Post by mud on Jul 25, 2012 19:05:21 GMT -7
My wife accuses me of being strange in things I notice, especially after a long road trip. So this is about, in some ways, observation and discipline when bugging in.
During our week stay at the in-laws, I on a few occasions took out trash we had accumulated. What I noticed was how much more trash we generated than they did. When we arrived home, we emptied the trash and just 4 days later it needed it again. Trash or waste of any kind is often overlooked as a security issue. I am not discussing ID theft or the like but general waste by the average family.
In the event of a SHTF issue, just how would you dispose of your waste? Rather than start head on with how to dispose of it, let us begin with how to create less waste products by recycling as much as possible and lowering our footprint as a location of means.
Paper plates, box dinner packaging, bread bags, milk jugs, empty food cans, MRE wrappers...Just a partial list of things that would be noticed by someone looking for food or other supplies that 'hey this house is active'.
The easy solution would be to stop using paper plates...but if there is no water they are a handy solution for a clean eating or food prep surface. Since they are poly coated paper plates they also make a decent fire starter. Since I work where they make them it is also an abundant supply for us. We have animals here so scraps could be given to them to clean up then we could use the discarded item for fires and if they have had the coating breached to allow grease or oil to permeate the paper fibers they will burn longer due to wick action. OK that is one item down
The issue really is not the plates but how to dispose of waste in general. I would think anyone digging holes in their yard to hide the waste would be noticed if we did not take care to first remove the top soil and a patch of grass to put back in place. The issue with burning is the smoke is a dead give away that there are people living and surviving there so unless you have something like a wood gasification unit but even then you have the smell to contend with.
I would think finding a place as far as you are able to go from your BIL and dumping it. Not a dumpster though, if there are others in your area you are trying to avoid, they may be checking them for items of use and notice new trash when it arrives. Spread it out over an area? If someone were to think of it they could simply mark the area and assume that someone is living well in the center of the circle they made.
We have several small patches of woods in our area but open dumping is not something I want to do even in a SHTF scenario.
Next on the list is activity. While logic suggests moving at night would better conceal, you have the problem of not being able to see anyone else that may be doing the same thing. Use a light? well that just blows stealth right out of the water. How about night vision? Like my family, many here can not afford NV gear. Moving at dusk or dawn would be my preference, if given the choice that is, giving you both concealment and allowing you to better observe your surroundings. The problem with this method is you are easily patterned for anyone wanting to take what you have.
I like most other heads of households would be doing the majority of the heavy lifting, scrounging, hunting, security etc., simply because my wife is clumsy, out of shape and has very little knowledge of such things. My kids know more than she does but that is another thread all together. Point is, if YOU are the heavy lifter, what happens to your family if something happens to you? OPSEC becomes very important.
Things like light and noise discipline become very important as well as limited outside exposure (depending on what exactly is happening)of group or family members. Blinds with blankets and foil over the windows do a great job of keeping light down but what if it is 98 degrees out side? would you want to be stuck in a house with no ventilation? what about 20 degrees, would you want people to be able to see the smoke from your chimney? even if you cannot see the smoke you can smell it from a good distance. It seems like for every thing we need to do to stay alive in a SHTF situation presents it's own set of problems. These are a few that I have been pondering lately.
During our week stay at the in-laws, I on a few occasions took out trash we had accumulated. What I noticed was how much more trash we generated than they did. When we arrived home, we emptied the trash and just 4 days later it needed it again. Trash or waste of any kind is often overlooked as a security issue. I am not discussing ID theft or the like but general waste by the average family.
In the event of a SHTF issue, just how would you dispose of your waste? Rather than start head on with how to dispose of it, let us begin with how to create less waste products by recycling as much as possible and lowering our footprint as a location of means.
Paper plates, box dinner packaging, bread bags, milk jugs, empty food cans, MRE wrappers...Just a partial list of things that would be noticed by someone looking for food or other supplies that 'hey this house is active'.
The easy solution would be to stop using paper plates...but if there is no water they are a handy solution for a clean eating or food prep surface. Since they are poly coated paper plates they also make a decent fire starter. Since I work where they make them it is also an abundant supply for us. We have animals here so scraps could be given to them to clean up then we could use the discarded item for fires and if they have had the coating breached to allow grease or oil to permeate the paper fibers they will burn longer due to wick action. OK that is one item down
The issue really is not the plates but how to dispose of waste in general. I would think anyone digging holes in their yard to hide the waste would be noticed if we did not take care to first remove the top soil and a patch of grass to put back in place. The issue with burning is the smoke is a dead give away that there are people living and surviving there so unless you have something like a wood gasification unit but even then you have the smell to contend with.
I would think finding a place as far as you are able to go from your BIL and dumping it. Not a dumpster though, if there are others in your area you are trying to avoid, they may be checking them for items of use and notice new trash when it arrives. Spread it out over an area? If someone were to think of it they could simply mark the area and assume that someone is living well in the center of the circle they made.
We have several small patches of woods in our area but open dumping is not something I want to do even in a SHTF scenario.
Next on the list is activity. While logic suggests moving at night would better conceal, you have the problem of not being able to see anyone else that may be doing the same thing. Use a light? well that just blows stealth right out of the water. How about night vision? Like my family, many here can not afford NV gear. Moving at dusk or dawn would be my preference, if given the choice that is, giving you both concealment and allowing you to better observe your surroundings. The problem with this method is you are easily patterned for anyone wanting to take what you have.
I like most other heads of households would be doing the majority of the heavy lifting, scrounging, hunting, security etc., simply because my wife is clumsy, out of shape and has very little knowledge of such things. My kids know more than she does but that is another thread all together. Point is, if YOU are the heavy lifter, what happens to your family if something happens to you? OPSEC becomes very important.
Things like light and noise discipline become very important as well as limited outside exposure (depending on what exactly is happening)of group or family members. Blinds with blankets and foil over the windows do a great job of keeping light down but what if it is 98 degrees out side? would you want to be stuck in a house with no ventilation? what about 20 degrees, would you want people to be able to see the smoke from your chimney? even if you cannot see the smoke you can smell it from a good distance. It seems like for every thing we need to do to stay alive in a SHTF situation presents it's own set of problems. These are a few that I have been pondering lately.