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OPSEC blown.

10K views 83 replies 53 participants last post by  Tracker_Buckmann 
#1 ·
Oh boy.

Walked past the bedroom last night, and overhead my lady discussing our preparations with one of her friends she was talking to on the phone...even after several discussions we've had about keeping our preps secret, for obvious reasons. Granted, this particular friend lives across the country, so there's no chance she'd make a cross-country journey and show up on our doorstep. But still...It's the principle of the matter!

So, how do you get it through someone's head that they need to keep their mouth shut?!
 
#7 ·
Good point about the kids. That should make her take it more seriously.

If you have neighbors houses super close - close enough that you can hear their phone ringing from your living room when the windows are open - you need to be careful of talking about your preps in your house. Especially during certain weather conditions, when voices carry a lot.
 
#12 ·
I've got a couple of "friends" that were inherited when I married my lovely wife, and one or two of them are of the "Might Makes Right" school of thinking. One of them (related) says "I have a gun, I'll take what I need for my family." They both have good jobs, plenty of storage, he's sure a crisis is coming, but he doesn't even buy another box of ammo.

I'd hate to be the one who has to take him down, but if he thinks my family is going to starve just because he's got his head in his armpit then, as my Mom used to say, "he's got another think coming!"

I have no problem tossing him a can of rice and another of beans, but that "I've got a gun" attitude will have me defending myself then asking questions later.
 
#16 ·
Sure, but is her friend going to hack into my email accounts, cross-reference all my emails with every online profile in every forum, looking for keywords and notable combinations of phrasing, syntax, grammar, and style, then shout to the heavens, "Eureka, I've discovered he preps!"? Probably not.

But does she now know because someone who was supposed to know better was flapping her gums? Absolutely. I see a big difference there.
 
#15 ·
My wife and kids have been pretty good about not spreading filthy lies that I prep. If you have any interaction at all with your friends.... something will get out, just try to minimize it. You can't stop ALL info from getting out. Even if you let absolutely nothing get out, and are a complete recluse, that is intel in and of itself.
 
#18 · (Edited)
My wife is mildly to moderately embarrassed that I prep, so I don't have to worry too much about her blabbing to anyone.

Perhaps you could paint yourself as a whacko and tell her that if she blabs to others, it will call into question her judgment in choosing you.

And she wouldn't want others to think she's nuts, too, would she? :)
 
#19 ·
My wife is mildly to moderately embarrassed that I prep, so I don't have to worry too much about her blabbing to anyone.

Perhaps you could paint yourself as a whacko and tell her that if she blabs to others, it'll will call into question her judgment in choosing you.

And she wouldn't want others to think she's nuts, too, would she? :)
Ha! Brilliant strategy! :)
 
#27 ·
Yes, we are all aware we're on the internet, in an age of declining privacy. :rolleyes: Who cares? That's not what I'm concerned about. Should I worry about the NSA coming to appropriate my stores when the SHTF? Or should I worry more about the local people who've heard from the grapevine that I have some things that they now desperately want/need? It's pretty obvious which one is more likely.
 
#28 ·
I had someone do this, but instead they'd bring their friends over to look at my " zombie apocalypse supplies", despite me asking this person repeatedly not to do that. The conversations with their friends usually ended with something along the lines of "Well if something ever happens I know where to come!". One day I moved the supplies, and when they inevitably brought another friend over... they looked quite stupid when the supplies had all magically disappeared, and bookshelves sat where the supposed supplies were .

Now that person no longer has access or knowledge of my supplies, and they never again will.
 
#39 ·
In this day and age, distance is irrelevant to the spreading of information. Wife told friend across the country instantly; what is to keep friend from posting this information on Facebook or a blog and the news going back across the country to the neighbors or other friends nearby? If the wife's judgement is faulty, or she does not know her friend well enough, this could be serious.

I will cut the wife some slack because we don't know the circumstances. She might have been telling friend "I used to think my husband was nuts, being a prepper; now, after Katrina, superstorm Sandy, and the Snowpocalypse, I realize he's got a point. I think everyone should prepare. Including you. Here's what we've got, and what you should get."

That kind of evangelical zeal is understandable. Dangerous, but understandable.
 
#33 ·
Hide in plain sight. Try this sometime at your work if the conversation comes up.

"Heck yea I'm a prepper! I've got 5 years worth of food, 50 guns, 100,000 rounds of ammo and have a backup bunker just in case."

People will look at you slightly crazy and then laugh, "No way man! Stop joking around. hahaha"

Too easy.
 
#34 ·
This is why I say don't keep all your stuff in one place. Stash, cache, and store.

Some in the open, some in hiding, some in completely different locales.

That way, if anyone does find out, you don't lose it all.
 
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#35 ·
Remind your wife that while you'd love to help, if her friend is back home visiting family and SHTF, that friend may show up with her husband, parents, nieces, nephews, siblings, in laws, etc. There's no guarantee of the person showing up alone.

After hearing a friend say (in front of other friends) "If anything ever goes bad, I'm just heading to Jon's", I have thought through and really had to do some soul searching about which friends or family (and their young children) I would tell to go pound sand.

In many situations, friends may show up asking for help and eventually things will return to pre-crisis life. What strain is there on your friendship if someone you went to high school with shows up on your door with his wife and infant child asking for food and water only to be turned away?
 
#37 ·
I had a friend say that to me about a year ago. We were playing cards and the discussion turned to guns. I've taken him shooting a couple times, he knows I have a fair number, reload for them, and so on.

It impresses him all out of proportion to what it should. Anyway, he just blurted out "well, if anything goes bad I know who's house I'm going to!"

He knows nothing about my preps, but apparently is in the mindset of "might makes right." I asked him how much he was bringing.

I absolutely hate the "I'm coming to your house" answer. I'd much rather have someone show up who has thought about it ahead of time, has resources, who might be smart enough to have my back.

Alas...if only I could find such people.
 
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