Escape And Evasion Tools
Dezzyy Correiro
The SPIE (Special Purpose Insertion Extraction) Kit is our solution for the tools needed during an Escape and Evasion (E&E) or a Home Invasion Scenario to escape from illegal restraint. It includes 13 tools that enable you to pick and bypass locks, defeat illegal restraint and even navigate your way home.
While we carry other small entry tools that can be stored covertly, the SPIE Kit is purpose-built to be carried overtly in a pocket and hide in plain sight, just as the most popular breath mints would.
Escaping illegal restraint is heavily advocated here at ITS Tactical and as long as Zip Ties and Handcuffs can be purchased by anyone off-the-shelf from Army-Navy stores or a host of resources online, the prepared citizen needs to have access to these tools to escape potential illegal restraint.
Its great that you can replace the tools once removed. I purchased knowing full well that this takes PRACTICE. But once you get it down it is second nature. Using a short chain to attach the tag from a belt loop inside the back of your pants provides many opportunities to escape from cuffs, zip ties, duct tape, etc. If you use this against restraints applied legally you are asking for a lot of additional trouble, but in these uncertain times, its not just law enforcement who can restrain you. Highly recommended if you have common sense.
You do realize this thing being WWII is hog wash. All you need to do that is investigate the watch, that dates it right there. How does a kit that includes a watch that was introduced in the 1960,s era become WWII? Just sayin.
In the case anyone wants to bring up the point that some of the coins are dated to pre WWII, consider this, when operating in a hostile territory it was of SOP to pay people's with currency that is not suspicious in any way. Old dated monies would,be something you'd expect the indigenous people to have.
The history of these kits is well documented. As for finding one from a vet. Considering the value and how they were issued, the chance of an aviator walking away with one is doubtful. I've never found a Thompson smug in a vet buy but pretty sure they were issued in WWII!
80-55-E, US Navy Escape and Evasion Barter Kit South East Asia Accession: 80-55-EUS Navy Escape and Evasion Barter Kit, South East Asia Serial# 494 2.88" H x 4.01" W x 1"D US Navy Escape and Evasion Barter Kits, South East Asia. The case of the kit is made from rubber which was sealed . The kit contains a gold swiss watch with a cloth watch band, two gold rings and a gold pendant with chain. The kits were used by service personnel when they were in enemy territory to aid their escape.
I have a friend who probably wrote the very first book on escape aids a number of years ago. We had discussed this very kit years ago and he told me he had researched the watch and dated it to the Vietnam era also. The spring 2017 issue of The Military Advisor has an article on this kit. The author also stated it was Vietnam era but does not give any references. I don't know for sure personally its time frame but in a debate I would not bet the farm either way. Way back in the day decades ago I purchased an Atlantic kit for $700.00. I actually had to get a loan to buy it.
That blog posted by 63Recon sums it up pretty well, its a late 1950-60's barter kits, for a multitude of reasons. Both types. The watch has been proven to be of that era. The other the thing is that the kit has a nylon watch strap, that's also a dead give away to being well post WWII. I'm sorry, but I see nothing that I would consider "well researched" on that Facebook page, actually any research at all for that matter.
How come with all the records and documentation that has been found, why are these kits never mentioned? I have a pretty good archive of intelligence records and they discuss everything from gold, money, opium, jewelry, trinkets...you name it for trade and barter but never mention these kits. Well I know why, because they are not WWII. I would like to add that these kits are not well documented, the only history to these things is we know they we sold at auction from the DOD. As an example, look at the bibliography of the book Last Hope by Baldwin, out of all that top shelf reference material dealing with all facets of intelligence escape and evasion these kits were never mentioned. And it is probably the reason why these were not added in the publication.
The link 63 RECON posted above is so far the most exacting info I see and lends credence to the circa 1963 claim. I want to look further into the changes in names and abbreviations used by the Navy as that may be the final way to date these. Glad I posted this and excited about the information that's coming out.
Nylon was first used commercially in a nylon-bristled toothbrush in 1938, followed more famously in women's stockings or "nylons" which were shown at the 1939 New York World's Fair and sold commercially quickly in many consumer goods such as toothbrushes, fishing lines, and lingerie, and in special uses such as surgical thread and parachutes.
This is a great discussion on an interesting subject.I'm no expert on watches,so I have no idea the date of the ones in this thread,but when it was mentioned that older coins were possibly deliberately used I was wondering if older watches could also been put in the kits too?The reason being that anyone sporting a brand new Swiss watch may come under closer scrutiny?
Now, I'm just trying to start a conversation to really take a good look at these things. They have been around for years, and I had no qualms about them being WWII. Fast forward to recent years, I am now on the side that these are not and this is why. We have such a more indepth understanding of escape and evsaion aids today thanks to declassified records of the intelligence services. A handful of individuals have done some deep digging and they have found nothing, WWII wise. I personally have in my records a month-month intelligence summaries and briefings, in these, they discuss E&E provisions with records that specially detail them as line items, describing all this equipment in-depth. Neither of these kits are mentioned. My opinion derives from a research hard data point of view. The watch only reinforces my perspective. The technology may have derived in the WWII era, but I have an issue with a new fan dangled item making their way in these kits considering the multitude of other options that were much more readily available. Also, yes nylon was around but not fully utilized. We don't start seeing the conversation to nylon wrist bands until the post war era with compasses and watches and other articles. in WWII, leather, cotton and canvas were the typical.
This is one of those things that truly Sucks, at some point someone dubbed these WWII with zero provenance or credence. And here we are trying to battle a mythical creature (a Leprechaun riding a Griffin) that has no, ZERO, support in them even being remotely of the era. There is a very long paper trail that mentions every other E&E item under the sun from WWII, but not these. However, missing that one document, from whatever era, that mentions these definitely proving what they are. Collectors that have been around long enough can relate to this same scenario a hundred times.
In the kit that contains dated coins, I think, is what brought about the assumption they are WWII, because they date to the era. But we have to take into consideration on how distribution or payments to the indigenous peoples took place. The monies provided in E&E aids during WWII were purposely pre-war dated. This was to protect the recipient from any type of potential persecution by the opposing force when interrogated. Even decades later, a gold coin dated from the 1930's would not be suspicious at all. The older the coin the better. In these regions where ancient cultures reigned, I'm sure the indigenous peoples have all sorts and find all sorts of old coins.
Thanks for taking the time to explain in detail your thoughts on these kits. I don't have any answers, but I do still have questions. Foremost would be whether the War Department, or Department of Defense (depending on their true vintage) would produce and distribute kits of this nature to fliers in peace time, or only in wartime? If in wartime, they make sense as a valuable tool if forced down in enemy territory. If peacetime, not so much? It seems clear that the watch in the "Southeast Asia" kit dates to at least the late 1950s, or more likely the 1960-70s, so that would correspond with a hot war in that region. The "Atlantic" kit, by the nature of the gold coins used and the admonition on the outside of the rubber case, would appear to be intended for the other side of the world however, which was not involved in a hot war at the time, only a cold one, where being shot down and having to evade were not of huge concern.
Dustin,Roger that.Watching the video I had that same feeling too;that the CEO was pretty young and had no direct knowledge but was probably just going on what had been told to him.I posted the vid because it pertained to the topic of this discussion,just another piece in this puzzle.
Surely somewhere there has to be some documentation that can nail down the date(s) that these were made and issued.Hopefully something will surface that will put an end to this mystery.Has there been any progress with the watch serial number?