Taking prisoners in a SHTF situation

[prkchp76]

here ya go

Thanks for the replies.

What made me think of this was a discussion I had with a friend of mine about our past military training.

And when I muse about taking prisoners, I never intend to care for and feed them for the long term. They would be expendable sources of information and allegations, treated as well or as non-humanely as necessary until I felt they had given me everything they could. They would not be returning to their cohorts...

if they show harm you kill them imediatley

[methusaleh]

Thanks for the replies.

What made me think of this was a discussion I had with a friend of mine about our past military training.

And when I muse about taking prisoners, I never intend to care for and feed them for the long term. They would be expendable sources of information and allegations, treated as well or as non-humanely as necessary until I felt they had given me everything they could. They would not be returning to their cohorts...

[Red Diamond Ranch]

Nope, no prisoners, period. I have enough mouths to feed when tougher times come this way. People don't want to come here during good times. We live 20 miles past the town of "Screw it I'm not wasting the gas to go there". There is only one way in here and one way out.

No one comes here that we don't know. This is the place you were warned about as a child to never go to.

[cwconnertx]

The problem with prisoners, other than the danger and the responsibility to care for them, is that they generally can gather a lot of intelligence during captivity, then you release them and they know to come back, after all you have been caring for them the whole time, they know what food you have, maybe the medical supplies, the layout of your property, etc.

Not even considering it here.

[dreadinger]

I believe in no prisoners, I also think our worst enemy is going the domestic gangs. They are growing in members and we are surrounded by them!

[denvernative321]

well maybe if i had to cuff someone then ok but i would never take a prisoner. they could get loose and you would be in some trouble. i know if someone had taken me prisoner for some reason or another my first though would be break out and take as many with me as i could if i couldent leave the situation.

[Dracos]

When I was in comercial dive school, a respected teacher told us that the viet cong used to send divers to attach explosives to the bottom of ships at anchor. Every now and then they would toss a grenade overboard to discourage them. That generally brought them to the surface. "What decompression table did you put them on?" one student asked. "Table M-16" the teacher replied.

[Diesel]

Ditto on the feeding, and care. ZERO plans to do this.

[Lostinoz]

No, no prisoner holding plans being made here. It is smart that you are thinking ahead, though. :)

[cwconnertx]

You take the prisoner, then you need to feed them, etc.

I can't see this happening. Threats I expect to face are gangs, mobs, etc, you can't gather much valuable intelligence on unorganized groups without plans.

[methusaleh]

Has anyone given this any thought? I've put some consideration into it lately and will see how many of my thoughts I can type out here off the top of my head. This is not a discussion of interrogation techniques, rather just the intial choice to take a prisoner or not.

I know, and I think we all know, that if anyone poses a threat to our family or group, then chances are that person will not live to get close enough to make good on that threat. So let's just say hypothetically that some combination of circumstances leads to you being able to take a prisoner.

I am thinking of only taking a prisoner if the person is not seriously injured, not known to be diseased, and has a verifiable (through documents or ID on their person, or through intel gathered through other means) rank or position in their organization that would enable them to share valuable information (ie location of stockpiles, routes of travel, upcoming moves, etc). I like to think of myself as a generally nice guy, but I do not plan on wasting my medical supplies on an injured enemy unless they are known to possess extremely valuable information.

It may be wise to quarantine the prisoner and/or limit contact with/near the prisoner to persons wearing protective gear.

One thing to bear in mind is the act of restraining the prisoner. There are considerations to make in selecting restraints and fitting them to the subject. Not to digress too much off my intial topic of taking prisoners, but I think many inexperienced people grossly underestimate the considerations needed with restraints. I find that each situation (in wartime) may call for a completely different restraint device and technique. It is not as simple as having handcuffs or 550 cord on hand and imagining that your plans to restrain will work in all situations. There are techniques taught at SERE school for what to do when restraints are being applied to make them easier to get off, as well as other tricks after the restraint is in place. I do not feel comfortable getting into that here, but just be aware that people out there may have skills to defeat or limit the effectiveness of your restraints, people you may never suspect to have such training.