After leaving the CIA, Jason Hanson realized that many of the skills he acquired are just as germane to civilian life as they are to intelligence work. These are basic, common- sense principles and skills that everyone should know, but 99 percent of the general public probably never will. Hanson hopes that none of his readers find themselves in a position that requires using these skills, but it’s helpful to have them just in case.

To this day, Hanson has never sent a text message, and he has never owned a smartphone. One of the most vital skills the CIA teaches its operatives is situational awareness. It’s a kind of survival intelligence that allows people to stay safe simply by paying attention to what’s happening in the moment.

When people hear “spycraft,” they might think of James Bond or Jason Bourne, of  action flicks full of explosions, improvised gadgets, and swift, brutal altercations. But often the most heroic actions are preemptive: They anticipate and strategically sidestep conflict when possible. Spy skills are about keeping people you love safe—not proving something—and often the best way to do this is by cultivating situational awareness.

There are different levels of awareness, which can be delineated using the Cooper Color Code, a schema of white, yellow, orange, and red conditions that a former World War II Marine Jeff Cooper developed.

Condition White is a state of total obliviousness. Most people spend the majority of their time in Condition White: daydreaming, engrossed in conversation, reading a book, or texting. The person’s head is down, vision is unfocused, immediate surroundings are unknown. When prisoners are interviewed and asked to select whom they would target based on pictures of people on the street, they unsurprisingly select people operating in Condition White: head down, looking at their smartphone, unaware of what’s happening around them. Avoid Condition White.

Condition Yellow is calm alertness. It is not a state of hypervigilance that tries to anticipate a threat at every turn. It is rather an ongoing data collection process that takes stock of people and surroundings. It’s living with your eyes open—the way most people lived before cell phones were ubiquitous. Even if you’re engaged in conversation, you’re not so enraptured that you fail to notice the strangely dressed man walking your way or the car slowly pulling up. As you practice operating in Condition Yellow, you will gain a better understanding of baselines of human behavior, places, and situations. Once you learn these norms, you will know when a situation or a person is uncomfortably misaligned with those norms.

Condition Orange is alertness to something particular. Why is this person wearing a heavy coat in the middle of summer? Why is that man using such strange mannerisms? Why is this person making so much eye contact, breathing so heavily, and walking lockstep with me? If a stranger is walking in lockstep, perfectly matching your pace and stride, that’s not normal. It’s far more natural that strangers move at different paces, both in walking and in driving. This is when you make a move. Movement is the best way to escape calamity—whether it be a hurricane or a knifepoint. This is called “Getting off the X.”

Condition Red is a state of crisis and confrontation. You are ready for fight or flight. Your tactical pen was at the ready as of Condition Orange, but now you’re putting it to use while you fight for your life. Condition Red could require self-defense, a 911 call, or fleeing to a crowded public space.  

A 2014 news story made waves when a Mexican restaurant in Manhattan was robbed. What made a greater impression than the theft was the clueless man sitting up at the bar. Security footage revealed a lone drinker so blissfully buried in his smartphone that he did not even notice a group of men—one of them armed with a machete—force their way behind the bar to grab whatever cash they could. The oblivious bystander even tried to order another drink during the robbery and moved out of the plunderers’ path as they beat a hasty retreat, still not realizing a crime was underway. 

Avoid Condition White. Maintain Condition Yellow. The more time you spend in Condition Yellow, the less time you will spend in Condition Red.

What tools does a former CIA agent actually have on hand in his daily life? It isn’t as extravagant a list as some people suspect, but it is certainly more than most people carry around with them. The majority of these items are readily accessible, affordable, easy to carry, and, most importantly, could save your life someday.

Here’s some of the gear that you can carry with you on your person or in a purse, wherever you go:

Pocketknife. Hopefully you’ll only need this for opening packages, but a folding knife can be a great tool for self-defense and survival. An alternative for those who prefer not to carry a knife on their belt or in their pocket is a credit card knife. It looks like an ordinary credit card but opens to reveal a blade. Inconspicuous and easy to transport, this is another great option. Many women prefer this to a pocketknife.

Handgun. If a firearm is legal in your state or country, it is worth it to receive the proper permitting and training required to carry a concealed weapon. It is a serious responsibility, however, and should only be obtained legally and after weighing the benefits.

Cell phone. This is obvious enough. Texting and smartphones can interfere with attentiveness to people and surroundings, but you need a way to contact friends, family, or, if necessary, law enforcement.

Bobby pins. These hairpins are light, inexpensive, and can help you extricate yourself from grave situations.

Monkey’s fist paracord keychain. Also called a parachute cord or a 550 cord, this steel ball wound up in military-grade string can pack a punch—should you need to deal one against a would-be assailant.

 Handcuff key. This might sound extreme, but you never know. And this will never be confiscated at airport security, so you can take it with you when you travel.

American cash. Its value isn’t what it once was, but the USD still goes a long way—especially overseas. Slip a few twenties or a hundred to a business owner, and he might just sneak you out the back of his establishment to get out of a crisis.

Tactical pen. This is one of the author’s best friends. Never leave home without it. You can also get through the most secure airports and courtrooms without it getting flagged. Tactical pens are made using aircraft-grade aluminum, and the point is strong enough to break car glass, so you can use it to break a car window or jab an assailant’s eye or groin to make a quick escape. It’s also perfect for jotting down a shopping list.

Lock pick set. TSA will rarely check this and give it right back when they do. This can help you get out of a locked room, help a locked-out neighbor get back into his house, or open a filing cabinet if you can’t find the key.

These are just suggestions. You are better acquainted with your own context, so pick your gear accordingly.

HUMINT is CIA shorthand for human intelligence. It refers to intelligence gathering from human sources in a certain locale. Whether you are traveling overseas or comfortably absorbed in your typical routines at home, doing preliminary HUMINT is vital to keeping you and your family safe. 

While spending time abroad, HUMINT looks like:

-establishing baselines of cultural norms, so you can blend in as much as possible with custom and dress.

-monitoring warnings and advisories related to the country you’re traveling in.

-having the phone number and address of the nearest embassy or consulate on hand.

-mapping out an exit strategy in case there’s unrest or a natural disaster.

At home, HUMINT looks like:

-developing a working knowledge of the nearest exits, chokeholds, pharmacies, police stations, hospitals, water sources, and municipal airports. The places where the road bottlenecks are ideal places to get out of your car and escape on foot. Knowing where the nearest pharmacy is ensures you can get emergency medications if you or your family members sustain injuries or become sick. The exact location of the nearest police station is important to know, in case someone decides to follow you or there’s some kind of emergency. Knowing the fastest way to your local hospital—or another clinic if the local hospital is no longer an option—can be the difference between life and death. Knowing nearby water sources is essential in the event that the city’s water supplies are contaminated or otherwise compromised and panicked citizens clear out the bottled water. It’s also not a bad idea to get to know a pilot or two and to know the location of the local hangar in case there’s an extreme crisis and you have to leave town. The municipal airport is the best way to make a quick escape if you have to. It is worthwhile (and relatively inexpensive) to take what is called a “discovery flight,” to see where you might go nearby in the case of an emergency.

In addition to familiarity with local need-to-know establishments, it is a good idea to keep a year’s worth of food and water on hand for you and your family. That’s not financially or logistically feasible for everyone, but the more you can store, the better. Keep $1,000 in cash hidden somewhere in the house just in case there is some kind of emergency that forces you to leave on short notice. The peace of mind a just-in-case fund gives cannot be underestimated.

The general rule in intelligence circles is if it happens once, it’s an accident; a second time, it’s a coincidence; a third time, it’s enemy action. When a young woman in Brooklyn noticed that a man seemed to be watching her as she perused purses in a department store, something felt off, but she dismissed the feeling. She moved to the perfume section and observed the man do the same. But maybe he was here shopping for his sister or mom. As a test, she went upstairs to the shoe section to see if she’d be followed. Sure enough, the man walked upstairs just after she did and was watching her as he talked on the phone. After getting past the initial wave of panic, she walked up to him, but he walked away without making eye contact. When he came back a few moments later, she found a security guard, at which point the creep slipped out of the store as inconspicuously as he could manage.

Without realizing it, this young woman ran perfect surveillance detection. She did everything right: She went from purses to handbags to shoes to eliminate the possibility of coincidence, resisted the urge to panic, stayed in a public place, let the stalker know she was on to him, and then notified security. Once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, three times is a sign of enemy action.

You cannot live your life in fear of creeps, but you also cannot afford to act like they don’t exist. Situational awareness is the imperative first step toward discovering whether you’re under surveillance. Live in a state of relaxed alertness, paying attention to the people and places in your immediate environs. A CIA agent would take note of someone walking too close to her on the street, if someone was making prolonged, intense eye-contact, or seemed unnervingly interested in her. A person who intends to do you harm will inevitably match your pace. Don’t ignore your gut. Maybe it’s nothing, but there’s no need to take a chance.

One common counter-surveillance tactic that CIA agents use is the Pause and Turn, which involves stopping in your tracks, casually turning around as if looking for someone, and then making eye contact with the potential stalker to let him know you see him. Most stalkers are opportunists rather than career criminals, and they will get flustered and forget how to act natural when they’re under the microscope. You can even resort to the Acknowledgement, which involves your confidently walking up to the person and asking, “Can I help you?” or “Excuse me, what time is it?” They will often leave you alone after that. If they walk the opposite direction that you had both been walking, then your hunch about them was probably accurate. An innocent stranger would continue to walk the same direction.

Remember not to be a soft target. Walk with confidence and good posture. Look ahead of you, not at the ground. Keep your tactical pen at the ready. To stay safe while under surveillance, stay in a public place, and don’t be afraid to call for help. Cafes, crowded restaurants, and busy intersections are great places to hang out. Danger increases when you isolate yourself. Take note of what shoes they are wearing to verify that it is the same person. It is easy for someone to put on a hat, a jacket, or sunglasses to alter appearance, but they are less likely to carry a change of shoes. You can also vary your pace and your route.

Never go home if you think you’re being followed. Once someone with bad intentions knows where you live, they can camp out or come back later. Keep driving around or go to the nearest police station if you know where it is. Never drive with less than a quarter tank. Maintaining a half-full tank is advisable.  

For many, learning the art of disappearance is simply for curiosity’s sake, but for a handful of others, it could mean the difference between life and death. Whether the source of the problem is an unstable former business partner or a tyrannical ex-spouse, sometimes disappearing is a necessary option. Hopefully you never have to disappear without leaving a trace, but occasionally legal assistance, police protection, and restraining orders are inadequate, and good, innocent people are compelled to start over in order to escape dangerous, impossible situations.

For the curious and desperate alike, here’s what it takes to disappear with the intention of never being found again. For one thing, it is complicated, stressful, and requires painstaking attention to detail. For those looking to get off the grid and stay off the grid, it should be considered a last resort.

You would need an enormous amount of cash, and you could never use credit cards again. You would have to abandon emails and social media (except for spreading misinformation), and contacting loved ones would be extremely difficult. You would have to forgo the notion of escaping with someone because the chances of staying disappeared drop to almost nothing when you add more people. You must consider the legal consequences of your actions— if you haven’t paid off your house or car, debt collectors might be hunting you in search of outstanding payments.Yet another consideration is the resources and will of whomever would be trying to come after you. Is your vindictive ex-boyfriend strong-willed enough and financially capable of following every lead? The government has virtually unlimited resources, so one small slip could reignite the chase.

If none of this deters you, then disappearing involves three major steps: misinformation, disinformation, and reformation.

In the misinformation stage, you make small tweaks to every account, subscription, and membership you have. This could be as simple as calling the bank and giving them a new house phone number, or calling the credit card company and giving them a new cell number that’s one digit off from your actual number. All of these affiliations have information about you and you need to change that. As you go about your daily life, drop misinformation to friends, coworkers, and acquaintances—at the office, the grocery store, the barber, and so on. Tell the clerk you’re moving to Orlando, the banker you’re moving to Los Angeles, social media friends you’re moving to Kansas City—and then relocate to none of those places. This will make you harder to track when you do disappear.

Disinformation is about manipulating the people who do come looking for you. To hunt someone down, many governments and private citizens will hire skip tracers. A skip tracer is a combination bounty hunter, private detective, and debt collector, and they often use plausible pretexts to follow leads. Your disinformation campaign will give skip tracers lots of leads—which will lead to dead ends and waste their time. Some of the best skip tracers in the world are women because societal norms are such that many people let their guard down for women in a way that they don’t for men.

In any case, the best way to keep skip tracers busy is to scout out a city you do not plan on moving to. If a skip tracer sees that you’ve taken a flight to Houston, inquired about rental properties there, rented a P.O. box south of the city, and let a local realty company run your credit score, she will assume you’ve moved to Texas.

But, of course, you haven’t. You’re secretly heading to New York. Now that you’ve spread misinformation and disinformation, you can begin your reformation. But how do you get to New York? Flying is out of the question because it will be tracked. Bus or train will be your best option. Select an itinerary that is not the best path.

You can now only operate with cash. Using a credit card is like sending up a flare. You can never again use another service that requires ID or your Social Security Number. If you have to work in your new location, see if a construction firm or mom and pop store or café will pay you cash under the table.

Just like the president, you can no longer drive. If you are ever pulled over or in a minor accident, your cover is essentially blown. It’s one of the main ways people in hiding are found. Don’t take the risk. Stick to public transportation and walking.

Another vital part of your reformation involves breaking your old habits. If you like yoga, don’t look for yoga or pilates studios. If you used to love shooting, skip tracers will be looking for you in gun stores and shooting ranges. Find a new persona that is both inconspicuous and substantially different than the person everyone remembers you as. Change your style and stick to it. If you are bald, find a good wig. If you have a tattoo, cover it up or get it removed. The way you dress and the places you go should be in keeping with the new persona you are cultivating. Don’t leave the skip tracers any links between the old and new life.

Clear your pockets of any litter: any old receipts or stray papers that would link you to the life you left behind. 

The goal of mastering these spycraft tricks and tactics is a safer and happier life. We live in an era full of uncertainty and unpredictability, but knowing how to comport yourself in stressful, dangerous situations can free you from anxiety, provide a sense of confidence and peace of mind.