The most important factor in Evasion.

Will to Evade.

This is the most important aspect of evasion.

The real reason that special forces have weighted movements that are actually weighted runs over extreme long distances (rumored to be as much as 40 miles) and the reason they have an unknown time limit is to find out who has the will power to keep running, even with 75lbs on their back, until they pass out / suffer total muscle failure.

What is the time limit? It's a secret, unknown, my guess is there is no time limit.

It's a test of will power not physical fitness. Fitness can be trained to a huge extent, willpower is a lot more static and it's risky to have anyone without good will power in a special group for obvious reasons.

Human beings are the best distance runners on the planet. You have the ability to outrun a tiger or a wolf or a hyena or anything.

If you are ever in a situation where you have to run away from a pursuer or a group of pursuers, you have already likely made several evasion mistakes, but the fact that you are being chased is an illustration of the pursuer's weakness. Remember that.

If you are being chased it's because your pursuer believes you have a chance to escape.

Do so. If you "decide" to stop running because your "heart is pounding so hard it's going to explode" or because you have such a bad cramp in your side or because you "can't breath" then you can still run. If you have the mental ability to say "i'm stopping!" then you should still be running. The only acceptable failure here would be incapacitation, that's to say you actually fall unconscious due to heat exhaustion. If you put your hands out in front of you to protect your fall, you weren't unconscious.

Do not stop running until you have actually escaped the immediate threat. You can outrun even someone in better physical shape than you if you have more willpower than they do. Period.

If you do not have the Will to Evade (I would say only a very small percentage of the population has this) then you are at a huge (I never say "insurmountable")) disadvantage when a larger group with better technology is trying to get you.

Remember when you were a kid and you did badly in some race and you thought to yourself "well if a tiger was chasing me i bet i'd do better"? That's what this is, when being pursued, a tiger is #ing chasing you. Don't let the tiger get you just because you 'couldn't go on', if you can think to yourself "i can't go on" then you can go on. If the tiger is going to 'get you' it's going to be because you physically passed out while escaping from heat exhaustion, you'll find that as long as you are hydrated (#2 most important) "heat exhaustion" is hard to accomplish. It doesn't mean "feeling tired" it means "falling unconscious." In a real evasion situation you have to be willing to go to that point.

"Oh well" is capture. That is the emotion that the pursuer is waiting for.

Train your will power, do distance running every day. Take weekends off.

This will allow you to see if you have this absolutely essential willpower or not. If you don't, build it.

Willpower is the most important factor in survival, evasion, resistance, and escape from any situation, it is more important than water.

If you give up you lose. Period. If you still evade after surrendering to your pursuers (that's what 'giving up is'), it was because circumstance / your friends saved your ass and no other reason, even if you're from SOG. Your goal is to get away from your pursuers and stay away from them or failing that to evade until they give up chase.

I would rather be with an untrained civilian with the will to evade than a special forces operator without it in a real evasion situation.

I know that I have the will to evade, do you?

Build up your willpower by using it. Take up distance running and you'll see. It can save you.

These are just my own personal thoughts from experience if you disagree please do not get angry. I'm not an "expert."

reply to post by sremmos


Yes , I would have to agree with you on this point of will-power .

I have proven it to myself time and again . I have been in a few situations that have required tactical evasion and have found every single time that 'the will' to evade and survive , is ALWAYS the critical key to success .

I have been in situations that I knew capture was not an option . You would be surprised at the limits you can push your body to .

At some point , 'thinking' becomes non-existent , and you are running on auto-pilot . I believe it is a built-in trait for survival .

Old news here , for me , but giving you the credit anyway because you are indeed correct in that you must possess the 'will' , otherwise you will fail .

Good post .

While I've been through various schools in the military I have not actually been in a life or death evasion situation myself. I know that I have the will to evade because I was willing to evade even in non-life or death situations, or situations where the consequence was merely being dropped from the school or program.

I'm really glad you came in to confirm my statement that in evasion, "will to evade" is the most important factor, since you actually appear to have legitimate survival and evasion experience in situations where the consequences for failure are real.

I don't know if willpower can be trained but my belief is that it can be. If any of you really believe you will ever be in a survival, evasion, resistance, or escape situation then you need to work on your willpower first and foremost. The nice thing about working on your willpower is that you can simultaneously work on being in good shape, and then you've got both willpower and fitness and you're a force to be reckoned with to anyone trying to capture you.

The will to evade is extremely powerful.
Those of us not physically able to train as you suggest still can express our will to evade. For example, my heart and legs don't run more than a few steps, so my mind and mouth are far stronger assets for evasion in my case. All survival skills are important, including those that reside totally between your ears, like will.

gj

Originally posted by ganjoa
The will to evade is extremely powerful.
Those of us not physically able to train as you suggest still can express our will to evade. For example, my heart and legs don't run more than a few steps, so my mind and mouth are far stronger assets for evasion in my case. All survival skills are important, including those that reside totally between your ears, like will.

gj

Exactly.

An evader is anyone who eludes capture, you don't even have to have the ability to walk at all to be a successful evader. I used running in my op primarily because it was easy to analogy "distance running" with "will power" especially in "evasion." I was definitely not trying to imply that being a good runner was the most important part of evasion, just that the will to evade was.

[edit on 15-4-2010 by sremmos]

I avoided this thread for awhile, but I am really glad I read it now!

I think you are absolutely correct. I also think it goes a lot farther than just evasion. You have to have the will to eat a bug, or the will to lay silently while spiders and mosquitoes nibble at you. You have to have the will to carve into your own flesh and remove a thorn or a bullet.

If this is a true survival situation, TSHTF and you are responsible for a group. You have to have the will to ration supplies, even in the beginning when supplies are plentiful. You have to have the will to say NO to other people, especially strangers.

I believe distance running would be a great way to test this will. So is just hanging from a branch until you can't do it any longer, or holding your breath until you can't do it anymore. It is a "choice" when you decide to consciously take that next breath. If it weren't a choice, you would be waking up from a black out instead of debating how much longer you could have gone.

I attended a conference where the speaker told everyone in the room to reach up as high as they could, he looked around, and then he said, "now reach a little higher," and we all did! So simple, yet so enlightening. I bet he could have said it another time or two and we would have still reached higher each time!

While the will is extremely important, the will alone won't help you evade.

Nothing replaces training and experience. For me, the most important aspect to successful evasion is the ability to shield your spirit and shut down extraneous thoughts. When successful you'll give off the energy signature of a bug or insignificant rodent. Six enemies could take a smoke break over you and never notice you're there.

A tough, indominable will is a given, I truly can't imagine being any other way, but a tough will alone isn't going to get you that much farther. It is just one aspect of a successful survival skillset.

Originally posted by ganjoa
The will to evade is extremely powerful.
Those of us not physically able to train as you suggest still can express our will to evade. For example, my heart and legs don't run more than a few steps, so my mind and mouth are far stronger assets for evasion in my case. All survival skills are important, including those that reside totally between your ears, like will.

gj

well said.. the mind is your greatest tool and weapon as well as asset... Keep the mind healthy and you can do anything...

Your point can be expanded to encompass many other scenarios. If you are in the mountains and a larger, superior force is pursuing you but they are several miles behind. Running may not be necessary in the mountains but the will power to keep going on as fast as possible with out stopping is just as important.

I live in Houston at sea level. I go out to Western Colorado quite often and even with out acclimating to the change in altitude I will put on my pack with full gear and head straight up to the mountain trails. I covered 20 miles and several mountain passes at 14,000 feet in less than 24 hours. This was for enjoyment. As much as my body wanted to give out I kept pushing for being able to simply see what beautiful sights I saw next.

It's a state of mind that allows you to ignore the pain and keep pushing. Again it's all a state of mind. Finding a mental benefit that outweighs the physical pain.