➡ In a survival situation, people may use various traps and tactics to outsmart others. These can include leaving tempting supplies out in the open to ambush those who approach, using abandoned vehicles or natural barricades as lures, pretending to be in distress or impersonating authority figures, and setting up false safe zones or trade setups. Other tactics include booby-trapping supplies, spreading false rumors, setting up fake medical outposts or radio communications, and using bait and chase tactics. It’s important to be cautious and skeptical in such situations to avoid falling into these traps.
➡ In a post-collapse world, survivors may face various threats such as feigned withdrawals, false alliances, distraction traps, honey traps, poison traps, and illegitimate governments. These tactics involve luring survivors off route, infiltrating their groups, diverting their attention, entrapping them in staged communities, poisoning their food or water, and imposing rules under self-declared emergency powers. The biggest threat may not be looters, but those who seize power without accountability. Awareness of these potential dangers can help survivors stay safe.

In a collapse scenario, it’s not the strongest who necessarily survive. It’s going to be those who are cunning, paranoid, and tenacious. Today we’re going to be talking about the different traps and bait tactics that desperate and ruthless people are going to be using in order to survive. These are things that have been done in real war zones, failed states, and disaster zones, where morality is optional and violence is the currency. First up, the freebie trap. Possibly the oldest trick in the book. This trick is simple. Leave a stash of food, gear, gasoline, or various medical supplies out in the open.

Maybe even include a sign. This will likely catch the attention of any desperate person within the line of sight. The moment that someone starts digging through this, they get ambushed from behind the cars, bushes, or rooftops. Simple props like a gasoline can filled with water, an ammo box filled with rocks, a medical kit, food, or an old rusty firearm. If it looks too good to be true in a collapse, it probably is. The abandoned vehicle lure. There’s a car on the side of the road. The doors are open, supplies are visible, maybe the engine’s still warm.

It looks like somebody fled in a hurry, maybe they were chased off, or maybe worse. To the average survivor, it screams jackpot. But what if it wasn’t abandoned at all? The moment that the unwitting victim approaches, from a ditch or maybe from a tree line, that’s when the ambush closes in. Come to think about it, I think the girls in Zombieland use this exact same tactic to steal the vehicle full of supplies. Fake Natural Barricades Imagine a barricade that looks like it was naturally occurring. Maybe a downed tree blocking a roadway, or some abandoned vehicles that are obstructing passage through a corridor.

This works far better than an actual roadblock because it appears as though it’s a naturally occurring event. This exact scenario was depicted in the movie Children of Men. Because the barricade looks natural and not artificial, people are likely to get much closer to it. But if you see any obstruction on any roadway in a post-disaster world, it could be a trap. Yield immediately, and consider a detour. Because the closer you get to that barricade, the greater the chances are that you’ll succumb to the ambush. A damsel in distress. She’s crying, she’s lost.

No weapon in sight, and maybe even scantily clad. Every one of your instincts, especially if you’re a man, is saying stop and provide assistance. But compassion has a cost. In Vietnam, Liberia, and Syria, this tactic was used to devastating effect. In fact, this is even used in the animal kingdom, where female wolves will be used to bait domesticated dogs into being ambushed by a wolf pack that awaits. The moment you approach, you are no longer in control, and it’s already too late. This morality play becomes a kill box. This of course was depicted in the movie The Book of Eli.

While Denzel is walking through the wasteland, he hears a woman screaming out for help. As he approaches, he senses that it’s an ambush. And unlike Denzel, you’re likely not going to be able to take on six guys melee style. So avoid this trap. The distress signal bait. A flare. A radio SOS. Or a voice screaming from help from a rooftop. You think someone’s hurt. Maybe it’s a child. Maybe a woman. But it’s not a person in need. It’s a trap for those who still have a conscience. It might not even be a real person.

It might just be a speaker that’s playing a recording. There’s some scenarios that are depicted in films like Full Metal Jacket, where a sniper will intentionally injure someone so that more people need to be sent in to rescue them, people who subsequently get sniped. Be very cautious of these visual or auditory SOS appeals. Impersonation. After the collapse, the badge won’t mean what it used to. When institutions fracture, the symbols of order, sirens, uniforms, flashing lights, can all be hijacked by the bad guys. Unfortunately, people are trained to obey authority, and in a chaotic situation, that obedience becomes a vulnerability.

Imagine you’re at home sheltering in place after disaster strikes. Someone shows up that looks like law enforcement. They speak with confidence. They carry radios. They insist that you need to evacuate, and maybe they even insist on searching your home. You comply because that’s what you’ve always done. But what if these aren’t officers? What if they’re predators in costume? It doesn’t take much. A surplus vest, a knockoff badge, a few buzzwords. They’re not here to protect. They’re here to exploit your compliance. Be very suspicious and trust your gut. The false refuge trap. Imagine the word safe zone, scrawled in red paint, over a street sign.

You’ve seen this in the movies before. In fact, you’ve probably seen it in the TV show, The Walking Dead, where it shows a map to a place called Terminus. On the sign, they’re promising sanctuary for all. Little do you know, it’s a cannibal ambush. People who are desperate are more prone to believing in this type of mirage. It’s likely that as soon as you descend down this prescribed pathway, you are likely going to be watched and plotted against. Booby trap supplies. This is very similar to the freebie trap, only it’s weaponized.

Think Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. A deliciously clear bottle of water is left out in the open. A sealed can of food sitting in the middle of the road. Would you risk it? If someone wanted to take out a looter or mark a territory, this is how they would do it. Trip wires under water jugs, pressure plates beneath crates. You won’t know you’re in a trap until it’s already triggered. In these conditions, even basic scavenging becomes a gamble. The false trade setup. Fuel for food. Medicine for ammo. Two groups meet at a neutral ground.

Hands stay close to weapons. Tensions are high. Unfortunately, one side is not here to trade. This is your run of the mill Craigslist style scam, where you agree to meet someone in a neutral place to exchange goods for money. And when you get there, you realize that they have no goods and they’re just there to take your money. After disaster, they’re probably going to be there for much more. For example, in the movie The Book of Eli, every deal feels like a potential setup. In reality, the risk is even higher. Unless you bring Overwatch or security, you’re walking into an uncertain situation.

Barter is a very last-stitch and fragile transaction. Trust even more so. So avoid it wherever possible. Contrary to popular belief, in the apocalypse, most people aren’t going to die by the hands of marauders. In fact, you’re probably going to die from disease. This is why you need antibiotics. The problem is getting them requires a prescription. Well, today’s sponsor is Jace Medical. They’ve created a revolutionary service that allows you to get prescription medications like antibiotics with relative ease hassle-free. This will be worth more than gold in an emergency for somebody who needs them.

So do yourself a favor and take your prepping to the next level what you still can. Check out the link in the description below. And now, back to the video. Rumor bait. I heard there’s food east of the river. There’s diesel canisters at the farmhouse up the road. There’s a gate open at the end of a checkpoint. These are all just words. But in a panic, words can move crowds. But they may be setting you up for an ambush. If someone wants to funnel desperate people into a kill zone, they don’t need to use force.

All they need to use is hope. Wars have been won with disinformation alone. And in collapse, it can be weaponized much faster than bullets. A fake medical outpost. Imagine a tent with a red cross on it. A light flickering inside. You hear medical gear clinking. Maybe even some groaning. It feels real. It feels like hope. But what if it’s not a clinic? What if it’s a trap? They want the wounded, they want the weak, and they want the trusting. Chances are you’re not going to be walking out with medicine. In fact, you’re probably not going to be walking out at all.

False radio or communications. In this scenario, you hear something over the radio. Cat, we found a truckload of food that we’re storing on Site X. The voice is calm, confident. It could just be a harmless group trying to survive. Or it could be a gang with a ham radio and a map of your route trying to bait you into an ambush. You might think that you’re covertly listening in on an unsecured communication line. But what if the whole thing is just a ruse? Just misdirection to try to make you think like you have the element of surprise.

Once you’re locked on the signal, you’re going to stop questioning the source. That’s when you’re the most vulnerable. They’ll continue the theater nudging you closer to the trap. The entire transmission was all just bait. And your greed was the snare. The bait and chase tactic. You see movement. A small group. Backpacks. They look scared. One drops a bag and keeps running. You think to yourself, hmm, I could really use those supplies. So you pursue it. And that’s exactly what they wanted from the start. By the time you realize that you’re way off route, you’re boxed in.

In military doctrine, this is called a feigned withdrawal. In collapse, it’s just called Tuesday. The False Alliance. They come with sob stories, claiming that they were forced out of their homes. But they have fuel, food, and maybe even numbers. You welcome them in. You share fire, trade names, and even lower your guard. But the real plan was never survival. It was infiltration. They befriend you for days, even weeks or months. And one day, when you’re sleeping, like a Trojan horse, they open the gates. And they take everything. Sometimes, the collapse isn’t what kills you.

It’s the people you tried to save. This is depicted on the TV show Homestead. Someone who is taken in and provided hospice as a refugee, later becomes an infiltrator for a rival group. This precipitates a major battle which nearly destroys the colony. The Distraction Trap. You hear a shotgun to the left, a smoke grenade down the alley, or maybe even a smash window. Someone screaming. You’re focused on trying to echolocate where the sound came from. And suddenly, you’re flanked from the opposite side. Classic diversionary tactics. In the case of collapse, attention is currency, and the cost of looking the wrong way is final.

The Honey Trap. This is a bit more elaborate than using a single decoy or enticing piece of gear, food, or supplies. It could be something that looks like a functioning normal community, or a trading post, but it’s entirely staged in order to entrap travelers. This is also depicted in The Walking Dead. The governor’s town, for example, at first appears very normal. But as you fall into this world, you quickly come to realize that this is a community that exists under the constant threat of coercion and draconian policies, and that the leader is a megalomaniacal sadist.

The Poison Trap. In a collapse event, not all threats are going to wear camo and carry rifles. Some might come in a canteen, a military ration, or a bottle of pills. When food is scarce and trust is gone, poisoning becomes the quietest form of warfare. A rival group might gift you a jug of water, laced with sedatives or poison, or offer canned goods that might have been tampered with. Sometimes this might not even be malicious, it’s just desperate people passing along spoiled or contaminated supplies. But in some cases, it will be deliberate.

Eat, drink, you’re safe with us, they’ll say. And by the time the symptoms start, it’s already over. In World War II, and even the Ukraine War today, resistance fighters and defectors were often poisoned by their own hosts. In modern war zones, even aid drops have been sabotaged. So in SHTF, if it didn’t come from your own food stores or your own soil, assume that it might kill you. The illegitimate government. Nature abhors a vacuum. And after SHTF, power vacuums won’t stay empty for long. Some low-level official, a sheriff, a city manager, or emergency coordinator will declare themselves in charge, claiming emergency powers.

They won’t just enforce the rules, they’ll start making them up. They’ll say, we’re requisitioning supplies. This area is under martial law. Non-compliance is treason. It may look official, uniforms, checkpoints, clipboards, but it’s all a self-appointed regime. And there’s no court, no oversight, no way to push back. Historically, these are the tyrants that rise first, not warlords, but bureaucrats gone feral. Your biggest fear shouldn’t be the looters. It should in fact be the man with a badge and no accountability. These are just a handful of tactics that are going to be employed against survivors in a post-collapse world.

Let me know in the comments section below if there’s any scams that you can envision might be perpetrated against unwitting survivors in a post-collapse scenario. And please like and subscribe if you enjoyed the video. Thanks for watching Canadian Prep Pro. [tr:trw].

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