Re-check your threat assessment on three clocks: a short walk and a quick look every day, a wider patrol and an updated matrix every week, and a fuller revision each season. Threats are not static, and an assessment that is never updated slowly becomes a picture of a world that no longer exists. Change a score the day new information arrives, not at the next scheduled review.
Part of Threat Assessment
A threat assessment goes stale as conditions change, so it is rechecked on three clocks: daily, weekly and by season. The parent article’s reassessment protocol sets the three levels.
Three Clocks, Each With a Different Job
- Daily — a short check for new signs near the site and changes in the water source.
- Weekly — a longer patrol and an update of the map and the risk matrix.
- Seasonally — a rebuild of assumptions about wildlife, weather, human behaviour and plant cover.
The parent article gives the same three levels. It adds that you should update continuously: every new piece of information, such as a footprint, a distant fire or a conversation with a traveller, should feed back into the matrix.
What You Need
- Your current matrix and map — in a place you will actually open.
- A fixed time — the same time each day, so it becomes routine.
- A habit of writing one line — dated, short.
Method: Run the Cycle
Step 1: Daily Walk the immediate perimeter. See Daily Check-Ins.
Step 2: Weekly Extend the patrol and redo the scores that changed. The parent article suggests walking 1 to 2 km in each direction.
Step 3: Seasonally Rethink the larger assumptions. See Seasonal Adjustments.
Step 4: On trigger Reassess at once when something big happens: a hostile sighting, a flood warning sign, an injury, a change in water quality.
Step 5: Share the update Tell the group what changed and why.
Common Mistakes
- Reassessing only after a scare — fear distorts scores. Routine reviews are calmer.
- Rewriting from scratch every time — cross out old entries and adjust, as the parent article advises.
- Skipping the quiet days — they build the baseline. See Baseline Behavior.
What’s Next
- Learn next: Daily Check-Ins — the shortest cycle
- Combine with: Situational Awareness — noticing change as it happens