Keep your preparations private (OPSEC)
Stores of food, fuel, power and cash can make a house a target in a long crisis. Protect the information as well as the things.
How
- Never broadcast stock levels, absences or where supplies are kept. Amateur radio cannot be encrypted: US rule 47 CFR 97.113 bans messages encoded to obscure their meaning (comms-4).
- Do not post photos of the safe room, safes, solar and battery banks, fuel or food stores (secure-12).
- Do not advertise that the house is empty. Victorian crime prevention advice warns against posting holiday plans on social media.
- Keep the inventory (secure-17) private, stored with your documents.
- Agree with neighbours what may be said on shared radio channels and group chats.
- In a long blackout, think about light and noise: a running generator or the only lit window in the street shows you have power. This is common practice, not a published rule.
Do these first
Sources
- 47 CFR 97.113: Prohibited transmissions. Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School, accessed 2026-11
- Holiday burglary prevention checklist (Preventing burglaries during holidays). Crime Prevention Victoria, Victorian Government, accessed 2026-11
- Keeping your belongings safe. Avon and Somerset Police (UK), accessed 2026-11