squelchtone wrote:They were showing this method at HOPE 6 in the lockpicking village, but I wasn't sure what part inside was being shimmed in order to relase the cuffs.
I was at HOPE Number Six also. What was rather unpleasant for me was having my right wrist trapped inside a cuff made by Valor for about two hours. (There is a photo of my trapped wrist on one of the pages featuring photos which were taken at HOPE Number Six.) The only handcuff key that I had with me broke (It was part of a novelty key fob.) when I tried to free myself, and nobody else present at the time had a handcuff key either.
This set of Valor handcuffs seemed to be something in-between novelty and professional in terms of workmanship. (The same holds true for their knives, too.)
Despite the efforts of several people, nobody was able to shim this cuff off of my wrist. (They were all trying to use one of my slim tension wrenches for a shim.) Nobody was really that sure if the cuff was double-locked either. An attempt to lubricate my wrist and slide the cuff off proved to be too painful to fully execute. I was really starting to worry by this point.
It was not until later, when one of the TOOOL fellows returned from dining out somewhere, that my wrist was freed. He simply just used one of his own well-made handcuff keys.
The lesson to take from all this is that whenever one starts playing with handcuffs, it is important to have ready access to more than just one key.
