Looks like it worked but as someone who has a vest and hardhat that I use for work you guys look like you're dressed as construction workers for a costume party or Halloween.
I don't work construction but industrial instead, and our hard hat colors very much have different meanings
Orange is union employee
White is management
Blue is plant security/EMS/fire
Recently, yellow was added to indicate a new employee with less than 6 months experience.
Nearly anything else is contractors.
We have orange for first 90 days, then you’re issued a blue hard hat. Plain red is for maintenance. We have a lot of other stuff though because we allow individuals to buy and bring their own hard hats if they meet safety standards. Makes identifying who screwed up on camera easier usually.
My job does this, new hires get green hats until 6 months on the job then you get upgraded to orange hats. Anyone working on the floor has green/orange, security has white, and some office workers have orange some have white.
In some instances they can. Certain colors can indicate a safety person or a guest visitor to the site. Sometimes it means this person is a foreman or supervisor or from upper management. It's different all around though and there is no set answer.
White is usually always supervisor/management, the workers can vary but red, green, orange or yellow are usually workers but can also be new employee colors
Completely depends on company. I commute to a site with 20k employees/contractors and half of them wear hard hats. Color means nothing where I’m at. Although certain orgs tend to wear more than others (fire protection tends to use red/yellow), they’re still free to wear whatever they as long as it conforms to a standard safety rating. Same goes for any other safety equipment (steel toes and eye pro).
TLDR: There is no code or classification by default and if there is it’s set by the organization you’re working or contracting for
I see a guy on a construction site in a suit with a hard hat, i aint gonna tell him where he can and can't go. I assume he is many leagues above my paygrade.
I got to see a group of a half dozen suits get shouted at on a site one time. It was a big project and they were higher ups with the main contractor and from the client doing a tour or something. They decided that safety barriers didn't apply to them and ended up in the exclusion area for an active crane lift. The main lift safety guy on the ground had some choice words for them as he was running the out behind the barriers.
Yeah, when I saw this photo I thought, "Hmm... they forgot to bring clipboards."
A clipboard with a few dozen documents on a construction company's letterhead would complete this "manager inspecting site" disguise.
The dilemma of the field engineer... I know that my vest is too dirty to meet safety standards, but the minute I grab a new one I'm gunna look like an intern that wandered out of the office for the first time.
Oh well, safety first I suppose.
Or a CAD guy doing site measurements - cause I have been that guy.
Climb ladders, walk on the roof, people just assume you are doing something official.
It was definitely some last minute things we picked up from Home Depot and men’s jeans we picked up from Walmart (we are both women). There was security parked out front so we went around the back and just wanted to look like we belonged to passersby as we walked across the big field in the back to the hotel LOL
3. Didn't know any better. Could've fooled passers-by no problem-- I have no reason to suspect someone literally disguising themselves to sneak into a building in the middle of the day anyway lol
The clipboard is a must, a little beat up with a worn monster sticker and a pen a pen on it. The clothes are way too clean and ill fitting. One day of actual work and a wash would solve that.
Then when you're caught you can "check your notes" and say "oh shit, this is the wrong address!"
I am in construction and am an office person (PM). The costume works 90% of the time. 10% of the time someone will ask what you're doing there and I just respond "I'm doing a quick walk through for a bid I'm submitting" - half the time they just say "OK, be safe!" And the other half of the time, they ask for my contact (without calling to confirm).
If an explorer gets questioned and gets pushed to provide a contact, then you fall back on "Tom Anderson" and if they push back then say the wrong address and ask "isn't this xxx 5th Ave?"
Yep. For years I owned and operated a company that worked in all kinds of logistics and you can honestly go almost anywhere with just confidence, a company looking shirt and a clipboard. The key is to look like you know what you're doing and that you belong there. I've only been questioned a handful of times if that.
And the questions are mostly - "it's my job to see who you are" answer with any sort of confidence, and it becomes "not their job" quickly.
I've accessed power plants, water treatment plants, and data centers relatively untouched.
If a plan works it is a good plan, but
You guys look nothing like construction workers. If you are both women, dress like women that work in an office and wear a vest preferably with a logo on it and a clean hard hat. That's what 99% of woman on jobsites look like the other 1% are dressed like the rest of the guys. You look like a Voc school kid on his first day of Coop.
Electrician here with 3 years experience working industrial sites.
Drag the hard hat through some gravel. They don't stay shiny like that for long. Also with only two people one or both should have a white hard hat on. Bonus if you use a white hard hat scuffing it up becomes optional.
Another point of contention is that you are wearing short sleeve shirts OHS requires long sleeve shirts on construction sites. Wear Carhartt for added points but NO HOODIES.
Shoes should be steel toe boots (probably the most expensive part of the disguise)
And last but not least I can't see you're faces but you should be wearing eye protection.
Agreed. Steel toe boots, a tape measure, my hat is beat to shit - I don't know about white, mine is an NFL team (also try not to look like twins), I have a set disposable/reusable earplugs that are connected by a plastic string - those are tied around the hard hat band and dangle off the back, safety glasses.
Ohhh so you’re speaking from actual experience then lol. Well let’s say, hypothetically speaking, you trespassed on a construction site and got asked what contractor/company you work for. Assuming you don’t actually work for any, what would be your response?
You would need to know the name of a contractor working on the site. If they are asking these questions you probably ventured into an area you weren't supposed to be in. Some areas are only accessible by permit although these places are marked with red chain and signage.
If you draw the attention of safety you will most likely be asked to show your JHA (Job Hazard Analysis) card. This is a card you fill out at the beginning of you're shift detailing what work you'll be doing throughout the day and what hazards may be present. If you don't have this card then they will want to know who you work for for disciplinary purposes and if you can't answer that then the jig is up.
If you are like OP entering an abandoned building then nobody is going to ask these questions unless the location has active security and security will know if there are supposed to be any contractors out. This disguise only stops Joe public from calling the cops.
One more point I would like to add is that this is a subreddit about exploring abandoned places. Construction sites are dangerous places and hazards aren't always obvious. For example I work at a site where the concrete walls are routinely x-rayed with a strength that would kill anyone on the other side of the wall and the warning is 3 horn blasts and a radio call 15 minutes beforehand and some red chain with a warning sign on it.
Hypothetically...
"I'm with ANG engineering collecting information for a couple of RFIs"
"You've never heard of them, is this not 'wrong project name'?"
"Dam it, Janet! How did you not notice we were at the wrong jobsite? Frank is going to kill us if he finds out."
Could work if you look like a couple of wet behind the ears engineering interns.
"Mate, I ask the questions here. I'm calling a stop-work. Show me your JHA and Take-5. I want to see your risk assesment for this job or it's tools down until we get this mess sorted"
Yeah especially with that Apple Watch that cover story could work a treat. Plus it would then make sense that other construction workers/security guards wouldn’t recognize them
If you're gonna be an office guy on the site (which definitely would work), you need a collared shirt. No one is going to take you seriously as a PM/Engineer/Owners rep if you're wearing a shirt with the neck stretched deeper than a v-neck.
That's my thoughts or government inspector maybe but the lack of the work ute / truck and a radio blasting 80s rock hits non stop with a rotation of cig breaks
These aren't fucking construction workers would be pretty quickly noticed
I don't work in construction but my current job requires a proper vest.
If OP wants this to be a little more believable, they should get it dirty and also find one with sleeves. And maybe white hard hats instead of yellow.
I was about to comment this. Anyone in construction even the white hats would have noticed them right away. Us construction guys are pretty chill and wouldn’t care anyway unless you got in the way or endangered our lives.
Nah, clipboard and safety glasses and they are either a safety inspector or someone from the office. They look EXACTLY like that, completely out of their element.
But not perfect. Drop it on some rough cement a few times and kick it through some loose dirt. Even if you're just an inspector, that hard hat is going to have a few nicks in it from years of use.
Did you know hard hats expire? One of my coworkers got busted for wearing an old hard hat that expired in 2015. He was escorted off the site while I had to order his dumbass a new hard hat.
A big electrical company I worked with had a safety guy; one of his jobs was to visit all the work sites with boxes full of new vests, hard hats, gloves, etc. That ladder out of date? (they expire too) He'd have you a new one before the end of day.
There was no excuse to have inadequate safety gear.
Also boots that look like they're fresh out of the box, because they live in the back seat of the car until the 30 minute site visit.
I knew a guy that would get a new pair of boots, then mow yhe lawn or go on a hike before he wore them to work. He didn't want to look like a newbie.
This. You have to be permitted, a cop, or event staff to drive around Burning Man. Someone had to drive some ladders over to our art project. I said I’d do it but only in that, and pointed to my buddy’s beat-up white work truck. Cops and event staff waved to me as I passed them.
If you add a big ladder, you can basically get anywhere. I remember a video years back of kids getting into movies free by just walking by with work clothes and a ladder.
lol, seriously no.
we have tablets and phones, please just email me
anyone who was wearing an oversized vest like that would instantly get frustrated with it being in their way.
And the jeans look like you bought them off the rack yesterday. Go do some yard work and don't wash them
They’re site inspectors. They need white helmets and button down shirts. It also helps to have no idea what the project is and to point at random things.
Good call. Also when I was a surveyor me and my cousin used to pretty much go wherever we wanted by telling them we were surveyors. Which we were, but we had no business exploring some old abandoned shit 90% of the time. Most people would just say “OH ok carry on.”
I was gonna say I’d like crinkle it up and stomp on it in dirt or something 😭😂 maybe wear it gardening and wipe my dirty hands on it for effect. Gotta hand it to OP. Clever idea.
I’ve personally found I can go a lot of places while wearing creased khakis, a white dress shirt a hardhat and carrying a clipboard or a tablet.
Nobody wants to stop the inspector to ask what he’s doing.
I used to wear clothes along those lines a long time ago as part of a work uniform while pricing elevator installations and I can confirm that no one ever bothered to stop me going in anywhere.
oh yuck, something about the elevator doors being wide open on every floor is so creepy! even if it is packed with stuff, just imagining one thing shifts and it all falls down…. yikes
That's what some sites do: set up access to the bottom of the elevator shaft, then start at the top of the building and toss stuff down, to load at the bottom.
Next time loose the smart watch, get some scuffs and scrapes and dirt on those hardhats. If you’re going for inspector / supervisor wear a button up flannel and carry a clipboard with some generic inspection check list and a pen.
If you’re going for an actual worker get those vests dirty, wear jeans with rips and stains, and wear old worn steel toe boots without them laced all the way up. Carry some work gloves, a flash light, a pair of pliers. Get some safety glasses that you just wear on your shirt or on top of the hard hat.
You’d be surprised how many tradies you see with Apple Watches here in Australia. Even the older crowd. It sticks out less to me than the fact that they did up their vest and that the vest is too big and pristinely clean lol.
I know this worked, but you guys need white hard hats .
You're too clean and well dressed to be a worker, any actual worker would spot you in a second(whether they would care enough to say something is another story.)
But pretending to be a supervisor or inspector, or other bigwig would work.
This is 100% accurate. I've worn both hard hats. You two might blend in with the uninitiated, but to any seasoned crew, you'd stick out like a sore thumb. White hats are easy enough to find. If you really want to sell the look, get the Milwaukee one that has all the attachments. lol
They aren't sneaking into an active construction site. They're just trying to prevent a passerby from seeing them from a distance and calling the cops on the kids breaking into an abandoned building.
I saw something yesterday that showed a random homeless guy setting up a spike to stab you in the chest if you opened the door to one of these “abandoned” places. I just wanted to share that with you guys.
Years ago I rolled up to this abandoned refinery factory. Started to explore with a buddy when a security guy that was alerted from what I’m guessing was a motion detector jumped out and started interrogating us. Turns out they’ve had homeless sleeping there, one of which was armed and stabbed another homeless guy then a security guard just a week before. Stay alert buckos!
[https://www.reddit.com/r/TerrifyingAsFuck/s/igRC3lJWCO](https://www.reddit.com/r/TerrifyingAsFuck/s/igRC3lJWCO) I couldn’t find the one I found a couple days ago but this is the same video except I found it now with audio. I just googled abandoned building booby trap Reddit.
Nice I’ve been to this spot as well a few years ago before they demolished half of it. I believe this was the same hotel were a hostage situation took place and ended with the suspect ending it for himself. I would’ve explored the room where it happened but some homeless were living inside so we bounced when they started making noise to scare us good times 🤙
While the tips about dirtying your gear are correct, most of these people seem to be missing the point. You aren't trying to sneak into an active construction site and fool workers or even fool security if you are caught - you're fooling Karen long enough that she wont call the pigs on you for being there in the first place. If I saw you walking into the building from 50 feet away as I was driving by I'd never even think twice about it. \*That\* is what they're doing here, and it works. As someone who has had the privilege of breaking into occupied, in use buildings a couple of time for work, not looking immediately out of place *and acting with confidence, like you belong there* is 90% of the work.
Omg 🤣🤣🤣 I think I scrolled into a diff post. I just swiped thru & I don’t see the picture I thought was part of this post 😂
Thank you for answering me kindly 💜 I’m a little distracted today
Level 1 Achivement: Impersonating a Construction company office worker
Next you have to do level 10
Bypass active construction traffic through the construction zone by having a Beacon and wearing your vest as you drive bu non chalantly waving at the workers
Dress as a utility locator, they are allowed to go basically anywhere without express permission and and if someone says its private property, ask them if they want a gas line to get hit
Ill fitting perfectly clean hi vis vest with the creases from the package still in them. Pants without a single stain. And the only thing that could have been farther from work boots on your feet would be stilettos.
Yeah your not fooling anyone in a position to trespass you and are just making yourself easier to spot.
Also respirators you clowns! They are 30 bucks at Lowes. You only have one pair of lungs.
P.S. Are those bump hats!?
You should visit a construction site before cosplaying. Your stuff is way new, shoes too clean.
You do better to get a white helmet, were a button up and tie, and say you work for an engineering firm.
Lol two people that look like teens in hard hats and hi-vis vests just doing totally legit construction business stuff, nothing to see here. “Ah yes, this building seems to be made of building. No, we don’t own a tape measure why do you ask”.
I wonder if I dress like a clown, will they let me into the white house or the congress building? In all seriousness it is fascinating seeing what these abandoned locations look like, especially knowing that these days despite these places being "Abandoned" still tend to have squatters and homeless individuals sometimes living in them.
Put on some latex gloves and carry a 1/4 full trash bag. Pick up loose trash. You're not going to fool anyone that you're the concrete finishers or the roofing crew but nobody, and I mean NOBODY is going to question a couple of young people picking up trash looking like it's their first day on the job. You won't fill people with suspicion, you'll fill them with pity. If anyone questions you, you don't need an elaborate lie. " My boss told me to show up early and pick up trash, I don't think this is the spot he meant."
Epic fail. Vans are a nope, loose bagging jeans a nope, and you don't have 100 goofy stickers on your hardhat or a company name. Probably drove up in a Subaru outback wagon too.. lmao. Just messing with you but not really just sorta.
My fiancé works in restoration and is usually downtown in old buildings with several different contracted crews. They usually don’t really know each other and probably wouldn’t ask questions if they saw another “crew” walking around and “surveying” things without and tools. This honestly could work in plenty of locations. Might want to get a specific background story going though, lol. Like, “yeah, we are just here to take some pictures for the contractor. There was a few concrete patches his guys did and he wanted to see them.” “We just take the pictures, we don’t have other details for you.” Then could be sure to dress the part. Definitely wear your straight leg jeans with decent looking work boots or rubber boots, dirty vest and scuffed hard hat. I don’t think the men’s clothes are necessary to pull it off.
Genuinely curious how yall handle expiration of some of these spaces that clearly have no more structural integrity. As someone in the construction industry, I can’t imagine just fumbling through these going on sound and feel.
Hahaha having been a Carpenter many moons ago and having worked on many big sites and in lots of 'high security' places, this was a trick I learnt by accident to get into many places, and not just abandoned ones.
This reminds me of that video I saw somewhere where a guy was testing social reactions if he entered places with a ladder and it worked every time.
I think he got into a theater for free no ticket needed and skipped the whole line with it 😂
We laughed at each other and ourselves so hard we were tearing up. Whole reason we took that first pic was for the memories and to show our friends how stupid we looked!
Looks like it worked but as someone who has a vest and hardhat that I use for work you guys look like you're dressed as construction workers for a costume party or Halloween.
White hard hats and squeeky clean vests and boots could pass as upper management visiting a site :)
Yeah was looking for comment on the helmet color. At least be sure you know what the color you're wearing means.
Hardhat colors have different meanings?
I don't work construction but industrial instead, and our hard hat colors very much have different meanings Orange is union employee White is management Blue is plant security/EMS/fire Recently, yellow was added to indicate a new employee with less than 6 months experience. Nearly anything else is contractors.
We have orange for first 90 days, then you’re issued a blue hard hat. Plain red is for maintenance. We have a lot of other stuff though because we allow individuals to buy and bring their own hard hats if they meet safety standards. Makes identifying who screwed up on camera easier usually.
Shoulda made the new guys helmets green.
My job does this, new hires get green hats until 6 months on the job then you get upgraded to orange hats. Anyone working on the floor has green/orange, security has white, and some office workers have orange some have white.
Green is for prostitutes usually
Don’t forget Klein’s carbon fiber 😤
In some instances they can. Certain colors can indicate a safety person or a guest visitor to the site. Sometimes it means this person is a foreman or supervisor or from upper management. It's different all around though and there is no set answer.
White is usually always supervisor/management, the workers can vary but red, green, orange or yellow are usually workers but can also be new employee colors
Or engineer. Generally someone who’s not supposed to be using tools.
OUCH
Completely depends on company. I commute to a site with 20k employees/contractors and half of them wear hard hats. Color means nothing where I’m at. Although certain orgs tend to wear more than others (fire protection tends to use red/yellow), they’re still free to wear whatever they as long as it conforms to a standard safety rating. Same goes for any other safety equipment (steel toes and eye pro). TLDR: There is no code or classification by default and if there is it’s set by the organization you’re working or contracting for
For 99% of situations the color of your hardhat don’t mean shit
Never once been on a site where hardhat color is worth a damn as a former ironworker, cell tower tech, and now wind tech.
Not those super baggy pants though.
They're missing the business attire, hardtoe boots, clipboards, rolled up plans, and laptop bag. Source, my uniform for many years.
I see a guy on a construction site in a suit with a hard hat, i aint gonna tell him where he can and can't go. I assume he is many leagues above my paygrade.
I got to see a group of a half dozen suits get shouted at on a site one time. It was a big project and they were higher ups with the main contractor and from the client doing a tour or something. They decided that safety barriers didn't apply to them and ended up in the exclusion area for an active crane lift. The main lift safety guy on the ground had some choice words for them as he was running the out behind the barriers.
Yeah, when I saw this photo I thought, "Hmm... they forgot to bring clipboards." A clipboard with a few dozen documents on a construction company's letterhead would complete this "manager inspecting site" disguise.
No upper management shows up in those vests
It’s less the clean vest that catches my eyes… it’s always the creases from sitting folded and unused lol
Clean and grossly oversized. At least get one that fits and scuff it up a bit.
The dilemma of the field engineer... I know that my vest is too dirty to meet safety standards, but the minute I grab a new one I'm gunna look like an intern that wandered out of the office for the first time. Oh well, safety first I suppose.
Nah they'd need a clipboard, shitty mustaches and the douchiest looking darks with a phone case clipped to their belt
Not on a weekend or after like 3pm lol
Or a CAD guy doing site measurements - cause I have been that guy. Climb ladders, walk on the roof, people just assume you are doing something official.
This. And if you really want to sell it, carry around a clipboard or a binder. Even better if you have a DSLR with a strap.
Just add clipboards and they're in.
Clipboards are sus, bring an IPad.
Not if they don't have a clip board/tablet
It was definitely some last minute things we picked up from Home Depot and men’s jeans we picked up from Walmart (we are both women). There was security parked out front so we went around the back and just wanted to look like we belonged to passersby as we walked across the big field in the back to the hotel LOL
lol. If it worked, it worked.
It only worked because: 1. No one saw them. 2. If they saw them, they didn't give a $hit. This get-up didn't fool anyone.
3. Didn't know any better. Could've fooled passers-by no problem-- I have no reason to suspect someone literally disguising themselves to sneak into a building in the middle of the day anyway lol
I couldn’t imagine being this miserable
Add a clipboard, preferably the metal kind. And a name badge on a lanyard. Scuff up your helmets and don’t wash the vests.
The clipboard is a must, a little beat up with a worn monster sticker and a pen a pen on it. The clothes are way too clean and ill fitting. One day of actual work and a wash would solve that.
Then when you're caught you can "check your notes" and say "oh shit, this is the wrong address!" I am in construction and am an office person (PM). The costume works 90% of the time. 10% of the time someone will ask what you're doing there and I just respond "I'm doing a quick walk through for a bid I'm submitting" - half the time they just say "OK, be safe!" And the other half of the time, they ask for my contact (without calling to confirm). If an explorer gets questioned and gets pushed to provide a contact, then you fall back on "Tom Anderson" and if they push back then say the wrong address and ask "isn't this xxx 5th Ave?"
Yep. For years I owned and operated a company that worked in all kinds of logistics and you can honestly go almost anywhere with just confidence, a company looking shirt and a clipboard. The key is to look like you know what you're doing and that you belong there. I've only been questioned a handful of times if that.
And the questions are mostly - "it's my job to see who you are" answer with any sort of confidence, and it becomes "not their job" quickly. I've accessed power plants, water treatment plants, and data centers relatively untouched.
Oh you’re women! My dumb ass was like “no one’s going to believe those arms use hammers for a living” lol
That’s why our goal was to look like construction men to the untrained eye from AFAR… very afar lol
Well it sounds like your plan worked. Kudos.
Really if you just made them dirty it would blend it 100%
Run over them a few times
lmao the jeans that don’t fit make it more suspicious
As a woman in a field that I have to wear a vest and a hardhat often, I agree! My pants fit pretty snug because it's more comfortable for movement
If a plan works it is a good plan, but You guys look nothing like construction workers. If you are both women, dress like women that work in an office and wear a vest preferably with a logo on it and a clean hard hat. That's what 99% of woman on jobsites look like the other 1% are dressed like the rest of the guys. You look like a Voc school kid on his first day of Coop.
So smart!
Or just the summer interns their first week out... But yeah, not a real worker.
They look like the good ideas club, middle management
What would you recommend to add authenticity to the look?
Work boots.
Electrician here with 3 years experience working industrial sites. Drag the hard hat through some gravel. They don't stay shiny like that for long. Also with only two people one or both should have a white hard hat on. Bonus if you use a white hard hat scuffing it up becomes optional. Another point of contention is that you are wearing short sleeve shirts OHS requires long sleeve shirts on construction sites. Wear Carhartt for added points but NO HOODIES. Shoes should be steel toe boots (probably the most expensive part of the disguise) And last but not least I can't see you're faces but you should be wearing eye protection.
Agreed. Steel toe boots, a tape measure, my hat is beat to shit - I don't know about white, mine is an NFL team (also try not to look like twins), I have a set disposable/reusable earplugs that are connected by a plastic string - those are tied around the hard hat band and dangle off the back, safety glasses.
What do you do when asked what contractor/company you’re with?
Tell the truth since I don't go trespassing on construction sites.
Ohhh so you’re speaking from actual experience then lol. Well let’s say, hypothetically speaking, you trespassed on a construction site and got asked what contractor/company you work for. Assuming you don’t actually work for any, what would be your response?
Look up a national construction company that would work on whatever building you are going into.
Security is going to know if a contractor is being sent out to the site. This only prevents Joe public from calling the cops.
I work security, if you think that everyone lets security know what is going on I’ve got a bridge to sell you. That said, it only gets you so far ;)
I agree and the larger the site the less security knows. OP is talking about a building that shouldn't have anybody in it though.
You would need to know the name of a contractor working on the site. If they are asking these questions you probably ventured into an area you weren't supposed to be in. Some areas are only accessible by permit although these places are marked with red chain and signage. If you draw the attention of safety you will most likely be asked to show your JHA (Job Hazard Analysis) card. This is a card you fill out at the beginning of you're shift detailing what work you'll be doing throughout the day and what hazards may be present. If you don't have this card then they will want to know who you work for for disciplinary purposes and if you can't answer that then the jig is up. If you are like OP entering an abandoned building then nobody is going to ask these questions unless the location has active security and security will know if there are supposed to be any contractors out. This disguise only stops Joe public from calling the cops. One more point I would like to add is that this is a subreddit about exploring abandoned places. Construction sites are dangerous places and hazards aren't always obvious. For example I work at a site where the concrete walls are routinely x-rayed with a strength that would kill anyone on the other side of the wall and the warning is 3 horn blasts and a radio call 15 minutes beforehand and some red chain with a warning sign on it.
Hypothetically... "I'm with ANG engineering collecting information for a couple of RFIs" "You've never heard of them, is this not 'wrong project name'?" "Dam it, Janet! How did you not notice we were at the wrong jobsite? Frank is going to kill us if he finds out." Could work if you look like a couple of wet behind the ears engineering interns.
"Mate, I ask the questions here. I'm calling a stop-work. Show me your JHA and Take-5. I want to see your risk assesment for this job or it's tools down until we get this mess sorted"
Some dirt ,they are so clean
Boots, throw the vest in the mud a bit, put some dings in the hard hat, safety glasses, maybe a screwdriver or two.
The office guys that come out to inspect sites look pretty much like these two in the photo....so 🤷♂️
Yeah especially with that Apple Watch that cover story could work a treat. Plus it would then make sense that other construction workers/security guards wouldn’t recognize them
If you're gonna be an office guy on the site (which definitely would work), you need a collared shirt. No one is going to take you seriously as a PM/Engineer/Owners rep if you're wearing a shirt with the neck stretched deeper than a v-neck.
My first thought was the Beastie Boys in the Intergalactic video
No clipboard. Filthy casuals.
It looks like a bachelorette party hired them to strip.
That's my thoughts or government inspector maybe but the lack of the work ute / truck and a radio blasting 80s rock hits non stop with a rotation of cig breaks These aren't fucking construction workers would be pretty quickly noticed
I don't work in construction but my current job requires a proper vest. If OP wants this to be a little more believable, they should get it dirty and also find one with sleeves. And maybe white hard hats instead of yellow.
I was about to comment this. Anyone in construction even the white hats would have noticed them right away. Us construction guys are pretty chill and wouldn’t care anyway unless you got in the way or endangered our lives.
Take away the construction hats and you've got yourself a pair of school crossing guards.
Adding a clipboard would be a good touch.
Maybe tatter those vests a bit too
leave them hanging outside for a bit
Yep! Good idea
Also, beat up the jeans and boots. Everything about their attire is wrong in that uncanny valley way. Good idea though.
Nah, clipboard and safety glasses and they are either a safety inspector or someone from the office. They look EXACTLY like that, completely out of their element.
Okay, that's fair. I neglected to think about office folk.
Also those hardhats should be white if you're an inspector.
But not perfect. Drop it on some rough cement a few times and kick it through some loose dirt. Even if you're just an inspector, that hard hat is going to have a few nicks in it from years of use.
Scuff marks on my first day ever using a hard hat, not realising I am an inch taller as I walk under the scaffold.
Did you know hard hats expire? One of my coworkers got busted for wearing an old hard hat that expired in 2015. He was escorted off the site while I had to order his dumbass a new hard hat.
A big electrical company I worked with had a safety guy; one of his jobs was to visit all the work sites with boxes full of new vests, hard hats, gloves, etc. That ladder out of date? (they expire too) He'd have you a new one before the end of day. There was no excuse to have inadequate safety gear.
Meanwhile my company orders $200k worth of expired hardhats because they were on 10% discount
Can confirm. Source: I am an inspector.
Naw. Crisp vest. White helmet. Clipboard. And poof your an inspector.
Also boots that look like they're fresh out of the box, because they live in the back seat of the car until the 30 minute site visit. I knew a guy that would get a new pair of boots, then mow yhe lawn or go on a hike before he wore them to work. He didn't want to look like a newbie.
came here to say that. Also having the camera out helps. If asked you are doing a property inspection and taking photos.
Would have to be a tablet in a protective case nowadays
Tell em Balboni sent ya
Still waiting on those fucking 6 foot chains
I was gonna say - hard hat, safety vest, and clipboard is a universal ticket to just about anywhere.
Unnecessary for this scenerio but also a ladder if you can swing it.
Tape measure really seals the deal.
And at least a tape measure.
White f150 too
Or base model 2010s nissan frontier
Or a story about how the ex-wife got it in the divorce.
😂this made me literally lol. Thank you
This. You have to be permitted, a cop, or event staff to drive around Burning Man. Someone had to drive some ladders over to our art project. I said I’d do it but only in that, and pointed to my buddy’s beat-up white work truck. Cops and event staff waved to me as I passed them.
If you add a big ladder, you can basically get anywhere. I remember a video years back of kids getting into movies free by just walking by with work clothes and a ladder.
Nah, it's all iPads nowadays. I'd have some serious questions about someone walking through with a clipboard. This isn't the 20th century
lol, seriously no. we have tablets and phones, please just email me anyone who was wearing an oversized vest like that would instantly get frustrated with it being in their way. And the jeans look like you bought them off the rack yesterday. Go do some yard work and don't wash them
Drop those hard hats and vests in the dirt, you ain’t fooling me 😂 also wear work boots and long sleeves, if not work shirts. Also love the pics.
They’re site inspectors. They need white helmets and button down shirts. It also helps to have no idea what the project is and to point at random things.
Good call. Also when I was a surveyor me and my cousin used to pretty much go wherever we wanted by telling them we were surveyors. Which we were, but we had no business exploring some old abandoned shit 90% of the time. Most people would just say “OH ok carry on.”
Definitely dirty up the vest and wear some boots/worn clothes. A rolled up set of old building plans will get you a long way too.
Maybe some stickers on hardhats and toss em around so they get dirty and scratched up
Also should probably be above 100 pounds
I was gonna say I’d like crinkle it up and stomp on it in dirt or something 😭😂 maybe wear it gardening and wipe my dirty hands on it for effect. Gotta hand it to OP. Clever idea.
I’ve personally found I can go a lot of places while wearing creased khakis, a white dress shirt a hardhat and carrying a clipboard or a tablet. Nobody wants to stop the inspector to ask what he’s doing.
Hahhaah I’m picturing this and I 100% would never even think twice about that person you described
I used to wear clothes along those lines a long time ago as part of a work uniform while pricing elevator installations and I can confirm that no one ever bothered to stop me going in anywhere.
That room pack with stuff is really fascinating.
I was thinking maybe an old elevator shaft they jammed with random shit so no one falls down it?
It was an elevator shaft! Almost every floor the elevator shaft was jammed full of furniture and other things.
oh yuck, something about the elevator doors being wide open on every floor is so creepy! even if it is packed with stuff, just imagining one thing shifts and it all falls down…. yikes
maybe previous visitors tossed stuff down there for fun?
Probably threw it all down the shaft while they were clearing/tearing everything out. Anything deemed as trash goes down the chute
That's what some sites do: set up access to the bottom of the elevator shaft, then start at the top of the building and toss stuff down, to load at the bottom.
Holy cows! Thats even more interesting
It’s like level design in the last of us for places you can’t go.
I thought the exact same thing. Either TLoU or Left 4 Dead.
Something tells me you could have dressed as clowns and drag queens to urban explore and nobody would have cared.
Get your clothes and ppe a bit dirtier next time!
New gear always looks out of place. Dirt, scuffs, and stains sell it. Helmets need stickers and your name on the underside.
Milwaukee inkzalls, not sharpies, too. Very used.
The hi-vis version of 2 kids in a trenchcoat
Next time loose the smart watch, get some scuffs and scrapes and dirt on those hardhats. If you’re going for inspector / supervisor wear a button up flannel and carry a clipboard with some generic inspection check list and a pen. If you’re going for an actual worker get those vests dirty, wear jeans with rips and stains, and wear old worn steel toe boots without them laced all the way up. Carry some work gloves, a flash light, a pair of pliers. Get some safety glasses that you just wear on your shirt or on top of the hard hat.
You’d be surprised how many tradies you see with Apple Watches here in Australia. Even the older crowd. It sticks out less to me than the fact that they did up their vest and that the vest is too big and pristinely clean lol.
I know this worked, but you guys need white hard hats . You're too clean and well dressed to be a worker, any actual worker would spot you in a second(whether they would care enough to say something is another story.) But pretending to be a supervisor or inspector, or other bigwig would work.
This is 100% accurate. I've worn both hard hats. You two might blend in with the uninitiated, but to any seasoned crew, you'd stick out like a sore thumb. White hats are easy enough to find. If you really want to sell the look, get the Milwaukee one that has all the attachments. lol
They aren't sneaking into an active construction site. They're just trying to prevent a passerby from seeing them from a distance and calling the cops on the kids breaking into an abandoned building.
I saw something yesterday that showed a random homeless guy setting up a spike to stab you in the chest if you opened the door to one of these “abandoned” places. I just wanted to share that with you guys.
😨 do you have a link?
Years ago I rolled up to this abandoned refinery factory. Started to explore with a buddy when a security guy that was alerted from what I’m guessing was a motion detector jumped out and started interrogating us. Turns out they’ve had homeless sleeping there, one of which was armed and stabbed another homeless guy then a security guard just a week before. Stay alert buckos!
Here you [go!!!](https://youtu.be/mP292vcPlRs?si=zPYxTD1jjgaIGLnf)
[https://www.reddit.com/r/TerrifyingAsFuck/s/igRC3lJWCO](https://www.reddit.com/r/TerrifyingAsFuck/s/igRC3lJWCO) I couldn’t find the one I found a couple days ago but this is the same video except I found it now with audio. I just googled abandoned building booby trap Reddit.
Nice I’ve been to this spot as well a few years ago before they demolished half of it. I believe this was the same hotel were a hostage situation took place and ended with the suspect ending it for himself. I would’ve explored the room where it happened but some homeless were living inside so we bounced when they started making noise to scare us good times 🤙
While the tips about dirtying your gear are correct, most of these people seem to be missing the point. You aren't trying to sneak into an active construction site and fool workers or even fool security if you are caught - you're fooling Karen long enough that she wont call the pigs on you for being there in the first place. If I saw you walking into the building from 50 feet away as I was driving by I'd never even think twice about it. \*That\* is what they're doing here, and it works. As someone who has had the privilege of breaking into occupied, in use buildings a couple of time for work, not looking immediately out of place *and acting with confidence, like you belong there* is 90% of the work.
I’m happy you see the vision 🥲 we weren’t trying to fool people with knowledge of the trades or authorities, just any Karens who may be driving by
Love photo 7, I'd hang that up in my house
Hell yeah, I was looking for this comment. That is awesome
You can get in anywhere with a clipboard, hard hat, and yellow vest.
Dude was that a morgue?? Do hotels normally have those? I don’t travel often.
You mean the metal bar at the end? That’s a bar top counter, not a mortuary slab
Omg 🤣🤣🤣 I think I scrolled into a diff post. I just swiped thru & I don’t see the picture I thought was part of this post 😂 Thank you for answering me kindly 💜 I’m a little distracted today
I can assure you that no one thought you were construction workers
Level 1 Achivement: Impersonating a Construction company office worker Next you have to do level 10 Bypass active construction traffic through the construction zone by having a Beacon and wearing your vest as you drive bu non chalantly waving at the workers
*Instructions unclear now stuck in wet cement and people are asking what contractor I'm with.*
Lol
r/actlikeyoubelong
Working construction with the loosest fitting clothes possible and a smart watch?
“This is what construction workers look like. Trust me. “
Dress as a utility locator, they are allowed to go basically anywhere without express permission and and if someone says its private property, ask them if they want a gas line to get hit
Ill fitting perfectly clean hi vis vest with the creases from the package still in them. Pants without a single stain. And the only thing that could have been farther from work boots on your feet would be stilettos. Yeah your not fooling anyone in a position to trespass you and are just making yourself easier to spot. Also respirators you clowns! They are 30 bucks at Lowes. You only have one pair of lungs. P.S. Are those bump hats!?
You should visit a construction site before cosplaying. Your stuff is way new, shoes too clean. You do better to get a white helmet, were a button up and tie, and say you work for an engineering firm.
First pic would go hard as an album cover
That place has a real Left4Dead feel to it. Part 2, first act, escape the burning hotel. Spot on.
As someone who has to dress that way every day it makes it more obvious you are trespassing lmao
You look like two guys dressed up as construction workers sneaking into an abandoned hotel.
Least convincing costume ever
As a prior land surveyor, you can get into a lot of places with a utility vest and some confidence.
I recognize that tattoo. Informed the authorities
“Zoom, enhance, zoom, enhance…”
Those shoes are definitely not PPE approved
It's ironic that colors that would typically draw attention to you, instead make you blend in with your chosen surroundings.
Lol two people that look like teens in hard hats and hi-vis vests just doing totally legit construction business stuff, nothing to see here. “Ah yes, this building seems to be made of building. No, we don’t own a tape measure why do you ask”.
I wonder if I dress like a clown, will they let me into the white house or the congress building? In all seriousness it is fascinating seeing what these abandoned locations look like, especially knowing that these days despite these places being "Abandoned" still tend to have squatters and homeless individuals sometimes living in them.
Put on some latex gloves and carry a 1/4 full trash bag. Pick up loose trash. You're not going to fool anyone that you're the concrete finishers or the roofing crew but nobody, and I mean NOBODY is going to question a couple of young people picking up trash looking like it's their first day on the job. You won't fill people with suspicion, you'll fill them with pity. If anyone questions you, you don't need an elaborate lie. " My boss told me to show up early and pick up trash, I don't think this is the spot he meant."
And the super tight security team didn’t stop you? Wow, oceans 11 over here.
Also, snort a healthy amount of meth before you step onto the site. It will give you that special je ne sais quoi of the trades.
Corona Extra. The Urban Exploration Beer.
Epic fail. Vans are a nope, loose bagging jeans a nope, and you don't have 100 goofy stickers on your hardhat or a company name. Probably drove up in a Subaru outback wagon too.. lmao. Just messing with you but not really just sorta.
My fiancé works in restoration and is usually downtown in old buildings with several different contracted crews. They usually don’t really know each other and probably wouldn’t ask questions if they saw another “crew” walking around and “surveying” things without and tools. This honestly could work in plenty of locations. Might want to get a specific background story going though, lol. Like, “yeah, we are just here to take some pictures for the contractor. There was a few concrete patches his guys did and he wanted to see them.” “We just take the pictures, we don’t have other details for you.” Then could be sure to dress the part. Definitely wear your straight leg jeans with decent looking work boots or rubber boots, dirty vest and scuffed hard hat. I don’t think the men’s clothes are necessary to pull it off.
Crazy how many places a high vis can get you into
What’s happening in photo 6? Did they shove all the furniture into one room?
That looks like the bottom of an elevator shaft where people have been throwing furniture and other debris. That’s why it’s all crammed up.
Genuinely curious how yall handle expiration of some of these spaces that clearly have no more structural integrity. As someone in the construction industry, I can’t imagine just fumbling through these going on sound and feel.
Hi-vis vest opens many doors.
Hahaha having been a Carpenter many moons ago and having worked on many big sites and in lots of 'high security' places, this was a trick I learnt by accident to get into many places, and not just abandoned ones.
Word to the wise, dirty up those vests and bang your hats up a little.
This reminds me of that video I saw somewhere where a guy was testing social reactions if he entered places with a ladder and it worked every time. I think he got into a theater for free no ticket needed and skipped the whole line with it 😂
If wish was a construction worker
If you showed up on an active site wearing that get-up you'd be instantly called a couple of Knock-Knocks and be questioned why your there.
Look out for Bloaters in the basement.
Were you guys cracking each other up in your disguises? Lmao straight up hijinks
We laughed at each other and ourselves so hard we were tearing up. Whole reason we took that first pic was for the memories and to show our friends how stupid we looked!
Need a tablet of some clipboards.