Many of us learned to get around most hostile situations by joining together in groups for safety. Such groups over a long period of time establish roles that's members are comfortable with and what you can get is a handful of guys doing their thing with very little worry to their security, indeed such a setup deters enemies into choosing easier targets. As an outspoken member of NSFLAP I'll add: Join a faction it's lots of fun, you can also have your indie big stick on the side too.