Moving around after TSHTF

[NorthernRaider]

Moving around after TSHTF
© NR 2013

Once TSHTF if it goes big style the noise levels and amount of people moving around will eventually drop right off. Once the sheeple are out of petrol, delivery trucks, buses, taxis stop running its going to get quieter, no more lawn mowers, no more strimmers or pressure washers , probably far few barking dogs, less kids roaming, no aircraft overhead and the last of the refugees has moved on through it’s going to get much quieter and this is going to have two effects on you.

First it’s going to have a psychological effect as the silence itself can be very disturbing and intimidating, some people start to hear phantom noises and think people are hiding or watching them from concealed places (cammed up preppers?) This overwhelming all-encompassing silence can drive some people mad. You need to learn to live with natures natural noise levels and let your hearing adapt to the new background levels, it could save your life if an odd but faint noise raises the hairs on your neck. You will begin to trust in your animal instincts again.

Second you are going to have to learn how to move and operate much more quietly than you currently do. That good ole reliable Goretex waterproof you go everywhere in. It rustles nonstop with every move you make and it makes an audible unnatural noise. Those iron segs in your brogues are a dead giveaway, those business shoes clippy clop down the street, suddenly there is no traffic noise to drown out the noises you make just waking.

Also as traffic and moving vehicles become rare events your peripheral vision is going to become far more alert to anything moving around, as is everyone elses enhanced vision and hearing. If the streets are still not safe for normal daily activity you are going to have to adapt not only your walking style but how you move around overall.

You will walk slower with more purpose, you will pause frequently to listen, and you will try and remain either in the shadows or easy reach of shelter or an escape route. You are going to need to become the deer in a forest full of wolves using your senses to keep you safe.

You will adapt or you will die, you will find you always ensure your hands are free to fight or draw a weapon, your eyes will constantly scan the environment, your ears will act in conjunction with your nose to act as early warning radar, and your gut feeling will no longer just be a hunch.

OK so how can you take some steps to preparing yourself to this new world?
Well one method I have practiced for many years is on occasion and during every time of weather, warm sunny dry, windy, windy and raining, snowing, blizzard etc is getting up as soon as the sun comes up and going for a walk around the village in the early hours when there is little or no traffic around. It is amazing how much more quiet it is and you will be surprised just how noisy your walking pace and clothes may be. I’ve even done it on Boxing day morning at 3 AM on a cold winters night to see how much noise my feet made on the snow, ice etc and how long it took for the drifting snow to cover my trail.

I often take a walk down quiet paths and country lanes to see how changing my walking style can reduce the noise and just how close to the cattle and horses and odd deer in the field I can approach down the lane before they react to me.
Try if you can to find time to practice moving around in an environment that is without the normal noises humanity and its devices make.