OPSEC

[Icarry2]

I was curious about the standard practices of others concerning Operational Security relating to the visibility of your preps, stockpile, arsenal, etc.

To explain in greater detail so that everyone understands....

I rent right now. Long story short, blame it on not being able to find a peice of land I want where I want and the fact that an ex-wife has seen fit to ruin my credit... Makes good rate mortgages harder to find..

Anyway, I rent, my landlord is a church and they have a realtor manage the property.

I have an issue and the management company wants to have a contractor check out something. They won't let me fix it myself, I have up to this point fixed most issues myself.

Anyway, lets say that this contractor will be in an area of my house that I store preps, weapons, etc. I have taken the liberty of covering my shelving units with cheap blue tarps to hide the contents of the shelving. I have also covered my lockers and safes so they are not easily identified.

I do not plan to allow the contractor in the home without me here but there may be a time when I can't be here. Then either my better half or a representative of the church or the management realtor will have to provide a contractor access.

Note, all of my "dangerous toys" are locked up, their food supply is also locked up so in reality I am more concerned with hiding preps and such..

Anyone else have this issue? How do you handle it?

Thanks in advance for sharing..

Hope everyone is well..

TJ

 

[longbow]

My son had his stuff in a case at his last apartment and the management went nuts. They went through his secured stuff and said move it out or be evicted. We got them to cancel his lease and get a small credit and his security deposit back.

Cover it all up and make sure you can be home.

 

[Icarry2]

Thanks Longbow, that is my intention, to not let them "see" anything that can be perceived as "bad" and I checked my lease before I signed it to make sure it didn't have a "no guns" clause..

 

[indytechnerd]

Oh man, find Longbow's thread on that and read it. It is a pretty good read.

 

[RichardR]

None of my preps look "out of order" meaning that my food is stored in my pantry & shelves as it normally would be, (except in greater numbers than the vast majority of homes), my water is stored in a couple of different ways, stacked cases of bottled water & 5 gallon water cooler carboys, neither of which is necessarily suspicious looking or anything.

Some folks (like myself) just like to buy things in bulk.

You also mentioned that your firearms & ammo are kept locked up so that's good & probably means some repairman isn't going to be fingering (or stealing) your toys while your gone, besides most are bonded/licensed, well the professional ones are anyway.

 

[T.Lex]

My bug out stuff is so secure, I don't even know where it is half the time!

 

[Iroquois]

If your guns are out of sight and ammo concealed I wouldn't worry about it . Unless he's a prepper the only notice he'll take of your stuff is if it's right in his way. If he says any
thing about a large pantry or lots of food just laugh and say 'cheaper by the dozen'.
Hoarding has got so much attention these days that an organized stock won't be all that
alarming...Hanging tarps over everything might even seem paranoid to some.

 

[RichardR]

Hanging tarps over everything might even seem paranoid to some.

Agreed.

Besides who want's to look at boring blue tarps? at least use a large frilly lace doily or something!

I kid I kid but seriously I don't know about you guys but I sure wouldn't want to live in a house that feels more like a bunker than a home.

 

[eldirector]

My "preps" are stored in Rubbermaid totes and in cabinets. Nothing really to see, other than the FIFO can rack. Anything more "valuable" to the average Joe is locked up and out of sight. I've had repair guys in and out plenty of times, and never a worry (though someone is ALWAYS there with them).

I guess part of being prepared is storage, too.

 

[Glock22c]

Ok I have to pipe in on this. Not only am I a prepper, and a LEO, but I also help manage over 600 properties in ft.Wayne.
Be careful! Not just for the fear of theft. But also because If SHTF that guy and everyone he knows will be banging on you door for a handout or breaking down your door. IN lease laws pretty much allow a landlord or representative of the landlord to come and go through you place at ant reasonable tome for any reasonable reason. They are not hindered like an officer of the law would
be, n needing a warrant. Depending on repairs the worker may need to go onto all the normal hiding spots. Attic, crawl space, basement, closets, ect. Practice in plain sight hiding.
plastic totes marked Christmas, or old toys...
My truck at a glance just has trash bags and a pile of 2x4s ...
Debris is a good look for hiding anything. In plain sight I better than behind a tarp any day!
Just my .02

 

[Icarry2]

Thanks for the feedback. Longbow could you point me in the direction of the post Indy mentioned?

It turns out my landlord had two different contractors setup for this. Yesterday one checked the furnace, replaced the old screw in fuse and switch with a new switch, I told them I could have done that but the other checks on the furnace is what I wanted someone else to be responsible for. Today a totally different company swapped out the water heater that was about half full of lime..

I wasn't here yesterday my better half kept tabs on the guy. He was in and out in no time flat I guess, so I called today to have the management company call that firm and see what they checked on the firnace or did they just swap the switch. Evidently they checked everything.

Todays group was a small company, must have been the "owner" and either son in law or young friend of the famly as his helper. I watched them close since I was here. The owner" kept looking around, just being a bit too nosy for me. The only thing I forgot to "put up" was my Tipton Gun Vise was still sitting on my bench and even though I coverd it with a towel I noticed the "gun vice" decal still showing..

I figure if something comes up missing then that is what insurance is for, if someone is stupid enough to enter my house without permission well, lets just say I won't explain that outcome on here...

Thanks again, just figured my situation might help others realize that keping your stuf covered, hidden or just a general sense of low profileness is wise.

Hope your all well, enjoy the holidays,

TJ

 

[bwframe]

I think you are right not to trust. Loose lips sink ships.
If we'd have had a bit more notice, might have been able to help out more.

 

[Icarry2]

Oh I thought I had everyting covered or hidden and it wasn't really too much of a concern, I kept a close eye..

I do have a sign that hangs on my cave door that states "Never mind the dog, beware of the owner" it was given to me by my lovely better half, it's because I do carry and the dog is a Chihuahua...

Thanks all, oh and I do practice hiding plenty of things in plain sight or in plain wrappers so to speak..

TJ

 

[Vic_Mackey]

Man, I am glad other people practice this. My ex wife got it, but the gf not so much. She went to clean out the back floorboard of my war wagon when we first started dating. Yeah, I tried playing it off "oh don't worry about it, I'll get it", and then she found my shotty and BUG under all the old newspaper lol. She gets it now because she never knows where they are until she goes to clean it and then just puts the junk back over it. And all my bug out crap is in unmarked and marked totes. My brother flipped when he saw that I fit an entire reloading press, kit and caboodle, in a small tote ironically marked xmas lights lol. The less people think you have, the more you can store in plain sight

 

[45fan]

I had a buddy that stores his guns in a deep freeze, ammo in totes that look suspiciously like holiday decorations. Unless someone were to go rooting through things, it would look like any normal basement of a guy that likes to go camping and fishing. I prefer to keep things completely out of sight, but my house is big enough and built in such a way that I can store in places that would not normally be in the path of a service person.