Surviving Martial Law Part 3
We’ve recently discussed the two options you will have once martial law is declared in your area. One is staying home and blending in as much as possible in order to remain as far off the radar screen of local authorities as possible.
The other is bugging out to a remote rural location where you can try to completely avoid authorities and enjoy at least some of the freedoms you would not have back in a more urban setting.
We’re going to take a look at both of these options today. For those of us who are staying put, we’re going to want to know how to hide certain items from the authorities and thieves, including emergency food and water, plus weapons. For those of us who are bugging out, we’ll discuss options as to where it would be best to head.
Hunkering Down
First, remaining at home. Once the president proclaims martial law on a national level, or when FEMA or the DHS declares it over local regions, it’s a whole new ballgame.
Freedoms you once possessed could be at least temporarily suspended, including your right to own weapons and ammunition, various forms of communications including radios and cellphones, and emergency supplies of food, water and other essentials.
It should be blatantly obvious to any rational-thinking person living in a democracy that this is wrong on every level imaginable. If it’s important to you to obey every command of the government, even when it tramples over the Constitution to steal items you have legitimately acquired, then you can do that when agents come calling.
But if you believe the government has absolutely no right to take these items from you, then you need to figure out a way to keep them from being discovered.
Your home is a great place to hide these items, mainly because that’s where you are. So, you’ll have access to them when a dawn-to-dusk curfew keeps you confined.
Plus, you know your home better than anyone else does, so you can figure out the best hiding places, including some you may want to create with a few simple tools.
Hiding Places
Among the places you could hide guns, ammunition, food and other items from those who wish to steal from you are the following:
- Inside walls. This would be for items you’re quite certain you won’t need for a while, including extra weapons and food with a long shelf life. You probably have about 3½ inches of dead space in your walls, between the studs. Remove the drywall, store the items, replace the drywall, finish it and paint it to match.
- False ductwork. Acquire some false ductwork, hide items inside it, and attach it to the real ductwork that carries hot and cold air to the vents in various rooms of your home.
- Inside furniture. Most furniture has dead space within it, which can be used for storage, including sofas and inside the box springs under mattresses. Creating a drawer within a drawer is another neat trick.
- Hiding in plain sight. Among places to hide items are storage boxes with labels such as “Christmas Decorations,” especially if you have several of them. Hide the guns, ammo or food in the middle of the decorations so that they won’t be seen by anyone merely opening the box.
- Underneath the stairs. One or more of your stairs could actually be drawers in disguise, where you can hide items. You can also build a closet with a false back underneath the entire staircase.
- Perhaps the best place of all, although again it’s only for items you do not anticipate needing to access for a while, is buried on your property. Place items including guns and ammo in PVC piping, wrap them in towels or blankets, and bury them several feet deep. Food can be placed in plastic storage bins or plastic five-gallon buckets before being buried.
One final thought before we move on to bugging out. If your home is being searched by government agents or thieves, it’s probably because you are suspected of having items they want. If you have everything hidden very well, they might not give up until they’ve torn a number of things apart.
So, let them find some things fairly easily. If they discover some not-so-well-hidden guns, ammo, food and water, they may assume they’ve located your entire stash and will be on their way. In addition, act distraught when they find and remove those items, as if they’ve robbed you blind.
Bugging Out
If you have an opportunity to bug out when martial law is declared, your first choice would be a remote place you’ve prepared in advance for yourself and which contains a cache of supplies you will need.
Maybe it’s a cabin in the woods or perhaps it’s a tent in an unpatrolled area of a national forest. Either way, the more remote the area is, the less likely the government will have the manpower to come looking for you there.
The big advantage to bugging out over staying put is freedom. If you are in an area without a military presence, you are free to come and go as you please.
Finding Teammates
Assuming you have some like-minded folks in your vicinity, you’re probably also free to discuss what you think about martial law without worrying about talking to a snitch. You should also be free of authority figures or thieves trying to take away what is rightfully yours.
Obviously, you’re going to need to prepare your bug-out location in advance of actually needing it. You may be able to accomplish some of those activities even after martial law is declared, assuming you are careful about it.
For example, don’t always use the most direct route to your secondary location. Mix it up so that you’re not always heading the same way when you leave your permanent residence.
When it is declared, martial law will be a huge inconvenience for everyone until it is rescinded. But by being prepared for it, you’ll be able to handle it much better than others will.
Sound advice as far as it goes. If Martial Law is declared by the Government and or its agencies the first thing you need to do is not to panic. When you panic you make mistakes not only in judgement but in your actions and reactions to the circumstances.
Through preplanning and understanding what is happening and why it is happening will determine how you should behave. If there is martial law declared then why is it declared. Is it because of a natural disaster or a man-made one. Is there riots in the streets or is the Government going after the citizenry? You need to plan for each scenario.
Lets say the Government has decided to confiscate your weapons, guns, archery, swords whatever, they come into your home looking for said contraband items. All the places mentioned above will be one of the first places the Government will look for. Why? Because those that will be conduction these searches will be experts in searching for items hidden. They will look in the vents around your home. They will over turn your furniture to see if anything falls out. They will look in the attic and in your basement for anything and everything they can find. If your walls look like they might hide something they will knock on them to see if they sound true. They will even go out in the yard to see if there are any signs where there has been someone digging.
Why am I telling you this? Because in the Army we were trained to search homes in the middle east looking for weapons, communication devices and hidden compartments that could hide an insurgent or two.
Here is the best thing you can do and should do; First, create a hiding lace that is sound and out of the way. That is to say that if someone knocks on the wall it sounds like the rest of the house. You do this by putting in braces on the section of the movable wall with insulation to muffle the dull sound of the thud to make it sound solid. Next you need to beware of any cracks that may give your secret hiding place away or discolorization of the paint on the wall, (dirty hand prints or too much use.)
Second create a hiding place that will make someone to work hard at getting too or taking apart. That is to say that if it takes 15 to 30 minutes to get to or take apart chances are the searcher will move on to a more promising location or challenge. The smaller the hiding place the more likely they will over look it. Which leads me to number three, if you can dismantle your weapons and spread them around the house. It is better to lose a piece of a weapon than the entire weapon itself. This is why you should always have spare parts for anything and everything. Fourth, never put all your eggs in the same basket. Remember, they are searching for contraband, give them something to find. Expect them to find something, just make sure it is something you can afford to lose. This will stroke their egos making them feel that they found out what you were trying to hide. Then they will go away thinking that they succeed in their task. Fifth, if hiding food, weapons or other contraband find a location that isn’t a location normally used or found for that item(s). For example, a hidden compartment in your bathroom, under the bathroom sink. A compartment behind a heavy china cabinet where by the cabinet is securely latched to the wall, (to prevent earthquakes or from being toppled over by children). Remember you want to give the appearance that it is unlikely being used and difficult at getting to. Lastly, if they come to search your place give them a small taste of what they are looking for by telling them that your food is in the cupboard in the kitchen and a few cans in the garage. Hide all evidence that you can your food, you hunt or shoot. This includes ball caps, shirts, pants, and even your boots or shoes.
When searching a compound in Iraq, I found a shell casting. This told me and my detail that there were weapons and ammo somewhere in or on that compound. We searched long and hard and we found their secret hiding place, near a cesspool out back. Believe me when I say no one wanted to get their hands dirty. We also found parts on AKA-47 all over the place, inside as well as outside the home.
So think outside the box and have three places to get your items, soft, hard, and difficult.
Sound advice as far as it goes. If Martial Law is declared by the Government and or its agencies the first thing you need to do is not to panic. When you panic you make mistakes not only in judgement but in your actions and reactions to the circumstances.
Through preplanning and understanding what is happening and why it is happening will determine how you should behave. If there is martial law declared then why is it declared. Is it because of a natural disaster or a man-made one. Is there riots in the streets or is the Government going after the citizenry? You need to plan for each scenario.
Lets say the Government has decided to confiscate your weapons, guns, archery, swords whatever, they come into your home looking for said contraband items. All the places mentioned above will be one of the first places the Government will look for. Why? Because those that will be conduction these searches will be experts in searching for items hidden. They will look in the vents around your home. They will over turn your furniture to see if anything falls out. They will look in the attic and in your basement for anything and everything they can find. If your walls look like they might hide something they will knock on them to see if they sound true. They will even go out in the yard to see if there are any signs where there has been someone digging.
Why am I telling you this? Because in the Army we were trained to search homes in the middle east looking for weapons, communication devices and hidden compartments that could hide an insurgent or two.
Here is the best thing you can do and should do; First, create a hiding lace that is sound and out of the way. That is to say that if someone knocks on the wall it sounds like the rest of the house. You do this by putting in braces on the section of the movable wall with insulation to muffle the dull sound of the thud to make it sound solid. Next you need to beware of any cracks that may give your secret hiding place away or discolorization of the paint on the wall, (dirty hand prints or too much use.)
Second create a hiding place that will make someone to work hard at getting too or taking apart. That is to say that if it takes 15 to 30 minutes to get to or take apart chances are the searcher will move on to a more promising location or challenge. The smaller the hiding place the more likely they will over look it. Which leads me to number three, if you can dismantle your weapons and spread them around the house. It is better to lose a piece of a weapon than the entire weapon itself. This is why you should always have spare parts for anything and everything. Fourth, never put all your eggs in the same basket. Remember, they are searching for contraband, give them something to find. Expect them to find something, just make sure it is something you can afford to lose. This will stroke their egos making them feel that they found out what you were trying to hide. Then they will go away thinking that they succeed in their task. Fifth, if hiding food, weapons or other contraband find a location that isn’t a location normally used or found for that item(s). For example, a hidden compartment in your bathroom, under the bathroom sink. A compartment behind a heavy china cabinet where by the cabinet is securely latched to the wall, (to prevent earthquakes or from being toppled over by children). Remember you want to give the appearance that it is unlikely being used and difficult at getting to. Lastly, if they come to search your place give them a small taste of what they are looking for by telling them that your food is in the cupboard in the kitchen and a few cans in the garage. Hide all evidence that you can your food, you hunt or shoot. This includes ball caps, shirts, pants, and even your boots or shoes.
When searching a compound in Iraq, I found a shell casting. This told me and my detail that there were weapons and ammo somewhere in or on that compound. We searched long and hard and we found their secret hiding place, near a cesspool out back. Believe me when I say no one wanted to get their hands dirty. We also found parts on AKA-47 all over the place, inside as well as outside the home.
So think outside the box and have three places to get your items, soft, hard, and difficult.