Safety in Night time activities
07/22/02
by RijilV

I've been out plenty of times with people for late night acts of
espionage and recon, and one thing that has always struck me is the
either lack of thinking or over planning that goes into what one wears
and brings.

At somepoint you are either going to get caught in the act, or in
transit. What you are dressed like and have with you makes a big
difference in the latter.

We'll start off with what not to bring. Don't bring your drugs or
paraphernalia, as cool as it would be to bust into XXX and smoke a
dewbie, it is just a bad idea. Keep in mind local laws regarding the
length of a knife, and stay within them, in general don't carry weapons,
it makes you look very suspisious.

Stay away from those big 4 - 6 cell mag lights, I know they're cool and
whatever, but a good headlamp is really want you want,
http://www.bdel.com/rockclimbing/headlamps_moonlight.html

I've scene them for cheaper in local stores, but thats a good idea of
what it is. Provides just enough light, is very small and hands free.

Gloves, if you live in a place that is cold you are in luck, otherwise
try to come up with a gimmick that explains why you have gloves. If you
bike in, grab yourself some of those very silly hardcore dirk-biker
gloves that cover the whole hand. Don't tote around latek gloves unless
you've come up with a damn good reason why you have them.

Transportation is another concern, don't pull up infornt of your target
and park your car. Walking in is ideal, try to find a place to park your
car that either no one will see it or somewhere that is common for
people to be parking (a bar's parking lot is good as people often leave
their cars there because they get a cab). If you have a bike use it,
make sure you strip the reflectors off of it, otherwise those things
light up like an Xmas tree when car lights hit them, even behind a bush.
If you do bike, learn how to go down stairs. It isn't so hard, you'll
probably want to drop your seat, and when you go down a flight of stairs
lean over your back tire. With a bit of practice you'll beable to take
any set of stairs.

Black is not the best idea. Depending on where you are, its probably one
of the worst colors you can wear. If you are in an urban enviroment,
dress in greys. Out in rural areas browns and even greens are a good
idea. Don't go around wearing some urban camo you picked up at your
local army surplus store; the idea is NOT to look like a terrorist. It
is also a good idea to have a set of clothes either already on or in a
bag that you can quickly change into. Pants that have zip off legs that
convert to shorts are great, as are shirts that have snaps in the front.
You can pick up all of your clothing needs at second hand shops, which
is a good idea because whatever you wear will get ripped somewhere down
the line. Also know your area. If you are in a high class neighbor hood,
don't dress up like a homeless kid, however if you're in the heart of a
large city, dressing trashy is desirable. In general take a look at
where you want to be, and dress just like it looks. Wearing all black is
suspis ious and you'll stand out, remember even at night a city is quite
bright compaired to the country, where you could get away with wearing
much darker clothing.

Having a hat either on or available is a good idea as well if you need
to change your appearance fast. If you smoke, grab smokes. People
smoking outside is a more common occurance and people just standing
there for their health. Keep in mind don't sit there and smoke a pack of
cigs and drop all the butts in the same place..

Bags. As I said before, try to get something other than black, it stands
out against the greys of buildings at night and draws attention. It is
hard to find a non-black bag thou. Whatever it is, make sure you can
tear off any reflective strips or black them out. Try to get a bag you
can run with, or that you really don't care if you ditch it somewhere.

Tools. Its amasing what you can do with a good multi-tool. Try to bring
as little as possible...I've scene people bringing a full set of
wrenches, screwdrivers, 4ft crowbar, metric and US socket wrenches...its
silly. Feel free to case whatever it is out first and get a good idea of
what you'll need, but don't bust up in a place with enough tools to
start your own car repair place. Typically a good pair of wirecutters, a
multi-tool, a STREET-LEGAL knife, and a good vice grip is all you'll
really need. Those multi-tool vice grips are good too, but you'll
probably want two tools to undo a bolt and nut. Remember tools like
hacksaws and hammers make lots of noise, and can take an awful long
time. Its surprising what you can cut through with wirecutters. Some
people suggest tin-snips, you could go with them, I've just had a number
of really crummy pairs that sucked. Better luck with the wirecutters.

Radio gear. Scanning for police isn't the worst idea, but you're going
to toting around this expensive radio gear, that if nothing else is
incrimidating as all hell if you are caught. Cell phones can be used,
but turn off the ringer (I shouldn't have to say that, but I know that I
do). If you are amature radio licenced you can cary your radio with you
and tell whatever cop to shove it up his ass, otherwise those talkabouts
would work.

Shoes. Wear something comfy that you can run in. Don't wear sandals.
Don't wear the SuperGoth-Steel-Toed-Knee-High boots. A good pair of
sneakers that you don't give a rats ass about. Something you don't wear
everyday, and if you can get a pair of used sneakers. I know that sounds
a bit wack, but if you do something really stupid (or glorious) they'll
be looking at track marks you left behind, and if the shoes were used,
well yeah. Might as well make it hard on them.

Whatever you bring with you, keep in mind you might be forced to ditch
or destroy it later. If you hear that something you did is being
invistigated, burn all the clothes you wore that day (shoes, hats,
undies), mark-up the surfaces of all the tools you brought and get rid
of them. And don't go back down there!

Anyhow, just some ideas..