In part three of Gregory Tambone’s video Greyman Theory video series, we move out of the city and find out more of what is needed for rural stealth. Whereas urban Greyman Theory hinges upon altering others’ perceptions of yourself, becoming a rural ‘Grey Man” often requires complete stealth.
Mr. Tambone gives us a prime example of the utility of a common, light brown or beige button up, such as the one he purchased in the previous video at a thrift store. This kind of shirt is excellent for going grey because its wearer can rely on it in many different environments, from urban settings, to more rural ones. Due to its natural color, it will act as a camouflage base in wooded environments. Going one step further, you can also rub mud or attach natural vegetation to whatever you’re wearing, to break up your outline and create an obscuring effect to help avoid detection by anyone searching for you.
Two things to keep at the front of your mind when using these techniques in rural environments is sound and scent. More specifically, your sound and scent, which will be amplified in rural environments, and typically aren’t much of a concern when going grey in urban settings. The noise you create and any smell lingering on you will carry extremely far if you don’t take measures to reduce or eliminate them.
A very useful and forgotten skill in modern times is tracking. A highly-trained tracker will be able to read a host of details off of the prints a human or animal leaves behind, such as height, weight, and stride length. This is a skill Greg recommends viewers take some time to develop on their own, as it will become very useful should you ever find yourself in a situation where you wish to not be tracked. The most important thing is to disturb as little as possible the media you will be trekking through. And it’s one of the reasons traveling by water is ideal to avoid trackers.
Perhaps most importantly of all, you should prepare a bug out bag for any kind of rural scenario, just like you would for an urban setting. Make sure to include items which are appropriate for where you will be, and do not neglect adequate water purification and fire-starting methods. As always, it is the skills you practice at home, in a stress-free environment, which will be of the most practical use for when you truly need to rely on them.
Article by Dion Roloff