Have recently been reading a lot of books by former tier 1 guys and I’ve noticed a common theme amongst them is the ideal that facial hair is quite an asset in terms of blending into a populous and in terms of quickly changing ones appearance in the event a bug out e&e situation is necessary.
Michael Yon, despite what a total doucher and complete waste of life he is, sort of got me thinking with his book Danger Close (of which I read an excerpt online for free and did not pay for, just to reiterate that I did not supply Yon with any funds for spreading his propaganda).
And as so, I’ve stopped shaving completely and have abstained from hair cuts for the time being. In the event a situation arises where I’m on the run, I think this could be pretty helpful in terms of altering my appearance by shaving my face, cutting and dying my hair, and changing clothes. So as such, I now keep a bottle of blonde hair dye, and electric clippers in my bug out bag.
I understand not everyone is able to do this due to grooming standards and job regulations, but if you were able, what do you think of the idea? Just for an easy, free, shtf type of preparation?
It definitely provokes thought at the least. I think that you’re taking a bug out situation a little too seriously. Why would you need to change your appearance? In a SHTF situation I’m not going to be worried about being recognized, I’m going to be more concerned with making sure that I can take care of myself and any others that are with me.
Tinfoil is good thing! It means you’re alert and thinking ahead, you’re instincts are at work and you see danger ahead. “prior proper planning prevents piss poor performance”. Nothing wrong with thinking things through ahead of time. Just don’t go overboard. Some animals smell danger way before others! Keep thinking.
Depends. While the hair color change is a bit much, there’s 2 sides to this coin. You’ll have to know when to adapt. Tier I guys are on the offensive. In a shtf it’ll be primarily defensive except if you’ve failed to prepare and stock supplies and you’re in a marauding gang on the offensive.
Survival in a shtf even will be much about mental strength. Maintaining morale is a huge key to achieving this and one way to do that is to hold onto normalcy as much as is possible, shaving, grooming, haircuts, booze, stocking dessert items, & chocolate.
That said, if you “bug-in” and all your neighbors appear ragtag, it’s definitely a good idea to blend in and not appear to be the rich clean shaven one. If you have a bugout retreat and are some what isolated and well stocked then I’d say hold onto normalcy as much as is possible. It will give you an edge in every way mentally.
If you’re on the run or move and associating with other strangers (bartering etc), growing that beard or goatee can have an advantage. I know my wife prefers me without a goatee. She says I look meaner as many men do with one. I’m a big guy to begin with 6’2 230 and solid. A goatee and i look like a biker with short hair. Looking like somebody not to fuck with can be a definite advantage.
I would say this is more of a personal shtf situation than a broad scale, collapsed society type.
Someone looking for you, being hunted, etc.
Perhaps things went south in a bad situation and you needed to disappear in plain sight.
Just figure its better to have the option available when a situation arises that you didn’t really ever think of.
Maybe you were involved in a severe situation while you were traveling, and now the local law enforcement or lynch mod is tracking you with only a photo or description… I understand these are highly hypothetical but all shtf prep is based on hypotheticals.
This could hold true especially so for those traveling abroad…not just here in the US
This took a hard left turn. What the hell did you do Rascal? lol
The only possible situation I can think of that would put me in this situation if things totatlly fell apart, martial law, gun confiscation, POTUS decides he wants to be a dictator, civil war and I was part of the resistance and being hunted.
Other than that I’m a law biding citizen with no concerns of ever being on the run. I just don’t see it as ever being a possibility with me so planning for that is not something I’m concerned with.
I understand what you’re saying. I mean in no way a First Blood type of E&E, illegally evading the police.
But just think of it like perhaps you’re overseas on a trip, something happens, and you have to drastically change your appearance and make your way to exit the country. There are plenty of ways this situation may arise in today’s times.
Or even as you were stating earlier about looking a certain way, to ward off certain types. I’m 6’1 250lbs and ride a bike, so with a beard I look pretty foreboding, however, if need be one day I could easily groom it all up and throw on a new casual attire and blend into a completely different crowd.
At best, you’re probably talking about a highly theoretical advantage, since (a) those who would be coming after you for personal reasons would almost certainly be able to identify you anyway, and (b) any official agency that might be seeking you would have multiple tools at their disposal that could ID you based upon things that you simply cannot alter (DNA, biometrics, fingerprints …). It’s no longer a simple matter of buying some glasses, a new hat and getting a haircut.
Conceptually, I can see how one might watch a few suspense thrillers and find a logical underpinning to this, but in the real world, it’s all a bit silly. If we overlook the fact that you are presuming that you have become a fugitive or target of some sort (why was that, again?), we’re still left with the realization that changing one’s appearance is no longer a very effective way of deceiving a determined adversary. In the meantime, looking like an indigent or a hippy is probably a sure way of drawing even more attention to yourself, which sort of runs counter to your aims if “blending in” was the stated reason for going this particular route.
This one strikes me as long on good ideas, but short on having any actual usefulness or rational basis in fact. If you don’t want to be identified, then you have to be prepared to go entirely off the grid, or at the very least, move to a place where people do not know you. Personally, I’m still left wondering why I would ever have a reason to do either, as staying in place and defending one’s property and family seems to be a more likely (and less conspiratorial) “dire circumstances” scenario, but to each his own.
Finally, we need to keep in mind that relaxed grooming standards in the special operations world exist to afford these personnel greater access to the tribes and clans with whom they must work, and because it makes them less likely to be immediately identified as a military unit when they enter an operational area – not because they are looking for individual obscurity or looking to play the “master of 1,000 disguises” game. I’m not suggesting there is no place for individual disguises in certain ops, but I just don’t see how a pair of clippers and a bottle of hair dye is going to get the job done here; especially if you’ve already drawn attention to yourself by going with the Mountain Man look in middle America.
I appreciate your post, and would say I agree 100% with all that you said, just something I figured might be of some advantage at some point, however unlikely the situation.
Strive to be average in the environment you’re in. Whether CONUS or overseas. It’s as simple as that.
It isn’t about any single variable. If you truly want to blend in somewhere, wear local clothes. Eat local food. Carry local stuff. Groom yourself as locals do. Watch their behavior, mannerisms, and social customs. Speak the language (if applicable) as passably as you can, or at least learn common greetings and pleasantries.
Be aware that trying to blend in too much if you’re not the right fit will make you stand out even more.
When moving, act like you know where you’re going and what you’re doing, and move with purpose.
Know the difference between clandestine and discreet.
Being neatly dressed, neatly groomed, behaving with discretion, and minding your business go a long way…everywhere.
interesting perspective for sure and honesty does make sense for some in that group ? and if you are over seas on missions etc… but does it hold anything for people here ?
not sure you ever had a beard but once you shave it the first few days you look like a guy who just shaved a big old beard and that alone is standing out
my perspective would not help me at all ?
having family I have to go back to etc… if someone wanted me ? well shaving a beard is not going to help they will know where I live etc…
otherwise if SHFT people are going to be to busy and so is authority organizations to go after some strange guy who thinks he did something that is so bad he had to change his appearance ?
good in a Jason Bourne kinda way though
my thought is never do anything to draw attention to yourself in the first place and just fit in and blend away from the beginning
I have read every book by Ashida Kim so I am fully prepared for any of those situations.
:lol:
Personally I think it would be easier to maintain the clean cut and then go Dan Haggarty when on the run. Could also do the wigs and fake facial hair like Bruce Willis in The Jackal if you wanted to be very involved.
I call bullshit! Tinfoil isn’t good. It means you are paranoid. Having situational awareness and proper planning is one thing…tinfoil, well that is just a reason you should seek counseling and medication.
When you lose sight of yourself and place too much effort in shit that amounts to well…shit you need to evaluate exactly what or why you are doing in the first place.
PS a goatee doesn’t make you look mean, it is perception. Standing out draws more attention to you. More distinct physical markers make it that much easier to track/find you. Shaving a beard off to change appearance makes you look exactly like others have said. A guy who just shaved a beard.
My experience has been to attempt to blend in as best I can OCONUS w/ the indigenous wherever the AO I’m operating in has been.
I have changed eye color w/ contacts, hair/beard color etc.
imo, America has more of a cross section of ethnicities/cultures/races etc than just about anywhere I can think of.
Certain traits (identifiers) are crucial for establishing/vetting identity. I’m a thick muscular guy and it’s very difficult to hide that. Even in Trashcanistan/Iraq if I wore “Mufti” it still looks like “Omar the Tent maker” is my tailor. Translated, physical stature/attributes is/are difficult to disguise.
I took an urban escape and evasion course taught by Kevin Reeve/OnPoint Tactical. As some have noted here, I’m not sure how applicable it is to any situation most of us would encounter in the US, but it’s an interesting thought exercise. If you are truly worried about such a scenario, it might be worth signing up for the class.
A few of the things that came up during class:
[ul]
[li]Take a baseline of any environment you’re in. Are people walking in pairs, alone, are their hands in their pockets, behind them. What else are they carrying, backpacks, briefcases, something else? If OCONUS, keep in mind that frequently Americans mark themselves out because they move so much faster and with more purpose than other cultures.[/li][li]Layer dark/light clothes. Frequently descriptions will end up being fairly generic and it’s very useful to go from one extreme to the other.[/li][li]Go the opposite direction of what you are naturally: light haired/skinned, dye your hair darker, use makeup to make yourself more darkly complected[/li][li]If traveling overseas, take nothing with you but the clothes on your back. You may think you blend in with the clothes you brought from home, but you don’t. First thing upon getting off the airplane, go to a local clothing store and buy all new clothes.[/li][/ul]
There are a lot of other things were covered in the class that were not directly pertaining to disguise: use of caches, lockpicking, getting out of flexicuffs/handcuffs, etc.
The final day was a field exercise in which we were handcuffed and hooded and had to evade capture as we made our way through the city (for me this was in Seattle). This involved caching changes of clothes, etc and changing our appearance as other participants hunting us had our descriptions. Again, I did it more for the sake of entertainment and I don’t think I’ll ever need these skills, but they’re not bad skills/knowledge to have IMO and if you really are worried about this kind of thing, it’d probably be worthwhile.
and honesty does make sense for some in that group ? and if you are over seas on missions etc… but does it hold anything for people here ?