coins left in payment for the confederates who were working with the British against those fighting for America. Many were with the loyalists, aka British crown. I am enjoying Kelsey Grammar’s series on Washington and the War for our freedoms as well. God bless our Country to return to what once made us great. God alone.
PLANDEMIC!! Not pandemic!! THE CREATURE FROM JEKYLL ISLAND, READ THE BOOK ASAP LIKE YESTERDAY!! THE FEDERAL RESERVE BANK IS THE BIGGEST CRIMINAL INSTITUTION ON THE PLANET PERIOD!!
Yeah, what’s the real deal on the FRB? Is it really run by international bankers and the USA funds them to fund our economy? Have heard some stories but never got the truth behind FRB. The American side currently is screwing up the USA economy big time.
I am so SICK of reading “pandemic”. No true conservative or informed person would use that word. It was a plandemic using a flu virus. All planned.
If you’re not homesteading then you’re a tourists
I start with saying nothing. I follow a bit of a tiered system with pretty much everything. I don’t need the world at large to know every jot and tittle of my life history.
We get some weather events here, and most people prepare for those. Some more than others, but I’d guess 90% do to some degree. Even if it’s just leaving the house with a coat you don’t plan on wearing, but it might rain. Yes, low-hanging fruit as far as preparing goes.
Still, situations can occur that cause you to rethink of what you want to keep to yourself. A friend who lives alone had a relative not too far away. The idea was they could help each other as needed in tough times. Good idea. I’m not sure how extensive their plans were. The relative died unexpectedly, and my friend was left to handle everything. Not just the funeral stuff and distribution of assets, but also all the prep plans.
We talked a bit about it, and they told me some things in case they were suddenly incapacitated or died. This was not the first time I had a friend confide in me. I tend to mind my own business and keep confidential things confidential. This friend is the same way. If something happened to one of us, we’d want the other to be able to make use of our things if we weren’t going to be needing them.
We revisit the topic from time to time. Some of the needs have changed. Recently, an elderly mutual friend of ours died. Before she passed, we had talked about how we’d care for her if an emergency situation arose. We would not leave her stranded. The dear old lady pooh-poohed our concerns and told us not to risk our necks to save hers. She was touched that we considered her situation but adamantly insisted that if we all needed to evacuate the area for some reason, she would not want us taking a chance of endangering ourselves for her sake.
We were not put to the test, as she died, and her kids came from out of town to take care of things, and she had already taken care of a great many details. She had confided that to us when we said we’d help her as needed.
Those situations made me keenly aware that I ought to have a list at least of helpful things. What they are, where they are, and if needed directions for their use. If something happens to me where I cannot take care of myself, the list might be helpful for someone who’d want to help me. Should I not survive, those I care about who are left behind might find some of my effects useful.
Yes, these are the stories not mentioned in these prepper/survival websites. Or the one above loosing his boat and all.
The preppers at times are tunnel visioned in one or three situations. The bug in, bug out, storing food an ammo. Then we get stuck from left field then right field a curve ball situation.
We can be prepared to a certain point within our capabilities. Could be a lone wolf, family or a community, all in all no one is really 100% prepped. Things change in our Matrix World.
We can prepare for what we see the worst sit-rep and hope for the best.
As a famous boxer said; everyone has a plan until they get punched.
I like the Murphy’s law, don’t forget to keep our humor around.
I’m now 73 years old. When I was 16 my Dad told me that it’s just as easy to keep my gas tank at 3/4 full as it is to keep it at 1/4 full, then in times of need you have enough gas to get you where you need to go. That’s a prepper standard in so many ways. Of course it takes will power and prudence to maintain readiness.
A new paradigm of technology is about to CHANGE EVERYTHING…EVERYTHING!!!
Artificial Intelligence
There will be no secrets. Scrub your internet footprint.
It’s too late to scrub the digital footprint. The govt has databases going way back. Even before the internet. You can scrub the social media stuff, maybe. G**gle says you can take back your personal data, really?
There are scum-bucket websites that are basically anti-privacy scroungers of ID theft.
They buy and sell personal data on us 24/7. The internet and the smartphone are now a curse on the public.
The pen and paper, analog then digital were secure. Now people would die without their smartphone tracker device. We are living in the beginnings of the book of Revelations.
No secrets, no where to hide. We got internet cameras everywhere and satellites to cover the rest. Maybe best the electrical grid melts down from going all electric. And the EV’s overload the system;s final collapse.
Would we start all over again in the same mode or a new paradigm?
The real Sky-net is here. We got the terminators; Marxist rioters, like useful idiot university indoctrinated students. The fringe groups of BLM and Antifa, like the old WWII brown-shirts were.
Sky-net, liberal programmed AI, home door ring cameras. CCTV on road intersections.
You can figure the rest out.
We got tons of antiquated laws on the legal system’s books to put us in jail daily.
Is the current legal and political systems a sham anymore?
Is the 21st century better than what the 20th century was? Freedom?
Do you ever contribute anything
The correct answer to queries about prepping and caches is “no”.
“None of your business” only serves to get other people interested in what you are doing, and I would advise against attracting that kind of attention.