Of all of the aspects of preparing a survival retreat, perhaps the
most overlooked in survivalist literature are privacy and operational
security (OPSEC). Your preparations must be kept secret
from all but your most trusted friends. All of your expensive logistics
could
disappear in a few hours soon after TEOTWAWKI.
Your "hidey hole" could be stripped clean by looters or overzealous
government agents wielding
"emergency
powers."
You must absolutely resist the urge to mention your preparations to
anyone who does not have a need to know about them. I
am not suggesting that you lie to anyone. That would be a
sin. But learn to keep your mouth shut, and learn how to redirect conversations.
Doing so is simply wise and prudent.
What is legal today may be deemed illegal tomorrow under martial law
or at the whim of some bureaucrat that is handed "emergency powers." Witness
the mass confiscations of privately owned firearms following Hurricane
Katrina in 2005. With the help of the liberal media the concepts of saving and storing may
be demonized and redefined
as
"hoarding" immediately
after disaster strikes.
Let's also get our terminology straight: If you have been saving during times of plenty you are not a hoarder. A hoarder is someone that removes an disproportionately large chunk of logistics after shortages have occurred. By saving and storing now, well in advance of a crisis, you represent one less person that will rush to the grocery store after disaster strikes. So you won't be part of the problem. Rather, you'll be part of the solution, especially if you dispense your excess supplies as charity.
For a good example of common sense privacy in action, take the time to read
the Profile
of Mr. and Mrs. Bravo.
If you have a been vocal about the erosion of our Constitutional
liberties, then you may be on some list. Ditto for letters to the
editor, letters
to you congresscritters, or just a subscription to a gun or hunting
magazine. There has been a lot of talk the patriot community about
the alleged
Red and Blue round-up lists. These may or may not exist. (I tend
to think that they are mythical.) Should they actually exist, you
may or may not be on them. But as
Mark Koernke put it so succinctly: "There
is only one list. We're all on the list. Some of us are
just higher up the list than others!"
If you have reason to believe that your anonymity has already been
compromised, then consider that a.) You cant get anonymity back unless
you change your name and completely drop out of sight (impractical
for
most), and B.) You will have to take some countermeasures.
Perhaps the best countermeasure is to make a clean start the
next time that you move. (Presumably to your retreat location.) Do
not send
forward ing cards for any magazine subscription that are that are
even marginally
controversial. Consider buying your next home in the name of a
land trust or in someone else's name. (Perhaps a sister or some aunt
or uncle
with a
different surname and with a low profile.) See Boston T. Party's book Bulletproof
Privacy for further details on making a clean break.
Make all cash (no paper trail) acquisitions of guns, bulk ammo,
and bulk logistics. Never use a credit card for such purposes. Unless
you
already have a very high profile, resist the urge to buy your ammo,
reference books and assorted gear via mail order. The only exception
would be if you use an assumed name and a drop box.
It is essential to impress upon your family the importance of keeping
quiet about your preparations. In one of his his books,
Dr. Bruce Clayton tells the tragicomic story of when he moved to a
small
town in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, where he planned
to construct a fallout shelter in his basement. His recently retired
mother moved there with him. While Clayton was occupied ferrying supplies
to his new haven, his mother was busy chatting with all of their new
neighbors about Clayton's survival plans and logistics--in detail!
If you have a high political profile, it might be wise to purchase
your retreat and/or rent storage space in someone else's name. For
example a sister or brother-in law with a different surname could be
the owner
of record. Another option is establishing a land trust, and having
the trust make the purchase. Your attorney could be the trustee of
a trust that owns the land. Yet another option is to set up a Nevada
or Delaware corporation and having the corporation make the land purchase.
In essence, keeping a low profile involves common sense and knowing
when to keep your mouth shut.
