I've lived in NC and FL and spent lots of time in both over the past 30+ years visiting family and friends that still live there. I know exactly of what I speak, I've been there, done that. I live out in the country up here and they don't do shit to our roads about half the time so we drive through snow and ice regularly during the winter months. We don't use sand on our roads here and salt is expensive so it only gets put down sparingly at intersections. We used to use cinders because they were cheap and worked well for traction aid but they are no longer a viable option because they are now considered hazardous waste or some such nonsense. Snow plow trucks are expensive to run as are OT wages, so we usually wait until snowstorms are over to begin plowing. Until the plows come through, we just slow down and be more careful. We have our fair share of dipshits up here who won't slow down in bad weather and they screw up driving for the rest of us whenever they get a chance. It keeps our wrecker drivers, insurance adjusters, and body shops in business.

Ohio drivers have a hard enough time down here driving. I can only imagine winter snowed over roads...........

+1

THIS

I bugged out of Houston for Hurricane Rita.  It was not obvious to anyone about the loaded AR-15 with a dozen loaded mags in the seat next to me or the 5 loaded handguns I had on or about my person or that I wore Level IIIA body armor under my shirt.  That didn't count the rifle plates on the floor or the beta mag and another 1000 rounds in the trunk.

You want to blend in.  Avoid all attention. In a fight your biggest advantage is the ability to surprise your adversary(s).  Thousands of years ago Chinese strategists recommended that you should "remain formless."  Do not let your adversaries know you.  Be the greyman

Once I was out of the hurricane danger area, everything was normal, so dressing like a soldier would have really stood out and brought a lot of unwanted attention.

I can tell you from experience that walking around wearing a camo uniform will get you a lot of attention.  And if you aren't a real soldier/marine/etc, prior or current military will notice quickly.  We have a lot of ways to tell

Dallas is a good example.  I live in Austin which rarely sees snow and ice.  But, when it does ice, it almost completely shuts down our roads.  Our roads and overpasses are designed unlike northern roads; our curves are steep and our highway interchanges have multiple levels that loom above the landscape.  Lots of elevated roadways.  In some cases there are not surface roads to get you home all the way.

I learned to drive as a kid in Omaha.  Driving there during the winter was a breeze.  Here, it is more than treacherous.  What hurts us most are transplant northerners who think they know how to drive in ice on our roads; they are out to prove to the locals how its done.  They are the first in a ditch.  Locals know enough to stay home.  At least most of them.

Try driving on this during the next ice storm!


or this:  http://www.texasfreeway.com/austin/photos/austin_ew/images/290_freeway_approaching_stack_29-july-2001_hres.jpg

or even this:

I wasn't implying that you should literally dress as if you were homeless, what I was saying was:




....the important point being, your clothes and behavior should not stick out at first glance.  Things that stick out, draw attention.  Drawing attention is bad.  Therefore... whether you wear 5.11 pants or jeans... look as dull, boring, and uninteresting as possible.

I've been doing my best to be the grey man here in post Matthew Savannah.  It's really quite difficult.  We have a fair amount of damage here and many people, including me, still don't have power.  I generally am not concerned if some one sees me with a gun so even when I conceal its not really concealed.  I need a 1.5" belt that works like a pistol belt but looks like a normal belt.  I usually wear a 1.75" riggers belt.  I've been using a regular leather belt.  A weak belt does not help for a good draw or comfort.  Other than that it's shorts or Levi's and a plain tshirts.  What belts do you use?

http://www.guns.com/2015/12/18/holy-hipster-batman-u-s-spec-ops-outed-on-libyan-social-media-4-photos/

It's hard to blend in around here while carrying a long gun.  If I thought I could pull it off I would.  Nothing makes me feel more secure than my AR 10.  Libya might be different.

 
Flannel is hipster now?

I wear a 20 year old worn out Flannel each winter/fall with shorts none the less..

Lol


The real grey guys are the ones smart enough to hide 2-3 deep..faces down. And not posing for the camera all smiles.

This is easy. Put on your shtf costume of choice and go walk around in public.

Let us know what you find out.

You guys kill me... you guys act as though people are suddenly not going to be people anymore. You are still going to stand out in your multicam and bump helmet. People just don't dress that way unless they are cops, soldiers or wanna be.

Now if it has been years since the apocalypse and you are out of beans and tuna fish and crawling out your bunker. All bets are off and I don't really think anyone will give a fuck what you are wearing or carrying.

 

I wore a g17 in a paddle holster wearing board shorts..crocs..and a cotton the shirt..when I had to get it on by chasing off a rather large black bear the first night of the hurricane.

Hat of choice wasn't a bump helmet but a mesh backed. Realtree camouflaged international harvester ball cap...

Blaze orange for the win...


But seriously, blend it and look normal for your own AO.  What is normal in my AO can be very different then what's normal in others AO.

In my AO I don't stand out any more wearing OD BDU pants and a realtree patterned vest, vs. the guy wearing jeans and a pocket T...  

A lot of hunters and country folk.  

Now if I drive 100 miles south of my location its going to be totally different.  Camo will stand out just like Chippewa boots would.

This discussion overall is very AO dependent and being adaptive is key.  

All said and done, me personally I don't care what blends in or doesn't, I will wear what is comfortable and works for me.  In most realistic scenarios its not going to make a huge difference as diversity is everywhere anyways.

Multicam uniform is about the only thing I would avoid wearing unless I was part of a large unit all wearing the same  

The mention of ice in ohio reminds me of a couple of my last years in ohio.



One year I had no power for 4 days and ice had roads shut down most of that time in places.  I lived rural.  Stayed home.  Defrosted the fridge.  Cooler outside with food.  Had no working 4x4 at the time and out of boredom got the fwd vehicle within 30ft of the road.  Neighbor saw I had a strap hooked on it where I left it and pulled me out when he had a chance.  I could have busted up ice or sanded it heavy or done some other stuff, I mostly wanted the vehicle out in case an emergency came up so was in no hurry.



Next year ice storm hit parent's place and sister came down with her pet due to having no power.  Sister's awd suv with road tires could not get over berm the snow plow guy made at the end of the parent's driveway.  It was a snow slush that had frozen.  When I got there to break it up and free up the vehicles and stuff you could walk on the ice and not break through.  I am a big guy, that was weird.



Anyway, awd with mud tires could bust it up and break things up such that sisters awd could not find traction and get out of the way.



Parent's 4x4s, 2 of em, were left out and coated in an inch or 2 of ice.  I defrosted the one with the simpler 4x4 system and it was an older vehicle so I was less concerned if I hurt it.  Took em out to a part of town with power and ate out and got a few things and took them home.  They had power that night as I recall.



Knowing the vehicle and tires and what not helped a ton.  I helped out some people on my parent's private drive and they help out my parents at other times so all is well on that.



Anyway, stock awd with awesome tires did way better than fancy newer awd with big rims and tiny sidewall street rubber.



One thing about this thread, if someone knows what to look for a lot of stuff becomes obvious.  Some folks in the world are oblivious.

That's exactly how I picture the superhero known as Florida Man

Not Grey man:







More Grey man:

Not drawing attention to yourself is a universal survival strategy.

Some of you guys are over thinking it a bit though. It's not something that you can plan out now, as if you're going to have your SHTF costume picked out in the closet. It'll be situation dependent. For example, if there are riots, maybe you'd want to impersonate a journalist or private security, so you'll be allowed to move freely. If you're evacuating from a storm, you probably don't want to look like someone that has a lot of expensive stuff to steal in their vehicle. If you're running from a wildfire, maybe you want to be dressed like the guys fighting the fire, so police don't force you along the general public evacuation routes. It really depends.
The important skill is going to be flexibility, and the social awareness to know if you're attracting attention.

Have friends aka superior numbers and don't travel through high risk areas....dress become less important
Traveling alone? Blend and speed. Faced with threat? Puff up and appear to be not worth dying over....has a mean gun, but nothing to steal.