Friends!

[Midnitemo]

I have learned a very valuable lesson today...my oldest and dearest friend and his family live 120 miles away nestled in the lee of the Malvern hills....last time I visited(about 3 months ago) I decided to let them in on my secret...much wine flowed much piss taking was done and generally a good night was had by all...when I left I figured maybe I'd planted a seed in there mind's but probably not judging by how much they mocked ... oh well no harm done as they don't live close enough to be an issue and don't know anyone who does...opsec preserved I thought! not as it turns out...got outted today on facebook with a couple of flippant remarks about "the man who's ready for doomsday"..."got £50 of candles" and one or two other posts in the same vein...not sure how long the posts were up but I've deleted them now...most of my facebook friends who could have potentially seen the posts do live close enough to be an issue! so be very carefull out there, loose lips and all that

[NorthernRaider]

Never blow your Opsec to people you know unless you are sure they wont blow your cover or stab you in the back. You can pick your friends but pick em wisely, I also got burnt recently by someone I leant books too and even welcomed into my home, so we are all vulnerable to fair weather friends.

[Devonian]

Ummm, FaceBook, don't you love it - NOT!!

[Hex]

the problem with admiting to anyone what you do reguardless of if its just prepping is that once they have that info they can use it against you.

[Midnitemo]

The Shocking thing is this is my very best friend of over 40 years standing...just who can you trust?...maybe I should have pointed out to them at the time that this was not for public consumption(I figured that much was obvious)...in fairness it was the wife and not my mate.

[Hex]

thing is i dont think some people realise just how serious we take this. i think some just see it as a bit of a joke and that being a ''prepper'' just means we have a few extra tins of beans and a couple of extra candles. they dont seem to relise that just the suggestion of you having something that others might need in a desperate situation could get you killed.

[Skean Dhude]

I'm with Hex. A pal of 40 years standing can keep secrets but women like to talk about things. Perhaps if you had spoken to him alone and mentioned about it being kept low key.

Perhaps a few jokey comments on facebook about having enough in for a week makes you a doomsday prepper may deflate the issue.

[CharlesHarris]

The best advice I can offer re Facebook and other social media is to avoid them.

I am reminded of an old WW2 poster which was carefully preserved and framed on the cafeteria wall of my former workplace:

THE ENEMY IS LISTENING!

HE wants to know what YOU know.

KEEP IT TO YOURSELF!

[Hex]

ah but the problem is even if you avoid social media that dosent stop others from telling everyone what they know.

[Scythe13]

That's crazy! Only £50 worth of candles?!?! There's no way they can really think you're a prepper with only that amount of candles haha.

On a serious note, best to just chat about a zombie apocalypse with a joking tone, or say about the film The Road, like my friend did to me. That's the best way to gauge reaction, I've found. Then proceed with caution.

The thing is mate, if your 'facebook friends' did see that, they probably think they know you well enough to say it's bollocks and you don't have any doomsday stuff. Acting against it will just draw suspicion.

A lesson well learned though.