Concealment devices or diversion safes are used to hide things for the purpose of secrecy or security. They are made from an ordinary household object such as a book, a soda can, a candle, a can, or something as small as a coin. The idea is that such an inconspicuous object would not be expected to contain anything of worth.
Examples in espionage include dead drop spikes for transferring items to other people, and hollowed-out coins or teeth for concealing suicide pills. Examples in smuggling include suitcases with false bottoms for hiding contraband.
During World War II MI9 was responsible for creating many concealment devices for "escape aids" to assist prisoners of war to escape.
Famous quotes containing the word device:
“UG [universal grammar] may be regarded as a characterization of the genetically determined language faculty. One may think of this faculty as a ‘language acquisition device,’ an innate component of the human mind that yields a particular language through interaction with present experience, a device that converts experience into a system of knowledge attained: knowledge of one or another language.”
—Noam Chomsky (b. 1928)