Kidnapped, taken hostage, prisoner of war? What To Do If You Are Kidnapped ?How to escape and flee from a forced captivity?
The acronym ” SERE ” used by the Anglo-Saxon special forces means: Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape. It is a military education that includes techniques for escape and escape in the event of capture, as well as survival knowledge.
These techniques could mean killing his kidnappers, getting rid of handcuffs, crocheting a lock, or creating a diversion – for example by lighting a fire. In short, how to escape from a forced captivity …
In the face of the possibility of a future societal collapse, most survivors who are preparing are very concerned about their water and food stocks, defensive measures, means of transport (in case of gas shortage), energy In case the lights go out for good), heating, communication, etc.
However, the key to good preparation is to take into account the widest possible range of circumstances and information – including those that at first sight might seem outside the usual domain of survivalism. This is the case for techniques Evasion and Escape .
The fact is that a significant number of survivalists as well as civilians are likely to face possible opportunities for captivity in such a scenario; Knowing how to escape and escape could therefore be as important as water or food.
Surviving Captivity: Gathering and Working as a Team to Escape
If your kidnappers know a minimum about their subject in terms of keeping you quiet, they will practice the partitioning; That is, they will isolate you and prevent you from helping each other. However, it is unlikely, in a scenario of chaos, that average criminals know the benefits they would have to do that, or even that they have the resources to effectively separate everyone.
The best hypothesis would be that you have people you know, trust, and communicate with.
Such a thing would be possible in a government camp, for example, and you should use it to your advantage, as well as your motivation, to escape quickly rather than wait. Having people with whom you can believe is an enormous motivator and will also help you with your survival skills.
Working together as a team makes escaping easier than when you are alone. As a team, you can share tasks; You can create diversions and benefit from more resources and talents to rely on.
What if the situation is worse than expected?
What if we were not dealing with an economic collapse, but a martial law or a government overthrow that would lead to the creation of internment camps? At this point, everything is possible. An Islamic, Chinese, Russian or other flag could float one day at Elisha, or the flag of any “world government” now in power.
Instead of a government camp, it could be one of the concentration camp style; Or the jail of a gang of criminals, in which at most you would remain, the more you would chance to die miserably. Hunger, disease, execution.
If you do not feel like it, then you’ll understand why Escape & Evacuation techniques are an integral part of special forces training. And for several decades, to the extent that in any conflict there is always a risk of falling into the hands of a brutal enemy.
Adaptation is an essential skill
This training is based on adaptation. It is better to be a good “touch-all” than a master in the art of one or two things, because it confers some adaptability in a survival situation. Being able to adapt – that is, improvise according to circumstances – is an essential skill that could save your life on more than one occasion.
Enforced captivity: can this happen?
Let’s begin by listing some situations of chaos where anyone could end up in forced captivity.
For example, government camps set up after a major disaster, social unrest and severe shortages of food, water or other resources – to control the population; Kidnapping, or enslavement by one of the many post-chaos gangs, whether it’s for fun, sex trafficking, forced labor, ransom, or just because a lawless world will have made it possible .
This could include well-trained and heavily armed ethnic groups, advancing across the country, every city, motivated by hatred, racism, resentment, or revenge; Legal or illegal gangs existing before the collapse, individuals who would have become psychologically disturbed during the course of the events, and who would no longer have access to their usual drugs or drugs (neuroleptics and others).
Prisoner-of-war or terrorist camps (or considered as such by the authorities in power);
Communities or groups of people in extreme famine, who would use humans as food stores (cannibalism). The list could be very long …
Attention to Stockholm Syndrome
One thing to watch out for is Stockholm Syndrome , which is gradually taking hold. We talked about this in our first article. It is the fact of getting accustomed to captivity until finding it “comfortable”, and then prefer to risk the unknown in the hands of its captors rather than elsewhere in another context or other hands. Such a thing is more likely to happen over time, which means that from the moment you are captured, you play against the clock.
The first thing: your state of mind
There are four concepts that form the basis upon which all competencies will accumulate. They will be, in a way, the Four Aces of your game. They apply to any survival situation, but especially in captivity. Indeed, physical abilities alone will be useless if you are paralyzed mentally or psychologically by events that may occur around you.
1. The Attitude
Attitude in this case means the will to survive . This means developing the ability to let negative experiences slide in the same way that water slips on a duck’s feathers, and focus on the positive. This could be the attitude of survival in a situation of life or death in front of someone who wants to hurt you or kill you, to the ability to withstand the lack of food, water, sleep, Comfort, etc.
Attitude can be learned, and that is why military training forces recruits to work together under stressful conditions and loaded with adrenaline.
2. Adaptability
It means the ability to create new tools or new ways of seeing problems with what’s on hand. But to be adaptable, you must first possess some basic skills and knowledge. This is what the survival manuals, and Survive Chaos files are all about . If you follow the site, you know that from the moment you have some hunting cartridges, you can make a weapon with plumbing pipes recovered in a house …
You can make sound alarms,
you can make A water filter,
and the list goes on …
Adaptability means knowing abstract concepts and common sense, and then applying them in a new and different way each time. This can be learned, especially when you are placed in unusual circumstances with unusual tools, salvage materials, and other resources to work with.
The creative act, thinking ” outside the box “, is something that one learns more easily when one finds oneself in a situation that forces us to do it again and again. In this way, we learn new things and new ways of thinking that have not appeared to us the previous times, knowing that once learned, they will not be forgotten.
3. Consciousness
Consciousness is crucial, both as a survival skill in itself and as an underlying concept upon which all the rest can rely. Consciousness is something that can be practiced at any time, literally, and we have already talked about it many times on this blog. The only thing she asks is to remember! That is to say to remember that we must be in the present moment at every moment of our lives, and make sure by the will to be actually …
In a situation of survival, this means increasing consciousness in Learning to “breathe” through his five senses, and then gathering the whole. For a scout on reconnaissance mission, this gives more information with which to work, usually before anyone has this information. This gives an advantage that in some situations can make the difference between life and death.
4. Responsibility
Both at the team and at the individual level. Recognize our merit for the things that we do well, and accept the responsibility of those we do wrong. Nor is our aim to blame ourselves beyond measure, but to acknowledge that we are solely responsible for our mistakes and to learn from them in order not to reproduce them. In a scenario of chaos, there could be no place for two identical fouls, and sometimes even, for one.
This also applies to members of the same team. Insist on the positive, but by establishing and designating the responsibilities for the negative.
Using the Four Aces in an escape and flight scenario
How will these concepts work in reality if you are held captive?
First, one must understand the prisoner’s condition from the point of view of attitude and conscience. Aside from helping you avoid situations likely to cause you to be captured (it is too late, you are already), awareness and attitude will be at their peak during the first 24-72 hours from removal. This means that you must use this time frame to your advantage. Unless you are seriously injured, dehydrated, sick or weakened, your best chances of escape are when your kidnappers and yourself are in motion for the first 2/3 days.
It is during this time that you will probably be the strongest, the most alert for some chance of escape, and there will not yet be any routine installed in your mind that would pull you down. In addition, if your kidnappers do not keep you in a permanent location, the fortifications around your captivity are likely to be weak (eg, if you are on the road or in a transit location) compared to those offered by a camp Or a place of confinement.
Role play game
Keep a strong inner attitude, but do not show it to your kidnappers. Show physical signs of abandonment or submission. It’s only theater. Head down, shoulders brought forward, not dragging possibly accompanied by a slight limp to simulate an injury or illness, soft voice addressing the kidnappers with fear and respect … All this is a good start to give you some advantage .
Though you show as weakness in your role play, develop around a clean story . This will help you not only to play fair, but will give you a fictitious “breaking point” – a point where you will collapse and claim to be emotionally destroyed as if you had completely given up – in case you are tortured or subjected to the question By your kidnappers, whether for information or for pleasure.
For example, your story might be that you have seen one of your loved ones get killed before your eyes, or witnessed something horrible that you can not overcome. The world will probably be filled with people in such a state of mind after a collapse of society, so you will not go too far if you adopt that kind of story and the role that flows from it, which is a good thing . The important thing is precisely not to stand out.
Strategy for Women
If you are an attractive woman, and think that those who have captured you would like to take advantage of it, make yourself less pretty by dirtying your body, your hair, clothes, & c. Also lower your posture, feigning weakness, illness … But first make sure you know what this could lead you. If you were deliberately wounding yourself with the risk of sending you to the stack of captives / rubbish, or to a platoon, that is not the solution either.
Women are supposed to have instinct in this domain, and men are equally cons to each other; So know how to use it.
You must buy enough time and opportunities to escape, and do what it takes to survive and keep you healthy until that time. At the earliest this moment will come, at best you will be in shape to escape and escape.
Playing a weak and submissive person also gives the advantage of surprise in case you have to master your kidnappers. It also means that you represent a weaker threat, and, a priori, someone who would not need to be watched too closely.
Physical Evasion
Freeing oneself from one’s ties is sometimes not as impossible as it seems. The ropes relax and it is difficult to hold someone with it for a long time. Ordinary patterns of plastic self-locking ties break easily, whether one attaches hands in front or behind. In a few minutes of practice, you can get rid of it, whatever their size and strength. There are extra-strong models used by military and law enforcement agencies that are much more difficult to break but can be sawn easily on any rough angle or even by friction against a length Of paracord (another good reason to use paracord as laces …).
One can also conceal a key for metal handcuffs, knowing that the vast majority of the models used are standard, and even open with a paper clip or a hairpin (truthful). It takes a bit of practice, but everybody can learn in a few hours. There are countless videos on YouTube that show how to do it. Keeping a paper clip at the bottom of a pocket is
therefore not a bad idea … Crocheting the lock of a padlock is not impossible either, or even that of a door. It will still take some material, and patience … There too, many videos exist on the Net. But looking at them will not suffice; Practice in this area is more essential than ever.
Some questions to ask you before you escape:
– Assuming that you are capable, are you ready to kill someone?
– Do you have a way to escape without anyone knowing?
– If you are suspected before you do so, do you have a story and a role in it that would give you a chance to bring down the suspicions of your guards, or at least avoid physical punishment or transfer to a more Confined?
Leakage or evacuation
Once you have managed to escape, the serious things will begin. In fact, an escape is only the beginning. Depending on where you are and the conditions of the moment, it could lead to a multitude of perils as big as, if not more so than detention itself. In any case, the escape or evacuation that will follow the escape will be easier if you have some special abilities or talents such as: Knowledge of the direction in which to leave
- The ability to orientate (map, orientation without compass, etc.)
- Countermeasures in the event of hunting
- Personal Defense (Army and Bare Hand)
- Sufficient endurance for long distances
- Skills for primitive and urban survival along the way
- A destination…
- And the will to survive!
Keep in mind that escape is only about getting to the point where you have a chance to get out , and that once again, survival when you’re alone is much more difficult than in a group where The tasks, abilities and knowledge of others can always fill the domains that are less mastered.
Practicing Essential Skills for Survival
Needless to say, the skills you’ll need in case of escape are the ones you should already be working on. This will not be the time to learn how to light a fire or cook a piece of meat without being spotted once you are on the run. Learn these skills now, and work them at home or in the woods.
Once you have practiced these essential skills, even if only to get a global overview, you will at least be given a serious chance to survive.
Be prepared in mind for the worst-case scenario
Remember that there is a great difference between starting a fire by friction in summer, when it is 30 ° C in the shade and it has not rained for ages, and the same thing happens in Winter when it is -10 ° outside, floating for three weeks, and you are soaked to the bone.
This means training under all conditions, including those that generate the same adrenaline and nervous tension that you would have to undergo in a chaotic environment. And train as a team if necessary, so as to motivate you, energize each other, and get better results.
Conclusion
In summary, understand all the problems you may face in case you are held captive. Start thinking now about the various abilities discussed in this article, and how you can learn and practice them. Practical spirit, awareness, adaptability and responsibility can be exercised in your everyday life, and there is no need for a survival situation to implement them.
For example, when you are about to go out, take a few seconds or minutes to make this transition from inside to outside. Observe how a cat proceeds; It is extremely instructive. An animal will stop on the landing and “sniff”; He will listen and observe, and then, gently, go outside.
Look far ahead, and not just two yards away from you.
Relax your attitude, breathe deeply, and begin to believe more in your intuition.
Intuition is just like another of your skills – the more you practice it, the better it will become. This kind of exercise can be done by anyone, anywhere, and at any time. It will also help you prepare. It will not replace skills, but necessarily complements them.
You might have all the skills of the world, but if you walk out with zero consciousness and attitude of someone who abandons easily, then all these skills will be useless.
Think like a survivor; Never lose hope.
Hanging on to your faith will give you perseverance and the will to survive, where others would have already given up any hope of escaping. In their mind, they are already dead.
Develop a plan. Plan your escape at the right time. But do not wait too long. Remember, the right time could be right after your capture, while you are still strong, healthy, and have the energy to escape, and run …