"camp" security

H

HK2001

Joined
May 3, 2005
Messages
159
Let's say, in theory, SHTF in the form of a WMD attack by someone.

We're forced to bug out into the woods.. and regardless if your constantly moving, or if you set up a Perm. camp, you need to deal with the threat of people seeing your gear, your skill, your camp and wanting to take that for thier own....

How do you secure your camp? I'm looking (preferably) for nonlethal means.
 
With as many people as would be around you, security would be almost impossible. Still, there are things that can be done to make your camp as low profile as possible.

Cold camp, so no fires. Smoke and light are a dead giveaway.

If you leave camp, do it at night and leave by a different route each time to keep foot paths from forming. Never walk directly to your camp. Always use a different route back to camp and cover your tracks.

If you build a shelter, make it semi subterranean with hidden entrances and use only natural materials found in the area.

Move your camp often.
 
while unpopulated area around here are rare, going within the everglades themselves could alienate us as much as possibe...

one thing I've found that i could use to alert me to nearby people is a Trip flare kit

I don't care for the idea of cold camping... Fire and smoke provide so many useful things outdoors.
 
I'd suggest a dog. It doesn't have to be a 120 lb. Rottweiler, as long as it is alert and lets you know when something is amiss, it will fill the bill.
 
Basically what Longbow says, but I'd add a couple of finer tunings:

- Don't get so caught up in taking different paths back to your camp that you get yourself lost. I'm a believer in "radial" exploration: go out, and come back basically along the same path. Get back to your camp before you go out in a different direction. Wandering will lose you.

- Don't hide your camp so well you can't find it. And while some of you are chuckling, this is actually easy to do...sometimes even when you don't want to hide it!

- When there are trees with leaves, or evergreens, hide gear up in them. Of course, evergreens can be sticky, so be careful what you put where and keep in mind how fast you can get to it.

- Distribute your cache. Don't put your eggs in one basket: have items nearby and accessible, but not grouped together so that losing one means losing all.
 
HK2001 said:
How do you secure your camp? I'm looking (preferably) for nonlethal means.
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Good responses, particularly Watchful's comments on cache distribution and radial exploration.

In addition to minimizing light and smoke, remember that Noise Kills.
 
How about some battery powered passive IR motion detectors? Radio Shack has em cheap. Very versital(sp?) and you could even make a claymore if you use your imagination.
 
Same thing I do now. No-trace. Use non-obnoxious colored gear. Camp far enough off of trails and roads that others can't see your stuff.

-Bob
 
if you do have afire, make sure you have it mostly at dawn and dusk, when most people would have fires and it also make smoke harder to see. if at night, make a screen around the fire so it cant be seen unless you are right on top of it. (if you use the dakota hole type fire that would work well). Not to mention, build your fire near a tree so the smoke disperses on its way up, and sort of seperates through the leaves and branches.

D
 
Make your first camp while there is still a little bit of daylight.

After full nightfall, displace and reposition at a previously determined other location deemed appropriate for your purposes.

Doing so will throw off people who saw you make camp or might have seen signs of your presence earlier.

No fires or heated food. The scent of heated food TRAVELS. And no smoking.
 
Reality check :( ....... If you're in South Florida and not already gone BEFORE the shtf, you're going to be screwed, You had better make preperations for staying right where you are. If you do get a jump on the panic filled mob, then the best investment is in an AirBoat and go as deep into the Glades as you can.
This will not remove all threat, but it will thin them out. BUT, those that are left will be the meanest sob's you can emagine in your very worst nightmares :eek:
Think, Dualing Banjoes on steroides.
Dan
 
The question is a valid one, but the scenario screams "tin-foil hat" all over it...

One needs not be in such a situation to appreciate camp security. We remember those two campers shot to death in Utah (IIRC). The dog is the best method, backed up with a shotgun and maybe an AR-15. Choose a dog that isn't accustomed to other people as one that is, may not raise an alarm if strangers approach. This is the one and only time I would advocate getting a small yappy Yorkshire terrier... they're small, eat very little and bark at everything!
 
look into the peperball gun. it is a handgun like paintball gun that shoots paintballs that are filled w/ a very hot peperspray dust
 
m-18a1.jpg
 
I was going to stay out of this one due to the "tin foil hat" thing.

In my experience with wilderness and firearms, being heavily armed, even visibly armed IS A NON-VIOLENT means of defense. If people don't attack you, you never have to defend yourself. If people do attack you then being able to defend yourself is of primary importance.

I was attacked by two 20-something guys on the AT in PA. They both had knives. I had a holstered Ruger Single-Six. They hadn't seen it. When they did they broke off their assault just as it was getting started. That holstered weapon stopped them in their tracks. No shots fired, nobody got hurt, I didn't even draw it. They tried to make it seem like they were just trying to scare me, ha, ha, we had you going didn't we... I shudder to think who's girlfriend I would have been that day had I not been armed.

I always carry in the woods where legal. I've had people throw their liberal PC tizzy fits plenty of times. I've had hikers go morally superior and arrogantly dismiss me as a neanderthal. It does not bother me one bit. I'm the nicest guy you'd ever want to meet in the woods but when it comes to who winds up feeding the crows I have definate opinions. Mac
 
pict said:
I always carry in the woods where legal. I've had people throw their liberal PC tizzy fits plenty of times. I've had hikers go morally superior and arrogantly dismiss me as a neanderthal. It does not bother me one bit. I'm the nicest guy you'd ever want to meet in the woods but when it comes to who winds up feeding the crows I have definate opinions. Mac
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Nicely said.
 
Yep, well said Pict. Living here in California gets to be funny as heck watching people when I'm out roving with the longbow. I get the moral majority attitudes and the tizzy fits thrown at me all the time too. I just smile and wish them a good day. If they persist, they get my opinion on the subject.
 
I have a battery operated device that is attached to a wire filament. You run the wire in concentric circles (spiral) around your camp at about knee height. Once inside your shelter, you turn it on. If the wire is broken, it sounds a buzzer and alerts you. I've used it a couple of times and it's pretty cool.

S.
 
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