New member. Many questions.
Posted: Sun Sep 17, 2023 9:54 am
Hello. I'm a new member here.
And I have quite few questions to ask. For the most part I started a semi-competant "op" in my small town.
The issue is I combined it with the experiences of my background (geocaching, lockpicking/lock manipulation, night exploration/late night driving, etc) and I just arrived back home to write about my experiences.
So for the most part I went out to look for a nearby cache and found it after a few minutes. I was dressed in my streetwear
( thin grey sweater, blue jeans, mexican style leather boots, black cap and a blue corded pack that I carry around my normal and "night" EDC). It was a dark parking lot, since the cache was a LPC. Found the Cache and did what is normal with those things
Soon after a biker from a casino across the street of my location, literally drove over to my side of the area and parked a few feet from me. I did look a bit sketchy do to the time and area. So I couldn't return the cache without casuing more suspicion.
I decided to wander off in the opposite direction of the cache sight and had to detour a plaza in a local market only to round back to my original spot, this took around 10 or 15 minutes before I hear the biker start up his bike and drive towards the area I just walked around for the last couple minutes.
Maybe he was looking for me or was curious about me. Who knows. But I had to hide in the shadow of a large container that you see in ship yards and had to watch him drive around a bend back onto the highway heading into town.
From there, I made my way back to the original cache spot, returned the item and made my way back to my vehicle. Where the second part of this story begins.
I drove to a nearby park that is barren during the night. I recon the spot a bit before I head in and the main objective here was to pick a lock that I could find and once that was done returned it to normal operations and head home to reassess.
Found a master lock #1 and I theorized it was a 4 pin lock. So once I got my tensioner and short hook to start SPP. I had some resistance with the lock probably being old and/or rusty from the inside.
The park was well lit but again no soul in sight. So my paranoia that I was being watched or recorded and the fact that the damn lock would not open up I decided to call it a night until I got a better plan instead of this half cooked mess.
The bottom line is my questions for doing a proper night op.
1. Should I wear a mask or some form of identity obscuring to keep my face from cameras or being seen???
2. Clothing and shoes, what should I look for to better make me look inconspicuous but also normal to the average person I come across??
3. My pack is bright colored, should I get a dark colored one, is there some tape or paint or fabric to camouflage the color to a dark or mute tone. ( I know that clear skate tape can reflect light off certain camera)
4. What gear should I have to better succeed in my ventures.
5. Should I even carry lockpicking tools, for anyone that has picks or use bypassing items (covert companion, bump keys shim tools, etc) what do you recommend.
I can't think of what else at the time to ask, but if I have anymore questions to tell I'll be back.
My experience in this venture shows that I had a limited success rate being the first time and not well-prepped.
Really any advice, tips, stories or so on would be appreciated.
Wish to make more ops later in the near future and hope to record them as a video lessons to process good and bad habits.
I've watched stealth technique on YouTube a while back and have just rewatched some of his videos. Where I came across the night op site and after seeing his videos and using some research I tried some of his techniques and hope to study more on the subject.
And I have quite few questions to ask. For the most part I started a semi-competant "op" in my small town.
The issue is I combined it with the experiences of my background (geocaching, lockpicking/lock manipulation, night exploration/late night driving, etc) and I just arrived back home to write about my experiences.
So for the most part I went out to look for a nearby cache and found it after a few minutes. I was dressed in my streetwear
( thin grey sweater, blue jeans, mexican style leather boots, black cap and a blue corded pack that I carry around my normal and "night" EDC). It was a dark parking lot, since the cache was a LPC. Found the Cache and did what is normal with those things
Soon after a biker from a casino across the street of my location, literally drove over to my side of the area and parked a few feet from me. I did look a bit sketchy do to the time and area. So I couldn't return the cache without casuing more suspicion.
I decided to wander off in the opposite direction of the cache sight and had to detour a plaza in a local market only to round back to my original spot, this took around 10 or 15 minutes before I hear the biker start up his bike and drive towards the area I just walked around for the last couple minutes.
Maybe he was looking for me or was curious about me. Who knows. But I had to hide in the shadow of a large container that you see in ship yards and had to watch him drive around a bend back onto the highway heading into town.
From there, I made my way back to the original cache spot, returned the item and made my way back to my vehicle. Where the second part of this story begins.
I drove to a nearby park that is barren during the night. I recon the spot a bit before I head in and the main objective here was to pick a lock that I could find and once that was done returned it to normal operations and head home to reassess.
Found a master lock #1 and I theorized it was a 4 pin lock. So once I got my tensioner and short hook to start SPP. I had some resistance with the lock probably being old and/or rusty from the inside.
The park was well lit but again no soul in sight. So my paranoia that I was being watched or recorded and the fact that the damn lock would not open up I decided to call it a night until I got a better plan instead of this half cooked mess.
The bottom line is my questions for doing a proper night op.
1. Should I wear a mask or some form of identity obscuring to keep my face from cameras or being seen???
2. Clothing and shoes, what should I look for to better make me look inconspicuous but also normal to the average person I come across??
3. My pack is bright colored, should I get a dark colored one, is there some tape or paint or fabric to camouflage the color to a dark or mute tone. ( I know that clear skate tape can reflect light off certain camera)
4. What gear should I have to better succeed in my ventures.
5. Should I even carry lockpicking tools, for anyone that has picks or use bypassing items (covert companion, bump keys shim tools, etc) what do you recommend.
I can't think of what else at the time to ask, but if I have anymore questions to tell I'll be back.
My experience in this venture shows that I had a limited success rate being the first time and not well-prepped.
Really any advice, tips, stories or so on would be appreciated.
Wish to make more ops later in the near future and hope to record them as a video lessons to process good and bad habits.
I've watched stealth technique on YouTube a while back and have just rewatched some of his videos. Where I came across the night op site and after seeing his videos and using some research I tried some of his techniques and hope to study more on the subject.