Let me start by making it clear this is a fun thought exersize, not a serious survival concern. I'm not worried about having to escape from a POW camp or hostage situation.

That said, I recently read a book where a group of passengers were held hostage on a train by the Soviets as part of a bout of political trouble over a seized Russian submarine. The passengers seemed completely unequipped for the situation, even though this was the fifties or sixties when most men still carried a pocket knife and society was more rural and thus outdoor skills more common. Additionally, what supplies they might have had, maps, tools, compass, etc. would have almost certainly been confiscated during searches of their luggage.

So I begain thinking, what items would I put into an escape kit (for getting out of confinement, not a supermax prison, and for surviving and navigating a short distance of say 10-20 km afterwards) and how would I conceal the items so they wouldn't be found and confiscated?

Requirements for the kit would be that it should be easily conceallable or completely innocuous in appearance, relatively cheap, and useful (although almost certainly not sufficient) in any environment.

Items I so far would include on the list would be a compass, a knife, writing supplies, trade/bribe items, a watch, matches, a wire saw, a small flashlight, wire cutters, water purification tablets and compact rations.

As for concealment, false bottoms on luggage, and hidden compartments in other items come obviously to mind. What other ways can people think of to conceal helpful items?

So any suggestions or additions to this list (I know I don't have everything a person would want or need)? Or suggestions of products that fill these roles? Please note that things like watches, multi-tools, and writing materials would or might be confiscated. Only the absolute, most basic innocuous items are likely to escape scrutiny or confiscation.

Somethings I've found so far: A replacement blade for a Stanley pocket knife, its slightly larger then an exacto blade, and more robust, but still very slim and completely flat. An improvised handle would be very easy to make or include somewhere else in the kit. Water purification tablets could be stored in a first aid kit, possibly in an emtied asprin vial. Compact rations in the form of candy bars might be innocuous enough to avoid confiscation and could also serve as a low level trade/bribe item ditto single serving powdered gatorade packets. If carried with cigerettes (also a trade/bribe item, useful even if you don't smoke), matches maybe innocuous enough to be over looked. A wire saw can be concealled relatively easily in the seam of a piece of luggage, especially if you carry battered luggage and are handy with a needle and thread.

Here in Texas a prison inmate (low security prison) cut his way through the bars of his cell using dental floss coated with sand. It took a while but the cuts were so thin as to be unnoticable.

The jade carvers in China use a similar technique. They coat a fine, strong thread in sand and slowly wear there way through the jade.

Something to consider.

-Blast

link to prison break story (towards end of article)

Another option for a compass is a removable metal clip for a pen or mechanical pencil. You could magnetize it and then balance it on the pencil tip or hang it from a thread. The pencil I'm using now has a removable clip with holes in it you can tie a thread around. I have to point out this isn't an original idea, its borrowed from WWII escape equipment.

Also the Stanley pocket knife blade I mentioned is sturdy enough to use the back end as a flat head screw driver. Not super tough, but enough for unscrewing outlet plates or similar tasks. Drop it under the paper in an Altoids tin full of mints and even an x-ray shouldn't pick it up.

For a flashlight, ultra concealable, just a red led and a button battery will work. Not very robust, not very bright (that maybe a plus) but very conceallable. Sealing the two parts between pieces of tape will prevent water damage before you need them.

A map of the area would be very helpful, but might be hard to conceal, and you don't know at what point in the trip you might need it. Simple large scale maps silk screened on to regular handkercheifs might work. Roads, railroads, towns and other big features. Then fold up and put in your pocket. On the other hand, if they go through the clothes in your luggage and find one it would be almost impossible to explain way. I can already hear them shouting, "SPY!!".

Just as an FYI, last week my family & I traveled out to Glacier National Park on the Amtrak Empire Builder, traveling from Milwaukee to West Glacier, Montana (and then back again in the return trip).

Since West Glacier is so small, we weren't able to check luggage, so carried it on by hand. In addition to our regular luggage (rolling duffles), each of my kids had a daypack with a knife (son had a Kabar Dozier Spear and daughter had a SAK Climber) and their survival gear, and I had my daypack with my survival gear, including both a folding RSK Mk1 and fixed Mk3. I left the Mk1 in my daypack rather than carry it in my pocket, just so as to not invite questions. I'll admit I was nervous about the possible questioning of the fixed blade, but I'd done my homework and read that knives weren't an issue as long as you're not carrying around a large saw or ax.

Nobody came even close to checking baggage or asking about the contents of our luggage.

I should also note that the same daypacks went through a full vehicle inspection at the border while crossing from the the U.S. to Canada on our way to Waterton. I KNOW they pulled stuff out of my pack since the location of gear had changed and some had been left behind on the floor of the rear area. No questions asked. The border guards were very cordial and respectful. There was not an inspection when returning from Candada to the U.S. side.

Funny you mention this. I heard about this somewhere years ago, probably in grade school. Run the string through a tube of chap-stick, so the sand sticks to it better. Didn't think it'd actually work!

Reminds me a little of the movie Shanghai Noon: "You said wet shirt don't break, not [censored] shirt bend bar!" (You have to see it to get it)

Escape from controlled custody is the basically the same no matter where you are, the only question is how much depth the defenses have, the likelyhood of being busted by the gaurds, and how agressive the perimeter is (2KV on a fence, land mines, five mile swim, dogs, yeah, that kind of thing will make think twice). You need both patience and speed, guile, stealth, misdirection, razzle dazzle, ruthlessness and intelligence. Otherwise you get holed by who ever is on duty.

As layer one, how about something like the gadget pen Duluth Trading had here . Several varieties of concealable lock picks.

Add to it a length of tech cord, say 4mm, stitched in along them hem of your traveling jacket- 300kg test isn't steel, but it isn't fishline either. Similiarly, you can stash a few ounces of weight in each end of a silk scarf (embroidered at the ends to hide the weight visually)- use it like a manriki gusari.

Have a cobbler resole your shoes/boots, and see if he can give you some space inside the heel to carry a two or three gold soverigns or something similar, then attach the insole so it has to be cut away to get to the compartment- don't waste time with hollywood-esque sliding heels. You can also put other items in such a compartment. Always, always, always, composite toe shoes or boots.

If you have patches on your jacket or pack, you can put small items under them. With the 'cro patches that are so in vogue now, it's even easier becuase the loop side is stiff.

A can of spray deoderant, travel size. It's almost as effective as pepper spray.

Learn to limp. If I have to, I can make it look like my knee is permanently screwed up rather than being all better by a lot of years. That gives me a cane- not a cane gun or a sword stick, just a cane with a hook top on it. In the hands of someone with a bad limp and a face that looks like they are in pain- not a problem, you turn your back on them. Oops.

If you smoke, carry a spare pack. Learn how to seal the pack in a way that makes it look like wasn't cut open. Even if they do open it, have your toys under cut off filters.

A needle file is thin enough it can concealed in the seam of something like a cowboy boot- the triangluar ones can be used to cut and shank as well as file.

And if you want to get really funky, look up the CIA escape and evasion kit. The container was very smooth and about the size of a cigar tube- one guess as to the last ditch concealment method. A couple of knife blades, a couple of files, a drill, an awl, and handle that did double duty as a pair of wire snips and a light duty prybar. I'd pull a blade and a file, and throw in a ferrorod, some waxed braided cord, a tension bar and a rake pick.

False bottoms in luggage are of questionable value. They deter pick pockets and naughty baggage mishandlers, but someone making a determined search, forget it. It's too well known, you segregate your barter items from their luggage.

Ironraven,

If we ever end up in prison I want to be your cellmate.

Uh, wait a minute, that doesn't sound quit right...

-Blast

Don't worry Kuovonne, I'll take good care of him. *strokes Blast's hair*

You lost me on this. what in this list needs concealing? "I carry walking gear because I'm a walker" is a hard argument to beat. BUT carry that small knife in a hollow shoe and whoah! they discover that and you'd be seeing daylight a week later if you were lucky when stopped at any airport. The reason real spies hate gadgets.

You can talk yourself out of anything if you act dumb enough. "I was just looking for my flight and carry a store bought camera because I'm a tourist. Oh really? they are migs?" Goes down a lot better than "well err... about that camera concealed in my cigarette lighter"
simon

what's the advantage of composite boots?
simon

The reason for the concealment is looking at this from a prisoner's point of view not a tourist's. They'll take away your pocket knife in a snip, but they might not notice the scalpel blade in your wallet. Its similar to the idea of a PSK except you have the added challenge not just of losing or breaking your primary gear but of having someone actively attempting to take it from you.

Plus you're looking at this from an American point of view where you have civil liberties and the LEO's predominately have common sense. In the US, a pocket knife needs little to no explaination, in another country its grounds for summary arrest. Doesn't matter whether you were concealling it from a search or not.

Like steel toe when they hit, but they don't set of security as often and they are non conductive. And at sub-zero, they aren't as chilly.

If asked, my IEEE membership card means that there is no question. :P

Well, I'll be honest AROTC, my list is mostly a mental exercise. If I ever have to take hostages, after the first half hour or so, they are going to be striped, completely, then be either be bound and gagged, stuck in the same holding area together without thier clothes, or stuck in the same holding area together with clothes we provide for them. I would expect the same of most pros.

And if I had to whack a hostage to prove a point, it wouldn't be granma, it would be a kid in his late teens or early 20s, the age of halfwit heroics.

I'm so glad I'm one of the good guys!

ah that makes more sense than the original idea of hiding non- suspicious items in secret compartments in your luggage. concealing equals guilt to the people who look for these things.
I'm actually in england where everything is banned. and one thing to bear in mind is 'attitude is everything' with our police and from what i've found; others.
i was once stopped cos i took a 5 inch locking folder (illegal on both counts) out of my pocket and put it on the x ray for the train to France. When they questioned me, they realised I simply didn't know they had changed the law, so they just confiscated the knife and let me go. If they'd found that in my sock I don't think the result would have been the same.
Course if I had known it was illegal I'd have simply put it in my luggage.
simon

ah that makes more sense than the original idea of hiding non- suspicious items in secret compartments in your luggage. concealing equals guilt to the people who look for these things.
I'm actually in england where everything is banned. and one thing to bear in mind is 'attitude is everything' with our police and from what i've found; others.
I was once stopped cos i took a 4 inch and locking folder (illegal on both counts) out of my pocket and put it on the x ray for the train to France. When they questioned me, they realised I simply didn't know they had changed the law, so they just confiscated the knife and let me go. If they'd found that in my sock I don't think the result would have been the same.
Course it would have become legal by my simply putting it in my luggage.
Which reminds me. At least here in England something becomes a weapon if 'intended' to be used as one. The comments about the walking stick and composite soles are an admission of law breaking.
simon

I don't quite get the scenario. I have a money belt with some items in, and that doesn't make me a spy. If I were somehow caught up in a hostage situation while visiting a bank, it might get overlooked. I like to carry a hacksaw blade in it - I've seen Saw.

For evasion I agree with the comments about using a magnetised bit of metal as a compass, so I know which way to run. Good quality clothes and boots will be important, if you get to keep them. A bandanna has many uses and will likely be ignored.

Something that just occurred to me is getting a cheap watch with a steel wrist-band, and either pre-honing the clasp into a blade or else doing it in the field.

Completely true, although now that I've gone through the fun little exersize, I'm sure some of the concepts and tools can be applied to our everyday carry for more mundane emergencies.

If you magnetize just about anything you could use as a compass, you're never with out one, even if you forget or lose your PSK along with the rest of your kit (as unlikely as that happening might be).

If you travel, lots of people you might want to curry favor with in foriegn (especially third world) countries might be swayed with a simple pack of American cigarettes. Carrying cigarettes when travelling even if you don't smoke might save you a lot of trouble.

Just another way of looking for solutions to the problems we're preparing for.

Depends on where you go. Our smokes generally suck, and you can get them easily enough in the Americas and parts of the PacRim. If you're thinking that tobacco as a trade good, paying extra for some good, slim cigars would probably be better than Marbs or Camels.

I have already worked this one out. Given that there are certain areas of the world in which any British or American citizen stands to be kidnapped, coerced and then murdered, you need a concealable escape kit. In practice that means something like the SAS escape belt. That's basically a webbing belt that has various item sewn to the reverse side under a layer of material.

What I have done is take an Eagle Creek money belt and stash in it:
1. A spark-lite.
2. Tinder.
3. Tin Foil.
4. Wire.
5. BCB Commando Saw.
6. NATO brass compass.
7. Scalpel blade.
8. 4' paracord.
9. 10' braided cord.
10. 4 small cable tidy's.
11. A small fishing kit, including a gaff hook.
12. 20' Dental floss on a spool.
13. 4 MP-1 tablets.
14. 2 needles.

That gives me everything that I need to kill one or more of my guards, set a booby trap or four, escape and make my way to freedom.

As a point: a lot of the bits came out of one of Doug's SK and it's quite heavily modelled on the survival kit belt reviewed in the survival kit's section on the main site.

stripping you of your wallet, watch, belt and shoes or shoelaces would be a likely measure, wouldn't it? It seems to me that as a hostage, the only possible secure stash would he a small capsule,rectally inserted.

Jeff

Uh, Jeff....

EVERYONE thinks of that. That is why I always carry gloves.

Properly trained L.E.O's etc will find everything. They ain't the problem.
Terrorists (who are)ain't going to search people in the short term. Long term - yes.
Basic rule is to escape at the first oppotunity. If they say that they will kill "x" no of people if someone escapes? Escape anyway. If your are a Brit Cit or an Amercan your probably going to be killed anyway.

on the mention of getting killed.... I think LEOs and MOD personnel are at extra risk of getting it first when captured. So as soon as youre captured what do you do with your MOD/LEO ID card? Attempt to cut open the seat from below and stashing it there...?

A friend once showed me how to conceal a razorblade (single edged, in your mouth (sharp edge down and placed between your cheek and gums), you use your tongue to remove it from this position and you can get to it REALLY fast.

What did he do time for? Or was he just in a gang?

Stupid idea- one sneeze and you either cut off your tounge or you get really lucky and swallow the razor blade.

Rumor was that the B-girls in Viet Nam did that trick, then at the appropriate moment would whip the blade out and whack the unsuspecting G.I. in the worst possible place (from a guys point of view). Don't know if that was ever documented, or just guy talk, kind of like the old square needle story...

I'd only want a razor blade if I was planning on getting into a fight, when being hit in the face is a possibility. Wouldn't fancy that with a razor blade in my cheek. I've heard of criminals keeping a lockpick or handcuff key there.
simon

Actually, to my mind, and in the orginal E&E scenario, I only want a couple of things:

A way out immediate captivity: lockpicks and a wire saw
What I need to run back home: compass (for direction), space blanket (OG for choice!) for shelter (or similar - you won't have time to knock up a lean to with fire if you are running hard with anyone on your tail, but if you do get to lie-up, an instant shelter makes all the difference), a water bag and purification tablets (if you are moving any distance, drinking water is pretty important)

Most of this is small or flexible for concealment. I'd like lots of other stuff, but this isn't my EDC or a PSK, it is my response to the original question.