The first thing you need to worry about upon entering this prison is to get every stat as close to max as possible. This will make it easier outrunning guards, beating up prisoners, and crafting items. Attend rolecall for example, and leave after the guards see you there to head to the gym or the library. I also reccomend quitting your job, as you won't be needing any money for this step. Be careful while exercising/reading during Evening Rollcall, as the doors will lock at around 20:15ish. Once your skills are up you are ready to progress.

Now that you're rocking some high stats you can take some favors regarding stealing things from inmates, and beating up inmates. If you are tasked with taking something, check their desk. If it is not in there, hit the person and head next to a guard. The guard will 360 noscope him insta-kill and you can take the item! For beating the inmates up you have to do the deed yourself however. Just lure them away from the guards and get to town. Best weapons are the Whip and Nunchucks. Don't even try hitting a guard, they will destroy you instantly. Armor can be useful too, craft the Plated Inmate Outfit for extra protection. You will need lots of money for the raw ingredients for the raft and grappling hook, so save up! Also, get a better job! I prefer the metalshop due to its sheer simplicity and high pay, but the choice is yours. Knock the current jobholder out, tie him with duct tape or rope. hide him, and after the work period is over you may steal his job!

Here is a list of what you will need for the breakout:
-Grappling Hook
-2 crowbars, 1 duct tape, 1 rope.
-Makeshift Raft
-2 balsa wood, 2 rope, 1 bed sheet, 1 timber.
-Staff Key Mold (red key)
-1 talculm powder, 1 toothpaste, 1 lighter, 1 comb
-Flimsy Cutters
-2 files, 1 duct tape.
-Guard Outfit
-Molten Chocolate (optional)
-1 cup, 1 lighter, one chocolate.
-Screwdriver
-Fake Vent Cover
-2 paper mache (paper mache is 1 superglue, 1 toilet paper)
-Bed Dummy
-2 pillows, 1 bed sheet.
-Sheet Rope
-2 bed sheets.
-Plastic Knives/ extra files/ extra cutters for slats
As well as lots of toothpaste to disable cameras in other people's cell so you can loot them. Most of these raw ingredients can be found in desks. However, ones such as balsa wood and crowbars cannot be and must be bought by vendors. Once the Molten Chocolate is crafted, you can use it on a guard to one hit KO him. Make sure to return his key after you mold it, otherwise you will be sent to SHU.

Once you have screwdriver, a fake vent cover, toothpaste, and plastic knives, you may head into the vents. Wait until lights out, place a bed dummy in your bed, use toothpaste on the camera, move your desk, unscrew the vent cover when there are no guards around, and place the fake one. Head to the right once in the vents, You should see a ladder there. That is where you need to get to. There are 2 slats you need to get through. Cut through those with what's left of your screwdriver, and the plastic knives, head back to your cell, make sure the fake vent cover is on (I always have a backup in my desk just in case) and you are done with the vents until your escape, unless you wish to use the vents as a storage for contraband.

By now you should have everything together, so prepare for the moment you have been waiting for. Go through this final day as normal, making sure you have everything I listed. Beat up your worst enemy, or gift a large sum of money to a fellow inmate, but stay out of trouble. Going to work is optional, but if you decide not to, make sure you quit your job first. Then, at night you are ready. You will be carrying these 6 items with you:

-Staff Key
-Sheet Rope
-Guard Outfit
-Grapplng Hook
-Makeshift Raft.
-Flimsy Cutters

Place the bed dummy in your bed, dummy. Now apply toothpaste on the camera and head back in the vents, cover it up, and put on your guard outfit in the vents. Head to the ladder you cleared a path to. BEFORE YOU GO UP IT, MAKE SURE IT IS 23:00! At Irongate, you go to bed at 20:00, but the snipers don't leave until 23:00 as usual. Once up the ladder, head west. Head southwest and use your bedsheet and grappling hook accordingly until you come across a zip line. There should be a ledge near it where you can jump off. Do so and use your staff key on the red door right below the ledge. Head southeast and you should see a small building with crates and a prisoner stash. Use your staff key to enter and use the ladder to get to its roof. You should now see a fence blocking a beam leading to another building. Use your cutters on this fence (non-electric) and cross the beam. After crossing the beam use your grappling hook on the wall directly south of you. Follow the gray road eastward until you reach a red dock in the far southeast corner of the map. Walk to the edge of the dock and place your raft in the water. You have just escaped HMP Irongate!

If you see a prisoner selling something you need, and you have a good amount of money, and are away from your cell, you can punch him and lead him to your cell to buy it (price will go up however). Keep in mind exiting the game with items in the toilet will flush said items for good. If you absolutely need to lower prices for items, carry lots of combs around with you. When you see an item you want to buy make the combs into comb shivs and gift them to the seller, dropping the price a good amount. Don't be afraid of dying in this prison, as it will happen quite a bit, just make sure you don't have any contraband on hand when it does happen. Don't accept the favors where you need to distract the guards, because you will be knocked out and lose 10% of your money. Maintain your stats so they don't drop super low. Use the vents for storage if you wish.

This guide is 100% reliable as of 4/6/15. If you experience a problem with escaping, notice anything I have missed, or if Team 17 updates the map again, please let me know in either a private message or in the comment section. Hopefully you will be able to use this guide to your advantage and escape HMP Irongate!