The best dead drops are often in plain sight, but no one thinks they're noteworthy. Leave your emergency go-bag next to the coat rack in your office, where a bag wouldn't be out of place. That doesn't mean bury the key in the yard (although that's not a bad idea), but put it somewhere no one would look for a key, like in an empty soda can behind a bush next to the side door. Instead, pick somewhere few people would look for that specific thing.
Want to leave your password for the IT admin who helps you out in your office? If it's in any of these places, you're doing it wrong. The key example is a good one, but under the doormat? That's for amateurs. Make sure your drop isn't so obvious that it attracts attention.Whatever the signal that your drop is ready is, make sure you and the person picking up your drop know and agree on it, and that it's something that would never arouse suspicion from anyone else (like a huge arrow pointing at the drop.)
Your signal could be a chalk mark, or even an post-it note in the corner of a window, or some other visual cue that's only meaningful to you and the other person. Aldrich Ames, a CIA agent convicted of spying for Russia in 1993, used chalk marks on mail boxes to signal his handlers that he had left them something to pick up. If you're leaving a key for a spouse or pet sitter, for example, you want to make sure you give them a clue that the item they want is actually there.
Make sure you agree on a 'the drop is here' signal.To that point, here are some tips to make sure your drop never gets found-except by the person you want to find it: For example, stashing an emergency get home bag in the storeroom at work where no one will find it (or even better, somewhere you pass on the way home every day) makes sure you'll always be ready for an emergency. Leaving a dead drop for yourself will make sure you always have a cache of something where you might need it.Imagine leaving the keys to your house under the doormat, then making a small chalk mark on the door to signal to your dog-sitter that the keys are there. Leaving a dead drop for a friend gives you a way to leave them an item on your schedule with the knowledge they'll pick it up on theirs, and will follow up with you later.Similarly, you can use dead drops to start your own scavenger hunt or game with friends for fun, charity, or just to explore an area you're visiting. Geocaching is essentially the gamified hunt for dead drops, which can contain anything from prizes to secret messages to clues to find the next drop.Granted, you may not need to do this on a regular basis, but leaving a dead drop can be useful in a number of ways:
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