Authored by Mac Slavo via SHTFplan.com,
The “gray man” survival concept isn’t new in preppers’ circles, but it’s also something a lot of questions are asked about. Becoming a “gray man” essentially means strategically not drawing attention to yourself to avoid conflict.
Being a “gray man” is easier said than done. Since it’s impossible to predict what the future will hold, especially the future of survivalism, we can only speculate how to best achieve “gray man” status. That said, it is a skill that can be practiced now though, before the SHTF. Blending in, laying low, recognizing dangers, and situational awareness all play a role in this concept. Going unnoticed can keep you out of harm’s way.
It’s been said that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. So if you can avoid conflict or any need for self-defense, you’ll have an added advantage when the SHTF. This is one skill that actually costs nothing. All it takes is some rational thought and heightened awareness.
HOW TO BE A “GRAY MAN”
The first step is to observe others. Start to notice things like attire and how people speak to each other. Observe how people interact with each other and begin to recognize their mannerisms and inclinations. This requires you to first has some decent situational awareness skill – which is also free. After you’ve observed others, your goal is to fit in and avoid creating a stimulus (something that can be embedded in someone else’s memory and creates an impression). Be like those around you. If you stick out, you could become a target. Be remarkably unremarkable and unmemorable.
You want to be as invisible as possible, so while keeping with the general tone of attire others are wearing, you’ll want to make sure you wear muted colors, avoid prints (yes, even camouflage), and don’t accessorize. Avoid any military-style clothing. That makes a statement and ensures you will not appear invisible to others. Hide any distinguishable markings such as a birthmark or tattoos. These will make you easily identifiable.
You also want to appear non-threatening and make sure your demeanor matches your attire. Don’t go all out and cover your face with a bandanna under a hood. That will suggest that you’re up to no good. Instead, wear a baseball cap and give off the “vibes” of someone who is not doing anything at all except existing. Be boring, but walk as though you have a purpose.
Minimize interactions with all people, especially those you do not know. Once the SHTF, you’ll have more enemies than friends especially if your friends have failed to effectively prepare for the bad times.
Most importantly, you will want to learn to think like a “gray man.” Changing the way we think is difficult, and impossible for some. But if you want a chance at avoiding as many altercations as possible in dire situations, you’ll need to make the attempt. Watch the video below for some great advice:
Learning to be a “gray man” could save your life. Blending in while being forgettable and not leaving an impression on anyone will allow you to go about your business with very limited altercations. This is one skill that is ranked up there with situational awareness.
Both situational awareness and being a “gray man” are essential to a proper prepping mentality. Both are free, and in addition to this article, I suggest you read as much as you can about both and begin to use them in your everyday life as practice.
Gray Man: Camouflage for Crowds, Cities, and Civil Crisis
The Gray Man is the forgettable face, the ghost guy, the hidden human. Implementing the concepts is more than looking less tactical, less hostile, or less threatening. It is the willful abandonment of anything and everything that defines oneself as different. Using his unique “S” word conceptual approach featured in Appear to Vanish, camouflage and concealment expert Matthew Dermody discusses the concepts, tactics, and mindset necessary to assimilate into any urban environment. From the safety-conscious international traveler to the SERE contingencies of the deep cover foreign operative, GRAY MAN is the definitive urban concealment resource.
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Being the gray man also involves having as small as an internet signature as possible, meaning to not offer your opinions and thoughts on websites…. oh, it looks like I’ve blown it already.
But really, good advice on what type of mindset is needed when things get dicey. Being mentally prepared will be a large part of survival in the coming days.
Especially since the Orange Bolshevik wants to give the death penalty to anyone criticizing Jews.
Dodging communist bullets has been a daily thing since FDR surrendered at Yalta.
Some of the commenters here on TBP have traded gunfire with commies and lived to tell about it.
…and will do so again, except this time, the ones getting pegged will be inside the wire, as you put it, dressed up and calling themselves ‘Merkins as they shout out in pain while stabbing each other in the back.
Prepare accordingly.
We on TBP have been headed to the FEMA camps for a long time. Carry concealed but carry.
Yeah it’s a little late for that.
Stupid recycled article from years ago.
Huge databases of American ‘citizens’ like Equifax and the Chicago PD gang member database were stolen or sold off for scrap to hostile nations like China, Russia, and Israel years ago.
Pretty much everyone knows who you are to a degree, especially government bad guys, mercs, and foreign troops.
Gray man ought to be in the trenches knee deep in brass instead of sneaking around in the shadows.
Yeah, his ultra passive demeanor didn’t exactly inspire me to follow him to the ends of the Earth for “the cause”…
And how exactly does he plan on blending in dressed in black from head to toe on a sunny day like some sort of Boondock Saints Fredo?
My “gray man” chances are nil.
When you live in a smaller community it is near impossible. The post office clerk knows me, the same ladies at the grocery checkout..I go to the store and run into past patients of mine or their families… I run into parents of kids who went to school with my kids, or fellow members of my church.
Wherever I go in our community it is hard to go anywhere that someone doesn’t know me personally or at least my face. The best I can achieve is keeping mum on politics, guns and prepping and just don’t let any of these acquaintances know that I have stuff that they would want in dire circumstances.
My own circumstances in a small village in which I’m very noticeable as being of foreign extraction. I use the “hide in plain sight” approach, doing what javelin does; keep my mouth shut about personal matters and in my case confining myself to courteous and cordial topics such as the weather, higher food prices, the great behind on Joanna the cold cuts girl, Paco’s new pick up truck… I’m not “gray” and never will be, but in public, I’m just me, taken as I am for what I am, which is foreign but familiar.
And one day when you have been “disappeared” Paco will be heard to say
“What ever happened to that foreign looking guy, you know the one, smelt like Italian sausage.”
It has always been wise to not let people know your business.
Each of us already has a scorecard within some alphabetized secret government agency. Included will be military training, advanced military training, LEO training, number/type of firearms purchased, membership in gun clubs, membership in any “right wing” organization, Cristian church membership, CCW license holders, digital footprint, etc, etc.
When SHTF, those with the highest scores will be visited first by a squad of highly armed mercenaries in the wee hours of the morning . Internet and telecommunications will be cut, so nobody will know of the raids, except anyone who hears the gunshots. If you are a neighbor and turn on a light or show your head during the firefight, you will be removed.
They have a plan and will try to strike hard at those they consider to be the most dangerous,hoping the masses will then fold. I am not concerned about the military or LEO, but the mercenaries are ruthless killers and will eliminate anyone who gets in their way.
TN.
So what.
Being shot at is the best drug I ever took. The thrill of facing death creates the thrill of being alive.
Bets are all too plentiful right now. I have difficulty believing all thos European girls are really that upset over being lusted after by all those Macho alphas coming from the south. They must get tired of having to pry the European Beta Boys off each other just to get laid.
TN, there just aren’t enough of “them.” Look at your own property. How would or where can it be entered by an assaulting force assuming they aren’t going to use a recoilless rifle and just blow it up?
Defenses need not depend on electronics either. Good old trip flares are undetectable, not considered a weapon and indicate you have infiltrators nearby.
TN.
Go on the net and learn how to make VC’s version of “Toe Poppers”. Ant centerfire bullet works. Take the bullet out if you just want a noise maker for an alarm.
do what you have to to protect your family but know that cowardice may bode ill in the future. a man should not have to cower in his own country.
Been gray for years. Most people want attention, many times it is their undoing.
My wife likes the idea of becoming invisible (metaphorically) to avoid the coming conflicts when the Crunch evaporates the value of the currency and all the bad stuff comes home to roost. I have tried reasoning with her, but she still likes the idea. But tell me, this author and wifey both, when you are the last one in the neighborhood whose home isn’t ruins and might have food or valuables, how do you hide then?