by NICHOLAS OETKEN

When stockpiling supplies, it’s vitally important to hide as much of your stockpile as you can.

If the grid goes down, people will become desperate and once ordinary people will turn into thieves, raiders, and looters to the streets to rob and steal what they can to stay alive. They’ll target homes and stores in town first, and once those have been looted and stripped, they’ll set their sights on suburban homes next.

You may think you already have it figured out for how you can keep your stockpile a secret and hidden from any thieves or looters who may break in.

Unfortunately, thieves and looters can be a bit smarter than you may think. They’re already taking a major risk by breaking into any home, and they won’t want to leave empty-handed in exchange for taking that risk.

Furthermore, many thieves and looters will already be experienced and know exactly where to look in your home for your valuables or stockpiles.

That’s why it’s critical to be extra creative with where you hide your stockpiles and avoid hiding them in areas where looters are likely to look first.

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Here are the nine hiding spots in your house that looters will always look for first:

Attics And Basements

It’s common practice for preppers to stockpile their food, water, and other supplies either in the attics or the basements of their homes.

The logic for doing so certainly makes sense. This way their stockpiles are out of the way and out of sight of any guests who come to visit. It’s important to keep your stockpiles as much of a secret as you can.

Just because your neighbors and regular guests are friendly now doesn’t mean that they won’t come knocking on your door demanding supplies later.

That being said, while stockpiling supplies in your attic or basement may be a good way to keep your preps a secret from your neighbors and guests you have over, it’s a much poorer way to keep them hidden from burglars and looters who break into your home.

That’s because most burglars are acutely aware that people will often store valuables in their basements and attics, so they are two rooms they will often go to investigate first.

Closet

A closet is perhaps the most obvious hiding spot there is. Looters will look through your entire closet, including the pockets of the clothing in your closet, looking for valuables, guns, or cash.

It’s common practice among many people to store their valuables in closets as well. If you have any valuables you’re keeping in your own closet at the moment, you would be wise to think about another location for them.

Dressers

Many thieves are acutely aware of the old trick of hiding valuables amongst shirts, socks, and underwear stored in dresser drawers. That’s why a burglar will open your dresses and pull all the clothing you have out looking for anything from cash to watches to jewelry.

Additionally, think twice about having any jewelry boxes on top of your dressers. If you have a jewelry box out in the open and a burglar comes rummaging through your house, it’s an absolute certainty that the box will disappear with them.

Mattress

The closet and dresser drawers will likely be the first two locations a burglar looks for in the bedroom. The next location they’ll look is under the bed and under the mattress. Just like how it’s common practice for people to store valuables in their closet, it’s also common practice to ‘hide’ valuables under a mattress.

Safes

A safe may seem like the ultimate place for storing precious items such as firearms or jewelry because it offers protection against both thieves and a house fire.

But a safe also makes it incredibly obvious about where your valuables are being hidden. Any small and portable safe can be easily picked up and carried out by a looter.

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A heavy safe, such as a safe designed to carry rifles, will offer more protection. Most burglars will try to get in and out of your house as quickly as possible, and attempting to break into a big safe certainly isn’t going to help quicken their pace.

That being said, if a burglar happens to be experienced with safe cracking and is determined enough to try and break in, then your safe no matter how large is going to be vulnerable.

Suitcases

This is another old trick: to keep valuables ‘hidden’ in suitcases. The idea is thieves won’t think there’s anything inside your suitcases since you’re not traveling, but many thieves and burglars will be aware of this old trick just like how they’re aware of the mattress trick as well.

Storage Sheds

Burglars and looters may not just target the inside of your house; they may target other buildings on the property as well. Besides your garage, they may also break into any storage sheds or shops that you have outside.

Under the Stairs

Many homes have a spare storage space under the stairs. This is a good space to store certain items that you could do without, perhaps, but it’s not a good place to store your precious valuables.

Vases

Hiding valuables in vases is another classic trick. Most burglars who don’t care about their presence in the home being known will just knock over vases and other glass furnishings to break them and see if there’s anything inside.

If you were thinking about using any of the above locations as a hiding place for your valuables or supplies, you may want to consider getting a little more creative.

Imagine yourself as a burglar breaking into your home. Move through your home and think about the places where you would look first.

Additionally, and this may sound a bit strange, when going to the homes of your friend or family, imagine yourself as a burglar as well and where you would look in their homes.

You’ll likely come up with a few more hiding places that were not included in the above list.