I was talking to someone the other day and they mentioned that their wife, who had been ‘on board’ with his interest in preparedness has, as of late, become more approving of his interest. I told him that he was not the first person to experience this lately. I know several people whose wives tolerated their interest in preparedness as a sort of ‘quirky guy thing’ and have suddenly discovered that they rather appreciate the increased feeling of security it provides.
But, any situation threatening enough to make an on-the-fence/humouring spouse suddenly a believer is also threatening enough that the old “I’ll just come to your place in case anything happens” scenario a bit more dangerous.
This is brought to mind by a dream I had the other night. I dreamt that there was a Mount St Helens type of explosion off on the horizon and my neighbors and I stood on the street and watched half a mountain disappear. Then we watched it re-appear as Volkswagen-size chunks of earth came crashing down around us, destroying homes, cars, power lines, etc. In the dream, I told me neighbor not to worry and to follow me into my basement. The were, naturally, impressed. And I thought “This may have been a bad idea.” Then I woke up.
The message? In calmer times it’s a good idea to obey the first rule of Prep Club. In times of…excitement…it is even more vital. The classic scenario is that the world comes to an end and everyone tries to get into your bomb shelter. But things don’t have to reach that level for secrecy to be your friend. Even without bombs dropping or the dead roaming the land, you still have a ton of resources tied up in ammo, guns, radios, gold, and a dozen other things that your garden-variety burglar or thief is interested in. So, yeah, the first rule of Prep Club is that you don’t talk about Prep Club. (Which is ironic since I am, at the moment, talking about Prep Club.)
I suppose that’s one of my biggest gripes about ‘survival groups’ or ‘mutual aid’ groups. You’re trusting people whom you otherwise might not even spend time with ‘in real life’ with information and location about very valuable things you have. Personally, I find it hard to hand out that level of trust. This is why, in my opinion, the best ‘survival groups’ are very small and have a common social denominator that is extremely intimate. Family, for example, is probably the most intimate social group you can have. And even then, we all have that Aunt Jane or Cousin Joe who we would probably not trust with that sort of information. So if something as closely knit as a family has members who you’d not want ‘in your inner circle’, imagine what it’d be like when you start looking outside that family group. All relationships are transitory. The people you trusted with the GPS coords to your stash buried in the National Forest may, for whatever reason, wind up no longer being part of your circle. And when they depart, they take that information with them and you wind up having to change locks and rebury caches.
On the other hand, you could play it close to the vest and your family may not even know about all the things you’ve put away for them. And you get caught away from home (or worse, killed in the crisis) and they have no idea that their salvation was hidden in the basement behind the grandma’s old furniture or sitting in the rafters of the garage.
It’s definitely interesting times that we are living in. And it is reasonably possible that some aspects of the preparations we have made (almost certainly the financial ones, at least) will wind up coming in handy and getting put to use. It’s because of this increased likelihood, and the increased awareness (and desperation) of others, that keeping information about our personal WalMart we’ve created in the basement should stay under our tinfoil hat.
Ben Franklin said that ‘three can keep a secret if two of them are dead’. I wouldn’t go quite that far but, in todays heightened environment, I definitely do keep a pretty tight hand on who I let in my house and who I talk about this sorta stuff with.
Maybe it’s because of our yearly hurricane seasons but most people I know set aside preps just in case. The reality here is the situation may require an at least temporary evacuation, standing flood water or serious structural damage to your home, of the area and just what is happening around you…… I have a couple friends who lost most of their provisions along with all the furniture and 2 Harleys when a huge severe thunderstorm rumbled through and overflowed the drainage canal, it flooded the subdivision they lived a while he was at work. It took a week to drain the water out the neighborhood and a total gutting of the house before it was liveable again….
Sometimes bad shit happens fast……..
Head down, eyes open and moving forward
‘three can keep a secret if two of them are dead’.
I would change that to ‘MAYBE three can keep a secret if two of them are dead’. Almost everyone runs their mouth off from time to time.
My intent in all things in life is to surround myself with people that i trust. The more i trust you, the more Inner Circle you are. But at the core, only my wife, parents, and a lifelong childhood cohort are considered 100%.
Trustworthy people are VERY hard to find. Outside of family, i’ve met 4 people over the course of too many decades that i would trust with everything i own and hold dear.
I trust my sons because they are not that interested. The wife knows she will be taken care of but few details. Sucks sometimes but i can still wipe my ass with the good stuff next year.
Yes, sometimes the less said, the better. But, as you pointed out, you want to be able to tell some people about some secrets. I ended up writing a letter to my wife describing what and where, and left it with my will. At least then she won’t sell the house without knowing where the secret panels are, if I kick the bucket.
OPSEC, the single most important prep you can have!
PERSEC
As the saying goes: “Loose lips sinks ships”.
A point I’ve made repeatedly: When you discover that you’ve compromised your OPSEC, the most important thing to do is shut up. Proceed from there with better discretion.
My philosophy professors taught me to follow a line of reasoning to its logical conclusions. It was somewhat disappointing to me to realize that no one can do it all. We all have to sleep, so 24/7 surveillance is not possible outside of a team effort. I have Selco Begovic’s book and he emphasizes that close family groups are essential.
While my wife has become much more sympathetic to a prepping lifestyle, I have no idea how long I’d be able to keep even just the two of us in good stead. I told her last week that the foodstores I have would not feed our small town for a day. We’ve made the point that anyone seeking our help after TEOTWAWKI will be referred to our local churches (“We gave our charity buckets to the pastor!”)
Many good tips in the post and comments here, and as always we prep for the worst and hope for the best.
Family isn’t always a sure bet. Plenty of examples of drug addicts ripping off mom & dad and the rest of their family members. Most corporations have a level of inventory loss factored into the bottom line so maybe us preppers should also. Multiple stash points is a good philosophy.
My folks and I have spoken about where stuff is and how to get it. My sister is starting to learn where my folks have their stuff. My brother will never know where my parents store stuff. The reason being is his wife would tell her family come on. My sister, folks and my self would kick them to the curb.
A friend who knew I had a good number of cats & dogs said, “If anything bad ever happens I’ll go to your house.” Implying he’d eat my pets. I told him “Come on, you’ll be welcome. But, remerber this, if you come, I’ll be the one who decides who will eat, and who’ll be eated. That God speaks only through me; and all the women are mine.” I doubt if he’ll show, but if he does ……
“To Serve Man”
Imagine if you will……..
I love that twilight zone episode
“All relationships are transitory. The people you trusted with the GPS coords to your stash buried in the National Forest may, for whatever reason, wind up no longer being part of your circle.”
In Kevin Costner’s “Wyatt Earp,” there is a scene where the Earp brothers and their wives/significant others are holding a family meeting. As I remember it, Wyatt calls for a vote on something of importance (perhaps it was a move to Tombstone), and he begins to poll the brothers only. One of the women asks why the women don’t get a vote. Wyatt responds something to the effect, “Because my brothers will always be my brothers, and wives and girlfriends change.” This was especially true for the Earp brothers.
A brother’s wife or “friend with benefits” one year may not be in the picture the next year. Once she departs, she takes any information that she has learned with her. If this situation happens in a smaller community, in particular, it could mean serious trouble in a crisis.
Truth.
Ask any cop and they will tell you that ex-whatevers are some of their best sources of information when it comes time to arrest someone. Gyno-Americans, when triggered, will use whatever info they have on you like a pair of brass knuckles if they think theyve somehow been ‘victimized’.
Down here it’s kinda a given that you take in your family in times of need, in my case my home is the most secure and least likely to be overwhelmed by flooding. It’s part of our plan to go get my girlfriend’s mom and bring her here when there’s a situation in the gulf, she’s not a problem, so far, knock on wood. The possible problem I see coming is her brother’s family primarily her sister in law, leftist school employee, she’s not someone I would normally have stay in my home. So far the situation hadn’t come up but it’s just a matter of time.
I personally think the best idea in these situations is to have a regular stash/es that your chosen group or circle will know about and then a “Black” series that only 1 person is aware of or will be aware of if you have a boating accident and go down with it. Choose carefully.
Regards
Even if you have multiple locations that you can stash supplies at, it would be safer if some quantity of each stash was not easily found. False walls, second basements dug to the side or underneath the original room, or under a storage shed, might be useful. Very helpful if you don’t lose everything if someone talks, or even to a random or targeted break-in.
Over the years, your home/building will be entered by family, friends, repairmen, thieves, lovers, neighbors, etc. Much better if you don’t have to exclude them from certain areas completely. You want it to appear to be a normal setup. A small amount of preps on shelves in a corner of the garage or basement to cover the bases, so people see what they expect to see. If no one ever sees your basement, that might raise eyebrows, so put on a show, so to speak. Misdirection is the word.