Results of a "Grayman" Training Exercise

By Timothy Gamble (September 6, 2016)

On his You Tube channel, Joe Fox (Viking Preparedness) recently suggested a grayman training exercise (I'll link to his video below). I thought it was a good idea, so on Monday (Labor Day) I went to a local shopping mall and followed his training exercise advice. I definitely learned some things.

The Training Exercise (or What I did)

I went to my local shopping mall on Monday (Joe had suggested an airport as the best location, but said a shopping mall would work, too). I spent a couple of hours just sitting around and observing people, noticing who stood out and who didn't, and why. I also tried to do this exercise from a "bad guy" point of view, looking for easy targets. Here is what I learned (and I plan on doing this a few more times).

What stood out as highly noticeable as a potential target, or as very memorable/identifiable:

• Bright, flashy clothing - When I stepped onto the food court after arriving at the mall, the very first person I noticed was an older man (early 60s?) with a bread wearing a bright orange shirt and red, white & blue flag shorts. He looked like quite the character, which made him very noticeable and memorable, and easy to identify.
• Dressed in all black (the "goth" look) - One of several goths that I noticed was a young, skinny man (early 20s) wearing black tennis shoes, black jeans, an all-black tee shirt (no logo), and an all-black ball cap (no logo). Except for a little bit of white on his tennis shoes, he was wearing no other color except black, which made him stand out in the crowded mall.
• Graphic shirts (superheros, sports teams, funny quotes, etc) - Lots of folks were wearing graphic tees of one sort or another. I noticed them all. The guy wearing the shirt with the Superman logo, the young lady in a Star Wars t-shirt, the Dallas Cowboys fan, the patriotic guy with the American flag and bald eagle on his shirt. These graphic shirts made folks noticeable and very identifiable.
• Revealing clothing (too tight clothes showing off curves, exposed cleavage or midriff, short-shorts or mini skirts, etc.) - I'll try to keep this G-rated and just say that it was surprising how many young women, some waaay too young, who were dressed like they were headed to an audition with Playboy magazine. Defiantly attention attracting, especially the wrong kind of attention.
• Tattoos & facial piercings - No value judgments here, but tattoos have become very popular in recent years, and it seems that many folks just can't get enough. I saw a number of folks, male and female, with multiple tattoos - arms, legs, hands, neck, feet, even face... They were very noticeable, and because tattoos tend to be highly individualistic, they can make you easily identifiable. True, some folks may be able to cover up their tattoos with long sleeves and pants, but many folks have so may tattoos these days, they would have to wear a hijab to cover them all up. Just something to think about.
• Odd hair colors (blue, purple, pink, etc) - Odd hair colors are very popular these days, especially with high school and college age girls, but also with some older women and even some effeminate men. Some of the young ladies do look cute, I suppose, with odd hair, but the odd hair definitely draws notice. 
• Completely shaved heads - Heads shaved completely bald (like mine, I admit) definitely stand out in a crowd. On the other hand, naturally balding guys who still have some hair are less noticeable, and tend to blend in to the crowd more easily, then us completely bald guys.
• Obvious weaknesses (seriously overweight, using canes or walkers, or otherwise having mobility issues) - I saw a number of folks with obvious weaknesses that would mark them as potentially easy targets. One older lady in particular stood out as especially vulnerable. She must have been pushing 80, and was walking alone at a very slow and unsteady pace, just shuffling along really, carrying a handbag with one hand. She would have been a very easy mark for a purse snatcher or mugger.
• Folks not paying attention - I saw a lot of folks simply not paying any attention to their surroundings, mostly with their eyes glued to their phones. And this was NOT just young folks, but many adults in their 30s, 40s, & 50s. This eliminates any situational awareness, and marks the distracted person as an easy target.
• Flimsy footwear (high heels, clogs, flip-flops, sandals) - One very well dressed middle-aged woman was wearing what I can only call platform high-heels. I sure they have a name, but I don't know what exactly to call them. Here's the problem: she would not be able to run in those shoes at all, and it would be ridiculously easy for a bad guy to knock her down.  Those shoes, though quite fashionable I'm sure, mark her as an easy victim from a bad guys point of view. I was also surprised by the number of men in their 40s and 50s who were wearing flip-flops, crocs, or various types of man-sandals. These offer no real protection, and are very difficult to run in or even walk in for long distances.
• Moms with a gaggle of kids - At different times, I saw two moms each with four or five young kids in tow. In both cases it was just the one adult plus multiple young kids. This immediately struck me as a potentially confusing and chaotic situation for the mother. Potentially easy pickings for a bad guy. 
• Uniforms - The mall's security guards immediately stood out because of their uniforms. Likewise did a guy in his EMT uniform - very noticeable. I'm sure other uniforms (military, police, etc.) would have been immediately noticeable, too.

What didn't stand out, or was very forgettable:

• Ordinary, regular clothes and shoes
• Neutral earth-tones or dark colors (except for all-black) 
• Nothing easy to describe or remember (no character tees, sports jerseys, bright colors or flashy patterns, uniforms, etc.)
• Not overly sexy or revealing clothing (nothing to gawk at, or attention grabbing)
• No visible tattoos, facial piercings, or weird hair (again, nothing to describe or remember)
• No facial hair (again, nothing to describe or remember)
• No obvious weaknesses (nothing to make a bad guy think "easy target")
• Not distracted (but also not obviously checking the place out or paying too close attention to surroundings)

Other Lessons Learned:

The Camouflage Trend Is Over. I live in a semi-rural area of the South, where there are a lot of hunters. Because of that, it was not uncommon to see people wearing camo even before Duck Dynasty made it trendy. Add on the camo craze sparked by Duck Dynasty, and I dismissed the suggestions of many to avoid camo clothing. I figured I would draw no more attention to myself for wearing camo then the dozens of other folks also wearing camo around here.

I was surprised to see almost no camo clothing during this exercise. In fact, I only saw one person wearing camo - a teenage boy wearing baggy shorts with a digital camo print. The camo craze seems to have peaked in 2013/2014 and has now mostly died out. Because of this, I have removed several pieces of camo (mostly shirts and a ball cap) from my everyday clothing rotation.

I also have several Star Wars T-shirts that I am now taking out of my everyday clothing rotation.

It is extremely important to not appear weak, vulnerable, or distracted. During this exercise, I intentionally looked at the situation from a bad-guys point of view, as if I was a mugger, pick-pocket, purse-snatcher, or kidnapper.  Doing so, I was noticing people who weren't paying attention, or who would have made an easy target: That woman is distracted by the five young kids with her: it would be easy to walk off with one of her shopping bags when she was dealing with one of the kids. That old lady would be easy to knock down. That guy wouldn't be able to chase me wearing those flip-flops. That other guy is paying so much attention to his phone, that he wouldn't notice his wallet being lifted.

Bad guys prefer easy targets. Don't be one.

Joe Fox (VikingPreparedness) video: Becoming the "Greyman" (or woman) - a training exercise

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Ad: Survivalist Family: Prepared Americans for a Strong America, by Pastor Joe Fox (Viking Preparedness), is a great guide to beginner and intermediate preparedness and survival. Highly recommended. 

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