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Not exactly a new topic for me, I've spent most of my life sortta blending in to the crowd. For an IT guy, it is really easy. Back at the start of my career, we were all assumed to be strange, pencil-neck geeks that nobody paid attention to anyway. By the end of my career, I was more of a digital janitor... constantly around to clean up the electrons some idiot up-chucked on the floor. But always the same, nobody cares that you exist until they do something stupid and need bailed out. Otherwise, you are invisible. Ahem, anyone wondering why I hung it up after 30 years?
But, this morning I ran across a pair of videos on screw tube discussing the idea of hiding in plain sight. And while the presenters made all sorts of recommendations about gear, they missed the most important thing of all... the persona you choose to adopt to hide in plain sight.
Lemme give you an example: So, you want to carry your gear in a concealed manner though a presumably crowded public area without drawing attention to yourself. I would suggest cultivating a persona of a person that needs to be carrying a bag full of gear in public. My old profession is a good example, what does your typical IT guy look like? Polo shirt with a company logo, jeans or dark colored work slacks, sneakers, ball cap, some kind of company issued ID on a lanyard, and a back pack or tool bag. If you look like that, you can pretty much glide though any urban area without anyone noticing you. If you don't actually work for one, no sweat, make up your own like a free-lance contractor.
There are other personas that you could adopt. Salesman, student, wanna-be athlete, academic, copier technician, electrician, and on and on. These are all personas that require you to lug gear around, and thus afford you the ability to hide your armed state in plain view. Someone eyeballs you, you look like a non-threat, and they loose interest.
The really important thing is to cultivate the persona based on your own life experience. I can blend in as a adult student, a tech technician, a civilian pilot, and probably an electrician. I know enough from life to speak like a professional in those personas, which means I can blow off the casual inquiries and go on my way. Whatever persona you choose, make sure you know enough to not sound like a fraud on the first casual question.... like "Hey Brother, I see the IBEW patch on your tool bag, what local are you with?"
But, this morning I ran across a pair of videos on screw tube discussing the idea of hiding in plain sight. And while the presenters made all sorts of recommendations about gear, they missed the most important thing of all... the persona you choose to adopt to hide in plain sight.
Lemme give you an example: So, you want to carry your gear in a concealed manner though a presumably crowded public area without drawing attention to yourself. I would suggest cultivating a persona of a person that needs to be carrying a bag full of gear in public. My old profession is a good example, what does your typical IT guy look like? Polo shirt with a company logo, jeans or dark colored work slacks, sneakers, ball cap, some kind of company issued ID on a lanyard, and a back pack or tool bag. If you look like that, you can pretty much glide though any urban area without anyone noticing you. If you don't actually work for one, no sweat, make up your own like a free-lance contractor.
There are other personas that you could adopt. Salesman, student, wanna-be athlete, academic, copier technician, electrician, and on and on. These are all personas that require you to lug gear around, and thus afford you the ability to hide your armed state in plain view. Someone eyeballs you, you look like a non-threat, and they loose interest.
The really important thing is to cultivate the persona based on your own life experience. I can blend in as a adult student, a tech technician, a civilian pilot, and probably an electrician. I know enough from life to speak like a professional in those personas, which means I can blow off the casual inquiries and go on my way. Whatever persona you choose, make sure you know enough to not sound like a fraud on the first casual question.... like "Hey Brother, I see the IBEW patch on your tool bag, what local are you with?"
