Meet strangers outside your boundary, speak across the barrier, and admit nobody to the core of the homestead on the first meeting. Do not admit a group of more than 3 without prior arrangement, name wardens who may admit or refuse, and settle trade at a neutral meeting place outside the perimeter.
Part of Perimeter Defense Design
Visitor protocols are the standing rules for how a homestead receives people it does not know: where they wait, who speaks to them, what they may bring in and what is done if they are refused.
Rules Decided In Advance Protect The Warden
A warden who decides on the spot, alone, with a stranger waiting and tired, is under pressure that distorts the decision. Rules made beforehand take most of that away. The parent article gives the core: never allow strangers directly into the core area, speak from behind the barrier, hold trade and negotiation at a neutral meeting area outside the perimeter, do not admit groups larger than 3 without prior arrangement, and assign specific people as gate wardens with the authority to admit or refuse. This page turns those into a routine. The negotiation techniques themselves are in Negotiation from Strength.
What You Need
- A warden with a partner, so no one speaks to strangers alone.
- A waiting point outside the gate; see Gate Placement.
- A neutral meeting place outside the boundary with a table, a bench and shelter.
- A signal for the household that says “visitors at the gate”, and a different one that says “trouble at the gate”. See Signal Systems.
- A visitor log: time, number, what they said, what was decided.
Method: The Routine At The Gate
Step 1: Sighting. Whoever sees a stranger first gives the visitors signal, and the household goes to its stations: the warden and partner to the gate, the children and the dog away from it.
Step 2: Greeting at the waiting point. The warden speaks from behind the barrier. Ask who they are, how many, where they came from and what they want. Listen to the answers; compare numbers to what you can see.
Step 3: Decide the category. A known neighbour or traveller with a prior arrangement is admitted to the guest area, not the core. A stranger is met at the meeting place. A group over 3 is not admitted unless arranged.
Step 4: Offer what you can safely give, water or a meal handed across, and a direction to the nearest safe place. Refusing entry is not refusing help.
Step 5: Admit under conditions. Visitors leave tools and bundles at the gate, are accompanied by a household member, and are shown where they may go and where they may not.
Step 6: Log it and tell the household afterwards.
Common Mistakes
- One person at the gate. If that person is overruled, ill or alone, there is no second view. Always two.
- Admitting someone because they are sick or pitiable without a plan. Illness spreads; keep an isolation place outside the core.
- Letting the guard dog meet visitors loose. Dogs bite visitors, and the owner is responsible. See Dogs.
- Never refusing anyone. The warden’s power to say no must be real and backed up.
Safety
Do not trap the warden or the visitor
A gate lane with no way back leaves a refused visitor with nowhere to go and a warden with nowhere to retreat. Keep the lane open at both ends, keep dogs and children away from the gate, and make sure the warden can leave the post without passing the visitors. Hold a rehearsal of a refusal that goes badly, and agree what the warden does: step back, signal, withdraw.
What’s Next
- Learn next: Negotiation from Strength — how to talk when the answer is not yet decided
- Combine with: Gate Placement — the layout the routine uses