Biggest OPSEC fails ever??

During a rare moment of watching TV I saw this story while on Sky news here in the UK. Basically a guy with some 'prepping' advice videos on Youtube has gone on national news to describe what he's got, and even showing his stores of buckets under the stairs. Everyone who knows him or lives on his street are now sure of exactly which house to go to first. What a stupid move:

news.sky.com...

Imagine this ... Ebola has broken out in the UK, there's rioting in the streets and food is scarce.
Well that's the scenario Luke Edwards plays out in his YouTube video on how to survive an Ebola pandemic. It lasts almost 20 minutes and has received over 15,000 hits.

Luke is what is known as a prepper - a member of a rapidly growing community in the UK, who as the name suggests, are prepared for all kinds of different catastrophes whether it be flooding, disease, a terrorist attack or the collapse of society.

Clearly I think the guy has been a fool to himself and his family, so what are your thoughts, and please do share any other general OPSEC fail stories you know about...I reckon this guy has to be in the worlds top ten though. lol

a reply to: grainofsand

In my opinion telling anyone you don't already have plans to shelter about your prepping activity is a big OPSEC fail. If you don't want them to show up begging MREs then don't tell them you have MREs... right?

a reply to: CagliostroTheGreat Totally agree, only a muppet would take that risk.

We had that kind of prepping in the 1980's, when home-owners genuinely feared nuclear attack. There was a video on how to survive the dangers of radioactive fallout "Protect and Survive". I knew our friends sent off for free catalogs from underground bunker construction companies to bio-hazard suits for the whole family, as they showed them to us.

Completely daft to go on TV like that. Should move out to the countryside if he were that serious, and get the whole kit, deep freezers, power generators, fuel tanks.

a reply to: stormcell
Guess he just wanted his fifteen minutes of fame...I wonder if he'll live to regret that one day.

I understand why this is a security problem, but you have to consider how a scenario would play out. People probably won't initially panic. They will expect things to be "fixed" and go back to normal for at least a day or two, as opposed to everyone freaking out immediately. Of course it depends on what the event is, but there are many situations that would develop a bit more slowly. This would give this man plenty of time to escape. Now if he was planning on hunkering down in his house then the risk is much greater. I think erring on the side of caution is the best bet. But another consideration is whether someone is making money from discussing their plans, like a television show or something like that. Then it would definitely be more of a trade-off. It is hard to understand why someone would divulge their personal plans for no reason whatsoever, I mean if there is not any gain at all.

SOMEBODY will remember the show though, as mentioned, likely his neighbors. So while calling attention to prepping is a good idea, he's also painted himself as a target.

I share preps anonymously with anonymous people in prepper forums, but even if they figure out who and where I am, chances are, they are hundreds of miles away from me, so not really a big worry come SHTF. Thing is, by doing so, I've learned a lot more than if I never did. However, I shared anonymously, as do they.

breaking OPSEC is a no no, bad enough to tell all your family but complete strangers? that's just idiotic.

I always discuss bug out type stuff with people at work or friends, but whenever they ask about what I have my replies get vague. I never let them know how much food I have, where I am going to go, about any training I have or much else. The most specific I get is discussing guns I have and ammunition, and that is more of a deterrant than anything else. If they know I have 5 fully loaded guns within arms reach of my bed and a trained security dog (along with 12k+rounds) they tend to think that they would not wanna bother me in a shtf scenario. If they topic ever comes up I make it readily apparent that I have no intention of taking anybody who is not already on my "list" and anybody else would be killed on sight.


I used to be more open before I had someone tell their buddy what I had and the guy asked to see it at my house. Now I put up a wall to keep my family and mayself safe. I tend to keep people at a distance now anyways, gun rack in the truck and all.

On the contrary, come SHTF, I think we could always use some more hands, as long as they abide the rules, contribute, and earn their keep, we're all good. The more we have, the more folks we have working in the gardens, guarding, and out hunting/scavenging.

problem is, they are going to be strangers that just had the luck to survive, if I don't know them, spent time or worked with them pre SHTF, then I don't trust them.....and they can sling their hook thank you very much.

a reply to: bigpaul
Agreed.
The circle of friends I trust right now in 'normal' times are the same folk I'd trust in any challenging society situation.
I won't be making new 'friends' who haven't planned for themselves, and certainly won't advertise what food I may have stashed away. I'd even join government/Red Cross lines for food aid or whatever just to appear as desperate as everyone else if the situation needed it...then munch my supplies at home, in secret.

the amount of people I trust now is about 3, and I have known them for 35 years, post SHTF that number isn't going to increase.

a reply to: bigpaul
My number is 5 close friends who I absolutely trust after between 10 and 20 years of friendship, everyone else is an associate/friend, and although I love everyone in my social circle, trust is what makes the difference.

I'm looking forward to Christmas dinner at my most trusted male friend's home this week, can't wait to be honest as always an amazing meal, but if any SHTF situation happened in our little patch of the UK then he, and the other 4 trusted mates are the only ones I'll be hooking up with.
We know what benefits we offer each other...and we keep it to ourselves.

trust is going to be in short supply post SHTF, trust the wrong person and its all over.

Didn't say there weren't going to be protocols to follow, before such trust was earned... I could easily have someone come in and put them to work while still not trusting them.