Seems like you've planned well - the only thing I disagree with is the massive use of black in your clothes. Keep the black pants and change that shirt to a dark blue, like RemadE suggested. Trust me, you'll blend in a LOT better. Maybe throw some greens and browns in as well, seeing as you're in the middle of nowhere.
If you have any camouflage, it would help you blend in a lot better with that sort of terrain unless you plan on walking in plain sight for any amount of time. Olive drab would also be a great choice.
What you said about thinking you had been seen but then the people just kept going happens so often, it's good to be on guard and prepared in case they really have seen you but it's amazing how often they actually don't. Keeping calm and staying still in situations like that makes all the difference.
Anyways, the load out looks strong. Should be easy pickings, your biggest liability will probably be your partners but this is as good an op to break them in with as any. Just make sure your driver isn't going to be seen and questioned at any point, any operation involving a car sitting usually makes the vehicle a weak point as well since it's rather difficult to hide one.
If Totse gets shitted up too badly or I get banned or something, there should be a mass exodus to that forum. Not that you shouldn't go there anyway - there are a lot of good resources there. Pity all the old threads got lost somehow though.
Awesome night op and post, Dak! It reminds me a lot of a time that I was out with my buddy and we found this water pumping station or something. There was a log-book in there, as well as a bunch of valves and other similar things to what you posted I think I posted that on here actually... *goes to find it*
A little trick for those magnetic switches. They emit a strong enough magnetic field that a good quality compass will pick up on them and the needle will point towards the switch continuously if you move it back and forth along the frame. If you don't have a compass that can get a read upside down, you'll need a mirror (on the underside of the lid works if you use that style) to read the face of it below if you don't have a way to get yourself up higher so you can see it. Try it out sometime on a switch you've got access to normally so you can see how it works, it's a handy trick that will keep you out of trouble or at least let you know that time is going to be limited inside.
A little trick for those magnetic switches. They emit a strong enough magnetic field that a good quality compass will pick up on them and the needle will point towards the switch continuously if you move it back and forth along the frame. If you don't have a compass that can get a read upside down, you'll need a mirror (on the underside of the lid works if you use that style) to read the face of it below if you don't have a way to get yourself up higher so you can see it. Try it out sometime on a switch you've got access to normally so you can see how it works, it's a handy trick that will keep you out of trouble or at least let you know that time is going to be limited inside.
Good to know, Thanks bro.
I am thinking of exploring the local telephone exchange building nearby. It's the size of a small garage but should be easy to get into.
As they are a normally closed circuit (Current flows through the switch when the door is closed) you could jumper the switch before opening the door so there is still a closed circuit although you need access to the inside of the building to do it. I'm not sure if using a magnet near it will keep the switch closed when the door is opened.
Circumventing a magnetic switch from the outside is an exercise in futility unless there's some brute force to go along with it. Simple as they may be, they're way too inconveniently located to jumper or even use a counterfeit magnet. The magnet on the door generally pulls - sometimes repels - the switch above into the closed position and since the gap between the door and the frame is inevitably tiny, there's no way to insert a magnet of your own unless you really tear things apart. Any other location besides directly under the switch, unfortunately, isn't good enough so keeping a magnet nearby anywhere else won't cut it.
I personally don't even mess with them. When possible, enter another way. If it's unavoidable, be ready to move quickly. There are methods of accessing the switch with tools from the outside but unless there's a big score inside that requires time to remove, it's not even worth the trouble.
Hypothetically, you could just barge through the door and jumper the wires quickly from the inside and hide your work so it's not noticeable without really examining the system up close. Then you could leave and watch the area from afar and wait for security to show up, do their thing, then leave. Unfortunately, where you took items last time it might not work out so smoothly. That's the shitty thing about theft in these matters. While you and I know you were just snagging harmless souvenirs, they don't. For all they know, someone is about to fuck up some serious shit. I caused some massive shit storms back in my day by grabbing computers. You wouldn't believe how paranoid people started getting about identity theft, protection, things like that. I was just refurbishing and selling them through an online store haha.
EDIT: By the way, is that power list a print off that was in there? Was there a machine inside it came from? It may be that the security system isn't entirely conventional which could open up options for you. I'm mainly wondering if there's not even a legit control panel inside, all the circuits just run elsewhere for that.
hmm its Halloween , think i'll go out for an OP tonights , there this one place i pass by ... building a new building . will see if i can come back with pix.
Not to flame or anything but what you guys call night ops the authorities call B&E. I keep expecting to click on this thread one day and see a pic like this.
Its fine when you are walking but when it comes to running from something I sweat like a kiddy fiddler outside a kindergarten . I do have some new, thinner gear on order though.
just went for a mission before. no particular goal really.
lessons learnt
- dont go out when its foggy, the fog blocks out the moon and you cant see anything.
- my tourch never went flat but bring spare batteries. you dont want to get stuck in the middle of the forest without a light.
- chill somewhere dark for half an hour to see better in the dark
equipment,
- beanie
- bum freezer , navy blue (military style jacket)
- dark green mole skins (pants)
- Mcdonalds crew shoes (chuck taylor style leather shoes, water, oil and slip resistant)
- olive green T-shirt
- pen tourch
diddnt really do anything, just spent the better half of an hour sitting on top of a bank watching, waiting. was hoping some cars would pass so I could learn what to listen for before its to late to hide for cover for when im walking up the road (bush is too dense to walk through on the sides).
I tend to wait for moonless nights to go opping. The moonlight makes it too easy to be seen particularity when moving across open ground. Here according to the sun/moon calendar on my GPS, the moon is setting just after midnight so I will normally go after it has set. I do op when there is a full moon but that isn't very often, I feel more at home in the darkness.
Unfortunately we are moving back toward the full moon on the 11th so I will be opping less. That reminds me, I did my first op during a full moon. It comes down to personal preference IMO.
chill somewhere dark for half an hour to see better in the dark
I meditate in the dark before an op. It helps clear my mind and helps me to adjust to the darkness. That and leave my GPS outside for 15 minutes to acquire satellites if it hasn't been used for a week or so. I find mine to be slow to acquire as it doesn't know what day or time it is (I store mine without batteries as they live in the charger). After that i'm good to go.
yeh another reason to not op when its foggy, thats if you have a GPS.
I was really guttered I could not find my balaclava anywhere, must be at my mothers house. oh well diddnt really need it anyway.
the other night I went to inspect a crashed car up the road from my house, all I got was a shiny gear nob. think it was stolen beacuse every wheel was different lol
A little titbit I may or may not have discovered last night:
During Autumn time leaf drop provides an extra "challenge" for rural night oppers. Silent movement around wooded areas at this time of year is seemingly possible. Not something I have a solution to at any rate.
During Autumn time leaf drop provides an extra "challenge" for rural night oppers. Silent movement around wooded areas at this time of year is seemingly possible. Not something I have a solution to at any rate.
It's not a complete, satisfying solution but there are special ways to walk across ground covered in leaves that really helps. The trick is to avoid stepping in a manner that crushes down on the leaves which not only produces the biggest noise output but also is more of a telltale walking sound. Instead, send the tip of your toes first into the leaves as you walk so it reaches hard ground with the least amount of shit in the way and then move your foot forward into the "hole" the creates. This should eliminate the crunching sound and replace it with leaves rustling as you push them forward. It's not totally silent but is still quieter and sounds more natural compared to the crunch - crunch - crunch of walking on top of the leaves.
The downside is that you'll leave a really obvious pathway for anyone to see where you went so you need to be judicious about using it in certain areas. Most of the time it'll be worth it near housing. Better they see someone was there later than to see someone there at night.
I discovered an old ass house for sale in my town I might have a look at soon as there is a ton of stuff left there by the previous owner that most people might label "junk" but there could be some value to be had in antiques and other rarities. I just need to find a suitable place to park as it's too far away to risk trying to go unseen the whole time. Fucking wish I hadn't sold my previous car sometimes since it was a lot quieter and blended in better. The new one is loud and conspicuous as fuck.
I love how they refer to it as "Illegal entry" I didn't think there was any other legal form of B&E. I might lay low for a week or so. Some of my new gear arrived today.
Tampering with pipelines? If they sensationalise that, then goes to show just how full of shit they are.
Bunch of twats. And yep, I agree with TDR's suggestion. That'd be some funny news :hai:
It's not a complete, satisfying solution but there are special ways to walk across ground covered in leaves that really helps. The trick is to avoid stepping in a manner that crushes down on the leaves which not only produces the biggest noise output but also is more of a telltale walking sound. Instead, send the tip of your toes first into the leaves as you walk so it reaches hard ground with the least amount of shit in the way and then move your foot forward into the "hole" the creates. This should eliminate the crunching sound and replace it with leaves rustling as you push them forward. It's not totally silent but is still quieter and sounds more natural compared to the crunch - crunch - crunch of walking on top of the leaves.
The downside is that you'll leave a really obvious pathway for anyone to see where you went so you need to be judicious about using it in certain areas. Most of the time it'll be worth it near housing. Better they see someone was there later than to see someone there at night.
I hadn't really thought of any of that, but you're right on the mark. A more time consuming method would be to crouch down and sweep the leaves aside with both hands, kind of like a breast-stroke out of water, and advance slowly doing this. This would increase the time it takes to traverse the leaf hazard and leave you in an exposed position for longer, but if you were to find yourself in a situation where silence was vital it could be the quietest way of continuing.
some kind of snow shoe might be your friend there, but idk its just an idea.
I think Psychlonic might be right in saying that most of the noise comes from the vertical 'crunching' pressure you exert of the leaves when stepping on them. Snow shoes would spread this pressure a little but you'd still be pressing down on the leaves. Also, they'd be a cunt to run in if you got caught somewhere you shouldn't be.
I wouldn't worry too much. It's only normal that what you've done is shown in police logs if you did anything noticeable. It's kind of good in a way because at least you know what they know. There's no possibility of thinking "Well, maybe they thought an employee was fucking around and..." or whatever. Plus considering some things are going to be seen no matter what such as that or theft, you might as well get clued in on what they know. Like you said, now you know not to mess about in that area until the heat dies down.
My worst antics earned me a side column on the front page of the local paper towards the bottom. Talk about pissing a lot of people off. I cooled down a bit in my area after that, it's a small region and I suppose I consider myself more of a community member now than an outsider. But yeah, you get published. The part where a lot of people fail is that they can't keep their mouth shut about it and just have to show all of their friends the news to try to impress them. You'll ("you" being anyone here in general) find that a lot of people are uneasy about that shit and someone will turn you in. No fame in this game.
You never fail to impress me with your ever better night ops stories, fuck yeah Daktologist! A couple of things though...
Kiosk hacking. You mentioned that the kiosk you found only had a letter / number on screen keyboard. In a lot of cases (not all), there will be a way out of the full-screen jail just for administrative purposes, such as double-tapping the screen in one of the corners, or something similar. I also noticed a button which says "Shutdown" - this could shutdown the application, or the whole system. Either way, you're breaking out of the full-screen jail. Give it a try if you ever go back there.
Also, dogs are total bitches (excuse the pun) on night-ops! I remember one time I was sneaking around locally and I was on my way back home. I had the choice of taking a street which was lit up by lamps, or to take a back alleyway which was submerged in darkness. Naturally I took the alleyway, only to find that halfway down I passed someone's garden which was being occupied by somebodies dog. The fucking thing started barking like crazy, which wasn't cool. The best thing I find you can do in these sitations is to get out of the area (don't leg it, or you'll light up to anyone looking in your direction), stick to the shadows and find someplace to lay low while the commotion dies down. Once the dog owner just assumes the dog was barking at a cat or something, you're safe to move again.
dogs are nothing! I was doing some recon at 3am this morning. I walked thorugh a paddock leading up to a collection of cell phone towers and other towers and buildings, this is why i was doing recon to find out. but I got half way there and a heard of cows went fucking ape shit. I grew up on the farm with cows and I never seen behaviour like it! the started grouping together while other cows where running around the paddock. I think the fuckers when preparing to charge!
so I fucked off home again
dogs are nothing! I was doing some recon at 3am this morning. I walked thorugh a paddock leading up to a collection of cell phone towers and other towers and buildings, this is why i was doing recon to find out. but I got half way there and a heard of cows went fucking ape shit. I grew up on the farm with cows and I never seen behaviour like it! the started grouping together while other cows where running around the paddock. I think the fuckers when preparing to charge!
so I fucked off home again
This is cattle's defensive position against a potential predator. They group the strongest on the outside of a circle and the young and weak on the inside. It's likely you've never seen it because during the day they know what you are and tend to settle down because they think they're going to be fed. At night they can't tell what you are and are scared. Horses in a field will sometimes similarly form a sort of "wall" and approach you, ready to stomp you with their hooves. It's pretty obvious when they are spooked because they'll make all sorts of noise and stomp around as if to say "don't fuck with me".
If you can't calm them down verbally for one reason or another, it's best to just leave. I've laughed to myself on more than one occasion how stupid it would be to get killed in a field and subsequently found dead. Imagine the headlines: Would-Be Burglar/Ninja/Assassin Thwarted by Livestock :facepalm:
Comments
What you said about thinking you had been seen but then the people just kept going happens so often, it's good to be on guard and prepared in case they really have seen you but it's amazing how often they actually don't. Keeping calm and staying still in situations like that makes all the difference.
Anyways, the load out looks strong. Should be easy pickings, your biggest liability will probably be your partners but this is as good an op to break them in with as any. Just make sure your driver isn't going to be seen and questioned at any point, any operation involving a car sitting usually makes the vehicle a weak point as well since it's rather difficult to hide one.
If Totse gets shitted up too badly or I get banned or something, there should be a mass exodus to that forum. Not that you shouldn't go there anyway - there are a lot of good resources there. Pity all the old threads got lost somehow though.
Well, fuck. I can't find it :facepalm:
Good to know, Thanks bro.
I am thinking of exploring the local telephone exchange building nearby. It's the size of a small garage but should be easy to get into.
I personally don't even mess with them. When possible, enter another way. If it's unavoidable, be ready to move quickly. There are methods of accessing the switch with tools from the outside but unless there's a big score inside that requires time to remove, it's not even worth the trouble.
Hypothetically, you could just barge through the door and jumper the wires quickly from the inside and hide your work so it's not noticeable without really examining the system up close. Then you could leave and watch the area from afar and wait for security to show up, do their thing, then leave. Unfortunately, where you took items last time it might not work out so smoothly. That's the shitty thing about theft in these matters. While you and I know you were just snagging harmless souvenirs, they don't. For all they know, someone is about to fuck up some serious shit. I caused some massive shit storms back in my day by grabbing computers. You wouldn't believe how paranoid people started getting about identity theft, protection, things like that. I was just refurbishing and selling them through an online store haha.
EDIT: By the way, is that power list a print off that was in there? Was there a machine inside it came from? It may be that the security system isn't entirely conventional which could open up options for you. I'm mainly wondering if there's not even a legit control panel inside, all the circuits just run elsewhere for that.
Yeah I understood where you came from
Its fine when you are walking but when it comes to running from something I sweat like a kiddy fiddler outside a kindergarten
lessons learnt
- dont go out when its foggy, the fog blocks out the moon and you cant see anything.
- my tourch never went flat but bring spare batteries. you dont want to get stuck in the middle of the forest without a light.
- chill somewhere dark for half an hour to see better in the dark
equipment,
- beanie
- bum freezer , navy blue (military style jacket)
- dark green mole skins (pants)
- Mcdonalds crew shoes (chuck taylor style leather shoes, water, oil and slip resistant)
- olive green T-shirt
- pen tourch
diddnt really do anything, just spent the better half of an hour sitting on top of a bank watching, waiting. was hoping some cars would pass so I could learn what to listen for before its to late to hide for cover for when im walking up the road (bush is too dense to walk through on the sides).
now begining to plan next mission.
Unfortunately we are moving back toward the full moon on the 11th so I will be opping less. That reminds me, I did my first op during a full moon. It comes down to personal preference IMO.
I meditate in the dark before an op. It helps clear my mind and helps me to adjust to the darkness. That and leave my GPS outside for 15 minutes to acquire satellites if it hasn't been used for a week or so. I find mine to be slow to acquire as it doesn't know what day or time it is (I store mine without batteries as they live in the charger). After that i'm good to go.
I was really guttered I could not find my balaclava anywhere, must be at my mothers house. oh well diddnt really need it anyway.
the other night I went to inspect a crashed car up the road from my house, all I got was a shiny gear nob. think it was stolen beacuse every wheel was different lol
During Autumn time leaf drop provides an extra "challenge" for rural night oppers. Silent movement around wooded areas at this time of year is seemingly possible. Not something I have a solution to at any rate.
It's not a complete, satisfying solution but there are special ways to walk across ground covered in leaves that really helps. The trick is to avoid stepping in a manner that crushes down on the leaves which not only produces the biggest noise output but also is more of a telltale walking sound. Instead, send the tip of your toes first into the leaves as you walk so it reaches hard ground with the least amount of shit in the way and then move your foot forward into the "hole" the creates. This should eliminate the crunching sound and replace it with leaves rustling as you push them forward. It's not totally silent but is still quieter and sounds more natural compared to the crunch - crunch - crunch of walking on top of the leaves.
The downside is that you'll leave a really obvious pathway for anyone to see where you went so you need to be judicious about using it in certain areas. Most of the time it'll be worth it near housing. Better they see someone was there later than to see someone there at night.
I discovered an old ass house for sale in my town I might have a look at soon as there is a ton of stuff left there by the previous owner that most people might label "junk" but there could be some value to be had in antiques and other rarities. I just need to find a suitable place to park as it's too far away to risk trying to go unseen the whole time. Fucking wish I hadn't sold my previous car sometimes since it was a lot quieter and blended in better. The new one is loud and conspicuous as fuck.
the cool thing about rural ops is if you know the area you can just march up close to your objective and go stealth from there
Most of my ops so far have been rural. I'm only just starting urban ops now.
Bunch of twats. And yep, I agree with TDR's suggestion. That'd be some funny news :hai:
Lol
Mostly its letters to the editor with people flaming one another. IRL zoklet in a way.
I hadn't really thought of any of that, but you're right on the mark. A more time consuming method would be to crouch down and sweep the leaves aside with both hands, kind of like a breast-stroke out of water, and advance slowly doing this. This would increase the time it takes to traverse the leaf hazard and leave you in an exposed position for longer, but if you were to find yourself in a situation where silence was vital it could be the quietest way of continuing.
I think Psychlonic might be right in saying that most of the noise comes from the vertical 'crunching' pressure you exert of the leaves when stepping on them. Snow shoes would spread this pressure a little but you'd still be pressing down on the leaves. Also, they'd be a cunt to run in if you got caught somewhere you shouldn't be.
My worst antics earned me a side column on the front page of the local paper towards the bottom. Talk about pissing a lot of people off. I cooled down a bit in my area after that, it's a small region and I suppose I consider myself more of a community member now than an outsider. But yeah, you get published. The part where a lot of people fail is that they can't keep their mouth shut about it and just have to show all of their friends the news to try to impress them. You'll ("you" being anyone here in general) find that a lot of people are uneasy about that shit and someone will turn you in. No fame in this game.
Kiosk hacking. You mentioned that the kiosk you found only had a letter / number on screen keyboard. In a lot of cases (not all), there will be a way out of the full-screen jail just for administrative purposes, such as double-tapping the screen in one of the corners, or something similar. I also noticed a button which says "Shutdown" - this could shutdown the application, or the whole system. Either way, you're breaking out of the full-screen jail. Give it a try if you ever go back there.
Also, dogs are total bitches (excuse the pun) on night-ops! I remember one time I was sneaking around locally and I was on my way back home. I had the choice of taking a street which was lit up by lamps, or to take a back alleyway which was submerged in darkness. Naturally I took the alleyway, only to find that halfway down I passed someone's garden which was being occupied by somebodies dog. The fucking thing started barking like crazy, which wasn't cool. The best thing I find you can do in these sitations is to get out of the area (don't leg it, or you'll light up to anyone looking in your direction), stick to the shadows and find someplace to lay low while the commotion dies down. Once the dog owner just assumes the dog was barking at a cat or something, you're safe to move again.
so I fucked off home again
This is cattle's defensive position against a potential predator. They group the strongest on the outside of a circle and the young and weak on the inside. It's likely you've never seen it because during the day they know what you are and tend to settle down because they think they're going to be fed. At night they can't tell what you are and are scared. Horses in a field will sometimes similarly form a sort of "wall" and approach you, ready to stomp you with their hooves. It's pretty obvious when they are spooked because they'll make all sorts of noise and stomp around as if to say "don't fuck with me".
If you can't calm them down verbally for one reason or another, it's best to just leave. I've laughed to myself on more than one occasion how stupid it would be to get killed in a field and subsequently found dead. Imagine the headlines: Would-Be Burglar/Ninja/Assassin Thwarted by Livestock :facepalm:
diddnt help they are bulling at the moment either.
It would be interesting.