In a SHTF situation there is no doubt that anyone known to stockpile food and other supplies is going to be a target.
People are beginning to wake up and realize the importance of being prepared for a disastrous survival situation, but many feel they don’t have the resources to prepare.
The pandemic opened the eyes of many who didn’t realize how quickly supplies can vanish off of store shelves and leave them unable to find food, toiletries, and other important items.
The great news is that many people have now begun to take survival prepping seriously – even those with tight budgets.
However that doesn’t mean it’s safe to talk about how well stocked you are, because that could make you a target.
Something Important Is Not Being Done
While many people routinely shop for the supplies that they need, not everyone has figured out how to do this – or will do this, when they could simply sit back and wait.
Some people have even begun learning survival skills, such as how to stay warm in the winter when the grid goes down.
But what’s not being done is the most important task of learning how to shield yourself from predators who will target you in a SHTF situation.
They will do this so that they can take all of the supplies you have so carefully accumulated.
You may be making some important mistakes even before a SHTF survival situation unfolds.
You need to take steps now to reverse your path and ensure your safety and the safety of your loved ones.
We all know there are people out there watching and waiting for the right time to break into your home and take whatever emergency supplies you have accumulated.
Never Speak To Anyone About Being A Prepper
One of the most important rules you can follow, which many are breaking right now, is that you should never speak to anyone about your prepping efforts.
When the Texas grid went down, many citizens were left without power when it was below freezing.
People started making videos and posts on social media to show off how they prepared for their family for events like this.
A few minutes of bragging is not going to save you when a major catastrophe hits and people wind up on your doorstep, demanding to have access to all of the supplies you have stocked up.
Thankfully, we didn’t reach that point during the pandemic, even though it was frustrating and scary, especially if you were one of the people being targeted on social media because others know you were a prepper.
But if things continue to go south, all bets would be off about the civility people would have in fending for themselves or simply asking nicely if you had supplies to help them.
Just look at what happens when people riot.
If you are on social media posting about the huge stockpile of survival food and water you had built up over the years, and everyone could see your page, you wouldn’t be able to keep your supplies very long, especially if people were starving or dying of dehydration.
You want to make sure that you keep a low profile when it comes to discussing the supplies you have or even your knowledge of survival prepping.
While it is wonderful that you may want to help someone by providing a tip, you are instantly making yourself a target because others will know you are prepared.
You also have to teach your loved ones not to discuss your prepping measures either.
Kids have a tendency to brag to other children, and those children can go home and tell their parents who has supplies, which makes you a target.
Hide Your Supplies When Anyone Enters Your Home
You may not think about it now, but every time someone steps foot into your home, they may be taking note of what you have in terms of survival supplies.
Most people don’t do this, but some will.
When people come to your house and see an entire room dedicated to canned fruits and vegetables, buckets of survival food, plenty of firearms and ammunition, they will remember and might even start asking questions.
Anyone who comes over could be a predator eventually.
You may not think of them that way right now, but in a SHTF situation, you will only be able to trust a select few.
Keep in mind that you cannot trust strangers who come over and happen to see your supplies, which is why it is a good idea to find hiding places in your home to store your supplies.
If you are having any type of work done in your home, such as plumbing or electrical work, make sure you take time to move and hide your supplies – even if you have to put them in a room that is off limits to the contractors.
You also want to take care to keep supplies hidden around some friends and family.
If you have a large family gathering, with all of the aunts, uncles, cousins, you can expect all of them to be on your doorstep when a survival situation hits and they are caught unprepared.
It’s best if you can store your survival supplies all in one room that you can keep that room off limits whenever service providers, friends or family come over.
This is something you need to make sure your kids adhere to as well.
If they have a slumber party or a friend comes over to spend the night, you want to make sure your child knows not to show off your supplies or brag about them to their friends.
Create a Camouflaged Survival Garden
Depending on the type of survival situation that you are in, food resources may be slim to nonexistent.
Even if you have taken time to stock up months worth of food for your family, there may come a day in the not so distant future when you have gone through everything you stored and find yourself faced with starvation.
One great way to handle a food shortages to grow your own food.
Many people are aware of this strategy.
Even if there are many people in your neighborhood who are prepared with a thriving garden of their own, you can bet vegetable gardens will be stripped bare when the store shelves are empty.
A typical garden is easy to spot.
Even if you have a fenced in backyard, the neighbors may know what you have been growing food on your property.
Strangers who will be serving as predators to target you may have access to something like a drone or may even simply barge onto your property to see if you are growing food that they can steal.
A better option to keep yourself from becoming a target in a food shortage is to grow what is known as a camouflaged survival garden.
Most uninformed individuals will be looking for gardens that have the typical signs of food growth, such as corn, tomatoes, and so on.
But you can grow food items that look like typical landscaping.
While you will know that these particular plants can be foraged for food, ordinary men and women may not.
One of the great things about growing a camouflaged garden is that you will allow it to become somewhat overgrown, making it look like unkept underbrush, when in reality it is providing more food than a typical garden.
Make Yourself Appear Threatening
If you are in a survival situation outside of your home, or even if you are at home and strangers have arrived on your property to try to steal your supplies or curbed you in some other way then you need to appear menacing so that they will leave you alone.
There will be many people who look peaceful and accommodating in the beginning of a survival situation, and because they do not look as if they can protect themselves and their property, the unethical citizens will swarm them and take all that they have.
You want to present an aura of strength and proficiency before a survival situation unfolds so that people know not to mess with you or your family whenever things are serious.
Sometimes, there will be animal predators who pose a threat, especially if you have to bug out.
You may have heard about how to make yourself appear larger than you really are in the presence of a bear, and in some ways, you can do something similar if faced with human threats as well.
Survive With Like-Minded Individuals But Minimize Socializing
There is strength in numbers, in many cases.
But banding together with random neighbors just because they live in your vicinity doesn’t bode well for your survival.
Even though these people may have been pleasant enough when you waved at them as you left for your early morning commute, that doesn’t mean they will be good survival partners.
You want to network with real fellow preppers long before an event happens.
This way, you can all meet up to bug out together, knowing that you have each taken care of your own survival supplies.
Or, you can even purchase homestead properties in the same area so that you can protect your property and share resources like natural water sources and organic food supplies if necessary.
If you end up having to rely on neighbors you don’t know well, whether it is a civil unrest event or a natural disastear situation, you want to try to keep focused on the needs at hand.
Don’t veer off and start socializing in a way where you let your guard down and they end up finding out more than you want them to know.
When the SHTF Don’t Deny Help Even If You Don’t Need It
There are many instances when government entities will move in to provide some resources.
It may be food, water, or toiletries, for example.
If you are sitting pretty at home while all your neighbors are lined up for necessities, everyone will instantly know you have everything you need on hand at home.
Many people will complain about this concept, but you will be putting a bigger target on your back if you let everyone know you are all set with supplies.
Instead, go ahead and accept the help.
Even if you have the rations already, you can keep these to use as a barter situation for something you don’t have.
Or, you can give the supplies to someone you know whose supplies are low, but who is trustworthy.
Don’t Attract Predators with Scents and Sounds
One thing that gets many people in trouble and makes them a target is simple smells.
If you are bugging out and animals and human predators can smell bacon cooking over a campfire, they are going to make a beeline for your campsite so they can take everything you have.
You want to be careful about bringing supplies that are heavily scented, whether it is food, toiletries or even cleaning products.
It is easy to catch a whiff of it in the wind out in the wilderness, and it will alert others to your presence.
If you do cook over a campfire, try to cook foods that are not highly scented.
Make sure your cooking campsite is separate from the one you live and sleep at.
If you do cook over a campfire, make sure you wash the clothes you were wearing when you did, otherwise people will smell food on you.
The smell of food will be a dead giveaway that you’re stocked up on supplies.
Another thing you want to watch out for are sounds.
If the grid goes down and you fire up the generator, while the rest of the neighborhood is silent, it will cause people to arrive on your doorstep.
They will be begging for the chance to charge up their phone, cook a meal, get warm, and more.
While there, who knows what else they will see that is ripe for the taking.
A better option is to use a solar powered option that is quiet and doesn’t tell the whole world your house has power.
Bug Out with a Plan
If you are wandering aimlessly throughout the city or even the country during a bug out event, you are going to be more of a target than if you had a plan.
You need to appear as if you know what you are doing and where you are headed so that nobody tries to steer you wrong.
Make sure you have a map and compass.
Travel quickly and move with a purpose.
You don’t want to let others know if you’re taking your time and may be there awhile.
That is too much information to give out to them.
Know A Vital Skill You Can Bargain For Your Life With
There may come a time when your life is being threatened and you can see no viable way out of the situation.
The other person may be targeting you or your family.
If they have come for your supplies, give them only what is visible.
Try to keep most of your supplies hidden or buried so that you can pretend as if your own supplies are limited.
This way you won’t lose much.
If you have no supplies, and the other people are just looking for a fight, it will be to your advantage to have a skill they may need to spare your life.
Learn as much as you can about things like first aid, gardening and other survival basics.
You might be able to trade knowledge or time with them in an effort to save yourself.
Pick Your Extreme And Play It Up Or Keep Them Guessing?
If you encounter a threat, they are immediately going to size you up as an opponent.
That doesn’t necessarily mean physical stature, although it can.
It usually means your overall abilities.
Some people will work out and build up great mass as a way to intimidate others.
This could put a target on you as a threat that multiple people try to take down.
The same goes for those who try to appear as weak and as non-threatening as possible.
If you look too weak, people may try to take all that you have.
A better way might be to play it right down the middle and keep them wondering whether you are a threat at all.
You want them unsure and unwilling to take a risk.
Hopefully this post has given you some good insight on how to stay safe and avoid becoming a target in a SHTF situation.
Think about eveything you have just learned, use some common sense and hopefully you will come through any SHTF situation just fine.
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