When SHTF, every single level of society will be brought to its knees, from the electric grid, to banks and the economy, to the rule of law itself. As such, it’s important to prepare for the lawlessness that will inevitably come with a nationwide collapse, and take precautions so that you and your family have the best chance of survival. Crime will run rampant. Looters will be breaking into businesses and homes to steal supplies, killing everyone that stands in their way. Thankfully, there are ways that you can cache, hide and camouflage your personal property to keep them out of the hands of looters.

Keep your mouth shut

Whether its building a bunker in your backyard or simply using your garage to store extra food and supplies, you should always try to keep quiet about what you are doing to prepare for SHTF on your own property. Lie to your neighbors and friends if you have to, and always refrain from posting pictures or videos of your stash on social media. Letting the entire world know that you are stocked up and prepared to survive a large-scale crisis scenario is nothing but an invitation for looters and people that would do you harm, so keep your prepping practices quiet. (Related: Here’s how to repackage your survival food for long time storage.)

Protect yourself and hide your property

As Chris Black of Survivopedia put it, in a SHTF situation, “you’ll be on your own, at least temporarily, and your family will depend upon you for food, protection and shelter. Obviously, we all hope that day will never come, but it’s better to be prepared for the worst-case scenario while hoping for the best.” One way that you can hide your property is by building a tactical wall, which Black describes as a “hidden compartment used for storing… anything, ranging from guns and ammo to food and other valuables.” You can also make your own concealed shelf or storage compartment inside of your stairs, both of which can also be used to hide items from looters in SHTF situations.

The website SurvivalSullivan.com lists a number of additional places where you can store and hide your firearms, including inside of a fake air vent, inside of a hallowed out or fake book, inside of fake pipes that run throughout your house, inside of thick picture frames, inside of a computer monitor with a smashed glass, in the back of the bed of a pickup truck, and dozens more. The idea is to get creative, and find spots to hide your personal property in places where looters would never think to look. (Related: Here’s how to prepare for survival with limited storage space.)

Hide your property in plain sight

It’s worth noting that in a SHTF situation, looters might not be the only ones breaking into your home and searching for your supplies. If martial law is enacted, then you may also have to hide your stash or your firearms from government agents as well, most of whom will be highly trained in finding what they’re looking for. They will likely know all of the cliché hiding spots around your house and go straight for the them the second they walk inside. This is why sometimes, it’s best to just hide your items in plain sight.

Bob Rodgers of PreppersWill.com elaborated on this concept further in a June 2016 article: “You can take a gun apart and hide it in a deep shelf behind rusty old tools, and people won’t notice it,” he explains. “You could hide it under a rusted truck or in a broken car that hasn’t left the property in years. Hide your gun parts at the bottoms of toolboxes or in junk drawers.”

Ultimately, hiding your cache and firearms comes down to two things: creativity and imagination. If you can think of places that no other person would think to look, then you will successfully protect your property from looters and give you and your family the best chance of survival.

Sources include:

Survivopedia.com

SurvivalSullivan.com

PreppersWill.com