Quote Originally Posted by HoneyBadger View Post
I've only directly received this comment on one occasion, and it was when a bunch of military friends helped us move 2 year ago. I basically told them that if that was their plan, they had better make it worth my time.

In my mind, knowledge, wisdom, trade-able goods, MacGyver skills, friendship, and other things could all be considered "worth my time", but it would depend on the circumstances and the personal value that I place on the good or service at the time.

ETA: as far as OPSEC goes, I try not to ever reveal anything of the sort to strangers, but if I discover that someone I like shared the mutual interest, I might say something like, "Yeah, it really is smart to be prepared. We get some crazy weather in Colorado!" If someone was prying, I would also use the weather and recent disasters in Colorado to justify it. "I was on the pre-evac list when the Black Forest Fire was less than 2 miles from my house... I don't want to be caught unprepared for another mess like that."
Those reasons are entirely plausible! I've use the fires as reasons when I stock up; I also have used the excuse of the electrical fire we had a couple of years ago. We also send a lot of care packages overseas; you could always say something similar (...although if you don't send a care package overseas to one of our troops after that, karma's going to get you!)

You can hide preps in many places that people wouldn't think to look. Under the bed, in opaque covered containers with innocuous and disinteresting labels ("extra towels" "winter clothing" "holiday cards 2000-2013" "kitchen gadgets" "school papers" and the like), in the back corner of coat closets and so on. Think about where company (both planned and unplanned) does NOT normally go (the furnace room? a child's closet? an awkward lower cabinet in your kitchen?) and tuck things away.