So, you’re running from the state. Or pandemonium has just struck your local neighborhood and you need to get away or even just get back to your house. Another possibility, you’re in a foreign country and things just went tits up. Or perhaps you just pissed off the wrong person or the wrong group of people, and you need to get invisible fast. Basically, something has happened and you need to figure out how to stay alive another few hours, and maybe not be seen. Enter the grey man.

The grey man is a general term for anyone who is capable of hiding in plain sight, by tactics, equipment, and wit. A well executed grey man strategy includes: careful planning, consideration, and personal, situational, and environmental awareness. Originally called grey, because it blends in with the urban environment, the term can apply to anyone who can disappear relatively quickly without being molested too much. I’ve been looking into this particular subject for a long time, and many things I’ve looked into have been very useful to these ends, so I thought I’d take some time and tell you all about the best tactics that I’ve learned, front to back. I’ll be pulling heavily from some relatively good sources as well, citing people who I consider experts in this subject, as well as giving my addendums to what they say, and trying to condense what they’re saying into small enough chunks that it can be read in article form.

Considering the fact that this pandemic is happening,  and the further fact that many elitists in government and corporations want to use it as an excuse to control what you’re doing, it’s never a better time to hone your skills in this particular craft. You might never get a better chance to learn how this works than when the state has locked down entire regions, and made travel less convenient. Especially considering that right now you have people to go up against in both local PDs and the National Guard, not the least of which are people mobilized to the new “war effort” that they claim is afoot. Now, for legal reasons, I can’t actually tell you to do this, so take everything that I say in this article as a fictional suggestion. Maybe think of it like this: If you were writing a character who had to get away for one of the above stated reasons, or for another reason that I haven’t already mentioned, how would that character need to interact with the world in order to do what needs to be done? Well, let’s start with appearance.

You’ve got the look.

The first and most paramount form of human tracking right now is facial recognition, and the police state using head shots to track people. That’s why when you see a sketch on the news of somebody they want you to think is a bad guy, regardless of any evidence presented, it’s always of the face. The face is the prime identifier, and the eyes are the portal to the soul. So the first part of this section is going to be covering how to make your face and head region greyer.

A lot of people have noticed that I have long hair and a beard. This might seem like a cosmetic choice and admittedly, it originally was. I was in a relationship with someone who thought it looked good and I thought that could improve the relationship, so I kept it. We’re no longer together, but at the time I had started to get into hair metal, and various other sorts of music that long hair sort of comports with, so I kept it then for that reason, and only cut it once for a job that I didn’t end up getting. Never again. I did not look good.

But that aside, a lot of people ask me why I keep the hair if it makes me so identifiable. Well that’s one thing I could say is rule one of trying to be grey. Adaptability. If I only temporarily need to go grey, I can style the hair and beard in a variety of ways that might make me look different, not only to other people, but to their facial recognition grid, which is currently being bolstered by the virus and the response to the pandemic.

I can also briefly hide it, under a hat or various articles of clothing. This gives my look adaptability. When you think about these things, think that adaptability should be at the core of everything you’re doing. For instance, if I definitely needed to not only escape the area, but become an entirely different person I could shave the beard and hair and have almost a completely different look.

Well, let’s say you’re one of the normal men, or a woman who got a haircut designs to allow better access to managers, and you don’t have enough for this rapid change to take effect. You still have options. Thanks to dyes, head coverings like balaclavas (and more) ;you can still go grey by employing a variety of different styles, colors, and more, or simply by not showing your head at all. There’s going to be a section in this on clothing, but that comes later.

The main point is just try to be adaptable. And that brings up another point. If your head is bald, whether because you shaved it already or because of genes that remind you just how over the hill you are, you can still adapt, There are many possibilities from either wearing a head covering, or even getting a wig.

And just to get this out of the way before this comes up, yes I am taking a risk by having hair at this length, because the longer your hair is, the more likely it is that it will fall off. Leaving DNA evidence is a really good way to sacrifice your greyness. This can be mitigated by way of restraining the hair in one way or another and by covering the head and neck. But it’s still not the perfect tactical advantage and it’s generally rightly advised against. However, the bald look might make you more of a target before you’re even on the run, and it will certainly help facial recognition algorithms if you expose more contours on your face. Everything has benefits and drawbacks and you should find what works for you.

But that brings up another interesting point. The point is that facial recognition is a leading factor in the global surveillance superstate that’s being built. Last year, at Bilderberg, they went over the future of AI and China, specifically. This was likely to refine and develop China’s facial recognition super state for global use and also likely had something to do with the reason that a bunch of 5G satellites were launched. China 5G system already makes it extremely hard to go grey. And Clearview is only the beginning of domestic implementation of the same exact technology.

With facial recognition being pushed as an alternative to other identification measures, due to concerns about contact with potentially infected people, and due to the massive push by organizations like ID2020, directly affiliating themselves with Bill Gates funded vaccine alliances in order to form a global tracking system of facial recognition to track people who have or have not been vaccinated yet. And they’re likely to track them for everything else, too. There have been few better times to learn how to flout these cameras than right here and right now.

So, let’s start with basics. You might think a mask is good enough and that you’ll be able to get away with whatever as long as you’ve got something that covers your nose and mouth. Don’t believe this. They’ve already worked on the solution to this in China. There’s a long running history of people in East Asia masking themselves for a variety of illnesses and they already have the algorithms set up to detect faces properly with just eyes.

The likelihood is that if you go on with a full on balaklava and look like you’re ready to LARP for a real life reenactment of Indiana Jones, you’ll be considered suspect. So what do you do? Well, first you should know that facial recognition has a harder time tracking people who are close together.W  This means if you’re in a group, not social distancing, you have a much higher chance of going grey among a sea of faces. They only have at this moment enough accuracy to track faces if those faces are sufficiently distinct from others.

If it’s a sea of faces, the computer will have a harder time deciding who’s eyes, nose, and mouth it is. This is why companies like Landing AI are hard at work trying to figure out how to detect when people are or are not socially distancing and why the elites want this to be the new normal. The more you resist the elites by having community and gathering in groups; the less effective their technologies will be at tracking you, or even identifying you to begin with.

Let’s say you’re forever alone or you just don’t want to be near anybody who might get hurt because of what you’re involved in. What do you do then? Well, this is where it gets a little tricky, but not too tricky. There are many ways to foil these sorts of things on a personal level, and not all of them are comfortable. But to  lighten the mood after that first sentence, I’ll say that it appears that furries in fursuits seem to have a very easy time foiling facial recognition and regularly do so at conferences, and in public. So maybe you could get a fursona as your secret identity. Maybe a fursuit wouldn’t be as expensive a deal if it served a tactical purpose. Who knows?

If you want something cheaper and don’t mind dropping some money, there is little that can’t be said for a facial covering that mimics faces and eyes on its own. Something camo or perhaps something with very large spots that might make the camera think those are the eyes. It doesn’t really matter what you’re doing, you can never really go wrong with an oversized hoodie with a hood that extends a few inches in front of your face. If anyone asks, just tell them you’re a Luke Cage fan.

Or get one of those dumb jackets off of wish.com that make you look like a weeb or a guy addicted to the Assassin’s Creed series. There are many ways to do this and not all of them are for everyone. Of course, that’s why I left the best for last which is just putting extremely weird makeup on to try and fool the sensors that way. Think of a monarch butterfly with eye shaped patterns on its back to fool predators into thinking it’s a much bigger organism. That’s you, if you apply your makeup correctly.

If you don’t want to look like a piece of cubist or impressionist art work, you could just go for the Juggalo aesthetic. And of course, in this category few things beat a plain old mask. You could go with a V for Vendetta mask, that one from Mr. Robot, a masquerade mask, or hell, during these times, you could probably get away with a plague doctor mask and not turn too many heads.

To be completely serious though part of the point of going grey is not drawing attention to yourself. A lot of previous options are maybe more acceptable if you’re trying to blend in with that particular crowd. If you’re just trying to blend into a normal environment, you should go with something low profile and not easily noticeable, ideally matching the color scheme of your surrounding environment.

This brings me to clothing as well where you should have things that meet a minimum of three rules: they should be lightweight, visually indistinct, and cheap enough that you would be comfortable throwing them away. In a perfect Goldilocks situation, they would also be durable and maybe resistant to elements. But that’s not always an available option and a lot of the time it creates a liability.  This is since the more expensive something is, the less likely it is that a common person owns it. Your basic goal when going grey is to blend in completely with your fellow person.  So knowing what the common person in your area wears and then trying to wear the same thing, while maintaining as low visibility as possible, is a good option. While you’re at it avoid: logos, patterns, and “designer” anything.

Additionally, there’s a lot of utility in reversible color fabrics or something that you can turn inside out to get a different look entirely. When you’re evading pursuit, your pursuers are going to look for the thing that they seem to remember seeing as you last. If you’re running in a blue hoodie, and you duck down an alleyway, to flip it inside out to where it’s orange, that’s a really good way to distract people from potentially tracking you still.

Similarly, removable arms and the like form modular clothing which can change very quickly, which is great for trying to get a new look quickly. Wear things that are flexible and allow for as full range of motion as possible while protecting you from the elements which are in your local environment. I mean, clothing is still primarily useful for protection from the elements and if yours aren’t doing that you might as well be close to nude. Also, get common shoes. Ideally, try to find the sales for the most common shoes at the time, so that your tread patterns do not stand out from the crowd, in terms of tracking.

So then there’s opsec…

Clothing isn’t the only thing you need to worry about in this regard. You also need to worry about general presentation and other things involving traces you might leave in places. Get common terrible smelling deodorant, perfume, or cologne, to distract your scent from your opponents. Wear gloves. Fingerprints are bad. Learn to breathe through your nose. Spit is bad. Fingernails are bad, so keep them trimmed shortly. Especially since if you ever are detained, anything that’s under your nails can be used as evidence.

Regular grooming is also essential, to keep loose hairs and skin from detaching and falling to the ground in a sensitive area. Take showers, regularly, so that your scent is not extremely strong for scent tracking animals or a cop who thinks he’s Sherlock. Don’t get tattoos if you can at all avoid that period any sort of marking including: tattoos, piercings, scars or anything that will potentially make you stand out in a visually striking enough way to no longer be grey. Little things like these minimize your risk of tracing, and you can’t make a beach or a dune without individual grains of sand.

Additionally, physical fingerprints aren’t the only kind of fingerprints that exist anymore, as was already evidenced by the facial recognition tracking I described earlier. You also need to mind your digital footprint, and various others as well. Try to do most of your transactions in cash until the new digital dollar takes over. When the new digital dollar takes over, try to do it in a less traceable form like cryptocurrency or some sort of asset exchange if you’re very concerned. Use end to end encrypted apps with destructible messages while you still can, before the US brands everybody who uses it as either terrorists, child molesters, or both.

Use low tones when talking in public. Only talk near people you trust or absolutely have to talk to.  Try to avoid busy environments for your conversation – wider open the better too; golf courses and nature trails are great – and stay away from glass windows, which are not only see through, but can assist in sound capturing devices, which bounce waves off of glass. If you’re ordering food in a restaurant, don’t order the best thing or something with a lot of color. Nothing should stand out. If you’re buying stuff in a store, try to go for smaller stores with less cameras, and lower tech cameras too. Even if it’s more expensive. Again, deal in cash.

Carry multiple phones and have them all be phones you would be comfortable destroying and throwing away. Same with SIM cards. Get burner sims from various manufacturers who might otherwise be considered shady if you’re very concerned about it, or just rely on burner phone apps and Wi-Fi connection. There are many ways to do this.

Additionally, because I know somebody is going to bring it up, yes phones can be a liability in the field. They carry with them tracking data, location sensors, gyroscopes and accelerometers that can tell direction, and all of that sort of noise. So try to turn as many of those off as possible, but what else can you do? Pick up some Faraday bags. These things were primarily designed to prevent identity theft from isolation of near-field contact and RFID systems, but they also double as privacy measures in the field, rendering you effectively off grid with any device contained within them.

This includes cell phones, tablets, anything you have that you need private. I mean, there are measures you can take to prevent the state from even knowing you have these phones, but if they ever find out, just drop it in the bag and only take it out when you need to use it. There are also privacy enhancing smartphones, PCs, and more if you know where to look. And ultimately, you can either make your own Faraday material, or, you can simply lace it into clothing, and other things, so you don’t have to worry about a bag at all. Remember, adaptability is rule number one. Get creative.

USB sticks and micro SD cards can contain a significant amount of information if part of the reason you need to go grey is getting information. You can use one of your burner phones to read that micro SD card and write data to it as well in the field. You can also use those phones for applications that provide quick references to survival, bushcraft, and more. There are also police scanner apps, and various other ways that you can know what’s going on around you, and whether maybe you’re the subject of discussion. But the ideal goal of going grey is to not be the subject of anyone’s discussions, so keep that in mind.

Carry things on you. Especially if your clothes and other equipment have multiple layers of sewing, you can use that to your advantage and create layers of tools that you can use in a short term need. There are an array of handcuff keys that you can get, some of which clip on to things relatively easily. Many of those come in multipacks, so you could ostensibly put one on multiple locations on your body. Carry a shim for locks, especially handcuff teeth, or carry more than one. Carry a small pad of paper and a pen or pencil, ideally a metal pen. You might need to take some notes that you don’t want digitally traced or look like you’re doing it, when you’re ready to defend yourself with something sharp. Carry a lighter but a reliable one, not one of those ones that are fancy but not very reliable, like a Zippo. A razor blade can do a significant amount of good and an X-Acto blade is a razor with a point, so carry either or both.

Carry a compass. Carry something that enhances your distance vision. Carry a first aid kit. Carry grooming supplies, small LED flashlight, and a multi-tool. There are tons of things that you can carry, and this is by no means a complete list, so consider what would work for your situation.  But try to accommodate as many of those necessities as possible. More importantly, know how to use them. Study them and become familiar and comfortable with what you’re reliant on for your survival. This way when it counts, they won’t be useless objects that you thought made you secure, they will be vital tools that will ensure your success in the field.

Same with any weapons you might pick up for your personal defense. Those weapons need to be second hand nature to you and if you haven’t done at least a little training in the last week, you won’t be ready. For whatever may come your way you need to train like you fight, if you want to fight to win. Additionally, don’t load yourself down with a bunch of heavy stuff. Carry only what you need to carry. If you’re not strong enough to carry a heavy loadout, make sure you don’t do that. Your tools need to be tools, not a liability.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had conversations with people about how absurd it is that they have friends who think they’re Rambo. Chances are, you’re not Rambo. An even greater chance exists that you’re not the Terminator. An even greater chance exists that you’re not any sort of action hero, and you’re just a normal guy, because why would you be reading a list about how to be more than normal if you weren’t a normal person? So act like it, and don’t act like the fact that you have a thing means you have to carry it, or the fact that you want a thing means you should have it. Part of being grey is not being tied down by a bunch of unnecessarily weighty possessions. You need to be nimble, and the more weight drags you down, the less likely that is to happen here. And that brings me to my next point.

Be willing to throw out what you have.

A lot of what being grey  is was designed to evade people. For whatever reason, you can’t be seen, and it’s usually because there are one or more parties after you that might make it difficult for you to live if you have been seen. So if you’re evading people, you need to be willing to throw out what you have in case it’s identifying. This leads to things like the bag in a bag. The shirt in a shirt in a jacket. Having multiple different layers of security, in multiple different bags within each other, allows you to quickly change between layers of security, and change the color of your possessions almost immediately. For the variety, wear the camo or any other detail you want to make sure keeps you as distinct as possible from who you were two minutes ago.

This means that you might have to discard a bag. You might have to discard some clothing. You might be forced into trashing that hoodie that you had on earlier, so that you can become an entirely different person You not be weighed down by evidence of your physical appearance, should you be seen or worse, captured and searched. Not being attached to what you have is vital, so get used to the concept of not having anymore. You might need to duck down an alleyway, find a local restroom or some other place out of sight and out of mind to become a different person. If you need to think about it a certain way to feel better, don’t think of it as throwing away one of your only last objects of clothing, think of it as becoming Clark Kent. Do whatever you need to do to overcome the innate capitalist teachings of never losing anything and consistently accumulating junk. Would you rather have that object or your life?

And about that life…

Perhaps the most underlooked aspect of any sort of operations such as these is the ability to tactically outmaneuver your enemies. And the fact is, fitness is drastically underwhelming in most communities that purport to support these actions and this mentality. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen somebody who thinks they are very tacticool, but couldn’t run more than about 100 meters without getting winded. Even more still don’t have the upper body strength to climb ledges reliably, or do literally anything to maintain evasion and cover under pressure.

One of the key elements here is recognizing that you’re not grey yet. In order to get to the position where you might someday need to use these skills, it might behoove you to be in the physical shape necessary to actually use them when the time comes to save your life, or preserve operational security.

If you want to be able to successfully go grey, start now by being healthier in your day to day life. Eat better, exercise, do it everyday till your breath is shaking and you’re seeing different colors. With this particular mentality, discipline is the first among everything. So use physical fitness, and health, as your regimen to hold yourself accountable.

If you can’t take the pain of a workout, how can you take the pain of running away from your attackers or successfully evading any one? If you can’t take the discomfort of some cardio exercise, you won’t be able to evade anyone, no matter how many things you have. and ideally, you should be capable of a certain amount of physical defense no matter what tools you have, because you trained enough with your basic utilities, that you can still hack it. No amount of articles or YouTube videos is going to prepare you for what’s coming. No amount of tools will help you if you can’t use them. No amount of gear will assist you if you get it taken away from you or don’t have a chance to use it because you get overwhelmed quickly.

If you want to lose before you even start, a good way to do that is to cripple yourself in terms of being a weak individual who thinks they are much stronger than they are. Always underestimate your strengths – never overestimate. Arrogance is a liability, so don’t sabotage yourself. And let’s be clear. Your journey to becoming a grey man does not begin on Amazon. Your journey begins within, and ends within. It’s a mentality, and it’s something you have to train, or you won’t have it. This article will mean nothing to you if you weren’t prepared, and if you get overwhelmed.

Additionally, don’t just train for the most badass action hero movie you have in mind. Again, you’re not Rambo. So train to walk lightly, making minimal noise. Train to close doors, and open windows quietly. Train parkour. Train everything you might need to survive in the environment in question, and remember that being a grey man is not about being the color grey. It’s about blending in, which can be done in any variety of colored environments. And while you’re training to blend in, use mindfulness and meditation techniques to learn to enhance your inner calm, so that you can exist in an environment which is increasingly irritating, while still not sticking out.

You are not feeling lucky, punk.

You’re at a bar and some losers are treating you poorly by mocking you and acting like you’re their night’s centertainment. Let that happen. You can’t afford to get into a fight if you want to remain grey. Someone bumped into you on the street, and wants to make a big deal about it? They wanna blame you for that? You either say nothing, or you quietly apologize and move on. Eat your pride.

If you need a way to think about it to feel better about resisting your natural human instinct to fight back when you’re besieged, think about it like this. Whatever reason you need to be grey is obviously extremely important and if your life is a risk, to the extent where you need to destroy what used to be you. You become nothing to blend in, becoming something, or someone, to someone, shows color. If you show the wrong color, you might be showing the color red relatively soon. Keep your blood inside your body, and don’t let some punk be the reason you get cut.

There’s an excellent channel on YouTube called “City Prepping” which put it very succinctly. They said, “the concept of the grey man can be boiled down to being able to blend in and not standing out. It’s a way to fade into the background of whatever environment you’re in such that you do not elicit a response from those around you – it’s being so bland that no one even remembers having seen you.” Take that to heart, or potentially have your heart stop beating. Your choice. And hey, If you remember correctly, even Rambo wanted to remain somewhat grey. They just kept pushing him and pushing him. Even Rambo sucked it up and let things happen. You can do it too. And really, you should be emulating Bourne, or Hanna, if anything – not Rambo.

That video also suggests some basic behavioral patterns, whereby you try to avoid eye contact and other socially memorable stimuli, which might trigger a memory in somebody who is interrogated later, or is looking for you now. This is wise. Don’t let them know your voice, don’t let them smell your breath, don’t let them see your face, and try to be as unrecognizable and unmemorable as possible to everyone you pass and potentially have the unfortunate situation of interacting with.

And by all means, don’t be a foreigner. Learn the language of where you go grey, and don’t lose that. You’re not a foreigner – you’ve lived there your whole life. At least, that’s what you want people to think. This isn’t a talent show, and it’s not a time to stand out and be individual and unique. It’s time to try to be as neutral as possible for your given environment. And remember as well that you’re not a tough guy. You’re not Rambo. It’s not time to be a big brute or to seem intimidating. You are a normal person. You work in accounting. You read NYT for the funnies. You know nobody and eat TV dinners because you’re so uninteresting you can’t even cook. You have no opinions. You have no bumper stickers. That’s you. That video puts it well by discussing maintaining a baseline sameness with what’s around you. Don’t get bright, you’re dim. Deal with it.

And while you’re working on all of this, make sure to train situational awareness. Know where entrances and exits are. Know how to look for both of them quickly, and without drawing attention to yourself. If you need to know an environment before you go there, it can often help to research it with maps before you even get there. That’s why having a good compass can help. You aren’t omniscient and you might forget which direction you’re pointing.

Also consider little things like facing reflective surfaces, so you can see an angle people don’t know you see. Especially windows, which are reflective and transparent – you can see behind you, through it, and the direction you’re facing. Just never look at anything or anyone for too long, or you risk becoming suspicious. Quickly scan or use props to look like you aren’t looking around, such as a phone, book, or newspaper. And wear shades – black gas station jive, not some designer stuff. Obscures your eyes, making color and the direction they face harder to see. Also prevents cops from legally detaining you for red eyes, twitching, weird pupils and more and gives you better visibility in bright light.

And remember your layers of tools in your clothing. You are an unassuming matryoshka doll full of “don’t push me”. If you want more information on these things in general, I can’t recommend “100 Deadly Skills” by Clint Emerson enough. He puts all of this in the context of becoming what he calls a “violent nomad”, and it’s the result of both his SEAL training, and years of research in the field. In the section about blending into any environment, he succinctly highlights three dimensions of awareness: personal, situational, and third party awareness. He goes over in simple terms a lot of what I elaborated on here. It also includes what he calls “bottom line up front” sections where he goes over basics of what he’s about to discuss, before he discusses it, making it a relevant field manual. Keep books like this in PDF form on your phone. You never know when you’ll need information, and not quite remember what that information was.

And one more thing while I’m being incredibly negative – there’s an old saying, “never attribute to malice what could be adequately explained by ignorance”. Don’t buy this. I’m going to write an article on this at some point, but this gives your enemies every opening they need to take advantage of your attitude. All they need to do is seem too stupid to know what they’re doing, and they can do whatever they want.

Always assume your enemies are one step or more ahead of you, and try to plan your paths one or more steps ahead of those plans. I know it’s a cliche now, and often attributed to the targets that don’t deserve them, but you need to play four dimensional chess. You need to outsmart, and outmaneuver everybody you come into contact with, because everybody could be an agent against you. Trust as few people as possible. Work with fewer. Operate in darkness as much as possible, and act as though the whole world could be against you.

“But what if I fail?”

Good question. The simple answer is that you might endure an extreme amount of discomfort. But you chose this life. You could have done something different, likely. And if you really didn’t choose this life and you were just thrust into it, you still have the potential for failure if you make the wrong choices, or just run up against the worst luck imaginal. Asking questions like ”what if I fail” is only useful at all as a potential analysis of traps before you might become entrapped by them. Don’t let the possibility of failure overwhelm you. Keep your wits about you, stay frosty, and stay grey. You might just live to see another day. And that’s the point. What if you fail? Try to find a way. If you can’t, at least you tried. But the real question is: so what if you fail?

And therein lies your motivation. If you have something to lose, people counting on you, or someone who needs taking down, those people are your crux. If you fail, they might lose what they have too. Or the wrong guy might win. Failure is usually only a temporary thing. The ultimate failure is not getting back up. Not dusting yourself off and moving on. Learn to embrace temporary setbacks, and cut your losses. There might still be a way to salvage whatever is left if you fail. And the only real failure is failing to return. But mostly? Remember this…

You’re nobody. Act like it.