Under the radar or just don't stick your head up.

[Skean Dhude]

Scythe is right in one way and wrong with another. There is a norm that is accepted and people that drop below or above that show up on the radar. However, that isn't the full story and the government is inept. It screws up everything it touches. So they don't really have the time, resources or inclination to go trawling through your records. They rely on the forms themselves to do it. Thus banks have to report large cash transactions. Scrap merchants need id to recieve cars. Businesses need to verify id before employment and get people checked at their cost. The government puts the load onto business as unpaid work.

So if you are that bothered then use that. Don't get a FAC or SGC, don't register as a Ham, don't register with Greenpeace or the Save the Hospital fund, don't sign on line petitions or register for a political party.

Apply for several credit cards and spread the load. Pay cash for the more contraversial stuff and consider buying in small quantities where it is unusual. Be careful who you talk to and never talk politics, it always leads to arguments and people remembering you.

Remember that people are stupid and vindictive even those you know and one day they can turn on you. One word to the authorities and you are on the radar. There are people who delight in screwing up other peoples lives. I have two of those in my street, one a traffic warder, and they are top of my shit list.

This unfortunatly makes it difficult to prep in any groups at all. You never know who is legit and who is not. You have to rely on your instincts and the jails are full of people who trusted others. In fact it seems to me that 99% of the hitmen in this country are undercover coppers.

So stay under the radar and prepare that way. Stay safe.

Here are two questions.
1) What are you preparing for? Our biggest concern is economic collapse at the moment but it isn't the only thing. Economic collapse may make Plod come around and take your registered weapons and ham gear but what else will it do? They don't have the time to analyse your spend across all your accounts to identify you are hoarding or not. They may take the easy kills, FAC, SGC, etc but they might not even have the time for that for any other type of event.
2) How high do you think preppers rate? Plod currently take a a massive haystack and sift it. By the time they include all the false positives, FAC holders, members of political organisations and the million and one others that they have marked as of interest that pile isn't really that much smaller. So they will then use other methods to profile, tried and trusted methods such as who is a member of this organisation and has been actively protesting and so on. That isn't likely to be us.

So, IMO, and it is just that the advantages of a FAC, SGC are that you can practise and use them now and there is no certainty that they will be taken away. If they do you gambled and lost. You can stay of the radar for politics and keep away from riots and stop filling in political forms. Use OPSEC to buy your preps. Use multiply paying methods and watch what you do. Don't make suggestions about killing people on web sites or twitter. Don't even say things that are factually correct but not PC. It doesn't look good and gets you on the more important lists.

As far as making friends on here. You have to make up your own mind but as long as you stay within the law and don't tell them your full preps then you will be fine. Make arrangements with them, meet up. You are not doing anything wrong.