Plastic Handcuffs

by **raimundo** » 29 Mar 2006 14:35

Reading the april issue of GQ magazine, about a journalist kidnapped in iraq, I started to wonder about escape from plastic handcuffs. The large toenail clipper has long been the favorite amoung demonstrators for this escape, they help each other, one of them will cut the cuffs off the other. but the toenail clipper is large, and I started wondering what would be small to carry and still useful. these are the ideas I got. first, there are two attacks, one is to try to cut the nylon, this is tough and the thickest part. the second is to get into the knotblock, and try to make the pawl fail, either by pushing something between it and the rack, or by weakening the block, or doing something to the rack. The plastic handcuffs have a metal pawl, this digs into the rack. it would be hard to use a chemical or heat source to attack this, so the best I could think of would be an exacto blade or scalpel blade, of the #11 type, this could be used to attack the knotblock from inside, pushing it in until the knot is cut through on one side or severely weakened so that the cuff could be left apparently intact, but actually loosened. If the thing was an ordinary cable tie, with a nylon pawl, the blade could be used against the pawl which is the weakest part. the blade would be hard to force into the nylon without a handle, but the nylon ends of the tie might sheild the fingers. in the ties with the metal pawl, twisting of the rack and knot against each other might loosen the bond between the metal pawl and the knot, and if this could be done, the pawl could possibly be caused to fail.
Oil might help, or a hairpin, as suggestions if anyone is interested in discussing this further. There have been wire abrasive survival saws which if one could find one that was miniature, might be just the thing. like a piece of stone cutting wire for jade or gemstones that could be applied against the metal pawl or the nylon. of course for the sci fi fans, a tiny thermite capsule would be the thing. if two of the exact blades were made into a tiny sissors thing with the sharp edges outward, this could be used to attack the knot from inside as they spread against it. something that would need a handle could be made to accept a lot of found materials as a handle or could be pounded into the knot.
Does anyone else have suggestions?

by **CapnCurry** » 29 Mar 2006 15:08

I have an "emergency kit" for people who have bad luck during... *ahem* adult fun & games...

In addition to an assortment of handcuff keys, skeleton/pass keys, and the aforementioned nail clippers, I keep a couple of ground down tension wrenches. I find that a standard tension wrench serves as a lovely shim to separate the pawl from the tie, but grinding it down a touch makes it easier to use on smaller knotblocks. With a little practice, I've found that I can usually manipulate the tension wrenches to get out of any bind I happen to be in (which is really the litmus test - getting someone *else* out of plastic cuffs is usually pretty trivial work if you've got the tools).

And in case anyone's curious, I've never had the need to use said kit yet... hope it stays that way; I can only imagine this kind of intervention to be awkward at best. :shock:

by **bembel** » 29 Mar 2006 16:30

Recently I've got the idea about a small device attached on the belt which can be used to cut a cable tie.
It doesn't even have to be visible for anyone, except for a very close inspection of the belt.

But since I don't have any use for it (got the idea while watching "Cops") and I doubt it would help the right people anyway, I don't see the need to go into details.

by **pip** » 29 Mar 2006 16:43

raimundo
are you talking about 1 loop for both hands
or 1 loop for each wrist
http://www.firestoreonline.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=466

by **mmilitiar** » 29 Mar 2006 17:21

with practce, you can get them off just by using the long end thats ointed...

by **Treeson** » 29 Mar 2006 19:33

mmilitiar wrote:with practce, you can get them off just by using the long end thats ointed...

Really? Ive never heard of that. :shock:

It would suck to mess up and bend the tip or blunt it, :lol:

that would be a predictement.

I like the idea of a concealable tool, I mean, on the tension wrench topic, a cap from a pen should do fine, right? Those are very concealable, and could easily be attached to the backside of the belt.

Cheers,

Treeson

by **EGOOT247** » 29 Mar 2006 20:02

[quote="Treesona cap from a pen should do fine[/quote]

I like it...

by **Treeson** » 29 Mar 2006 20:09

I live to serve

by **Shrub** » 29 Mar 2006 20:19

I thought everyone knew the way of bending the loose end back over and pushing it in between the two parts, it works better on the plastic ones than the metal pawls and if its a metal tie they use a ball instead and they are very hard to undo.

It depends on the size of tie used, i think they use the 1/4" wide ties in which i can actually break/snap anyway,

If on the run i would grind it down on the corner of a building.

I think youll find they are put on a lot tighter than normal cuffs and that doing anything other than helping someone else with somthing like the afore mentioed nail clippers or side snips your at a loss.

The best way is to not get in them in the first place and then if you do get put in them then you deserve being in them and should serve your punishment for what ever you have done and not think about getting away.

by **p1ckf1sh** » 30 Mar 2006 5:34

CapnCurry wrote:I have an "emergency kit" for people who have bad luck during... *ahem* adult fun & games... [...] And in case anyone's curious, I've never had the need to use said kit yet... hope it stays that way; I can only imagine this kind of intervention to be awkward at best.

I recall reading some other lockie on here talking about getting a call to such a situation. He was not unhappy, because a) it was quickly done, b) this customer was probably the one most grateful ever and c) they paid without complaining and even put some on top of it for discretion.

Sounded not all too bad ...

by **Chrispy** » 30 Mar 2006 9:24

Good old plasticuffs.

by **TOWCH** » 30 Mar 2006 10:33

It's seems like a hair pin is the best all around tool for restraint escape. I can disable double locking, work the latch, and shim normal cuffs with one, and I expect I could shim plasticuffs with one as well.

by **mmilitiar** » 30 Mar 2006 13:45

in riots cops dont really have time to search you, just do what he says and carry a small knife.

by **Gear Head** » 31 Mar 2006 13:08

My buddy was a wrench and showed me you can just squeeze the sides with a set of pliers and it ruins it.

We had 200lb test zip ties, and we had this laid back computer tech class, and used to ziptie eachother to stuff if you werent paying attention. My buddy could break out of em, every time, never figured out how. It wasn't a special trick or anything, he just pulled his way out of it, and had virtually no muscle on his body :lol:

Flexicuffs are a different story however.

by **mmilitiar** » 1 Apr 2006 22:56

yeah^ there fun, I zipped like a dozen to my buddy and he could even stand up, his legs and arms we tangled in the chair and shit, good times...

Plastic Handcuffs

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