Make two lists: what you hold (water, food, fuel, tools, medicine) and what your site shows to others (smoke, light, noise, smell, waste, a garden or livestock). What you have determines what others want from you, so the second list is the one that lowers your risk. Reduce what shows, store what matters out of sight, and count your supplies so you know how long they last.
Part of Threat Assessment
What you hold determines what others want from you, and what your site shows is what lets them find it. Smoke, light, noise, scent and waste are the signals the parent article lists.
What You Have Determines What Others Want
The parent article makes the point plainly: what you have determines what others want from you. It lists four ways your resources become visible.
- Visible resources — smoke from cooking fires, lights at night, gardens, livestock and vehicles all advertise supplies worth taking.
- Noise signature — generators, power tools and even conversation carry further than you think, especially at night.
- Scent signature — cooking food can be smelled from hundreds of metres downwind.
- Waste — trash and human waste near camp tell observers how many people are present and what you are eating.
What You Need
- A notebook — list items and quantities.
- A walk around the outside — see your site as a stranger would, from the paths in your terrain map.
- A group discussion — each person sees different leaks.
Method: Count, Then Hide
Step 1: Count what you hold Water (litres), food (days for each person), fuel, tools, medicine, and anything hard to replace. The impact scores in Impact Severity Scale depend on what you cannot replace.
Step 2: Find what shows Stand where a visitor would stand. Look and listen for smoke, light, noise, smell and waste.
Step 3: Reduce the signature The parent article’s methods: cook in daylight when smoke is less visible, use concealment techniques, and dispose of waste away from the living area and bury it.
Step 4: Split and hide the stock Keep what matters in more than one place. If one cache is found or lost, you still have the rest.
Step 5: Keep the count current Revisit weekly. A shrinking count is a threat of its own: the parent article rates food exhaustion at 4 for probability and 5 for impact, a score of 20.
Worked Example
A store holds 24 person-days of rice, meaning enough to feed one person for 24 days. Four people eat from it at four times the rate, so it lasts 24 ÷ 4 = 6 days. Count supplies in days for the whole group, not days for one person.
Common Mistakes
- Counting days for one person — see the example. Divide by the number of people eating.
- Cooking with smoke at dusk — it marks your site.
- Burying waste near the water source — it contaminates what you drink.
What’s Next
- Learn next: Neighbor Assessment — who is nearby and what they lack
- Combine with: Priority Ranking — food exhaustion belongs high on the list