So here is my semi-useless post for those people who ran into the same problems I did when picking cuffs.
I have a S&W pair that is pretty "tight"
1. can shim with a piece of tape measure but if its double locked a tape measure is too flimsy to take care of it.
2. cant shim with the bobby pin (hair pin) because there isn't enough of an opening.
following the "just stick the end of a paper clip in the hole and push" idea doesn't work either for me so I did what even crows have done before me and bent the bobby pin... yes you read that right, giving a bobby pin atleast a 130 degree angle (90 deg will tend to snap or weaken the pin and last thing you want is a handcuff on that has a wedge of metal keeping you from opening it even with a key. Try explaining that to your parents/wife/fireman/911 operator...).
Now since we are talking about mcgyver type escapes here
and we are assuming we have been thrown in an empty room with only a bobby pin that "natalia _______" *enter russian sounding last name here* lost when kicking you in the face for being a smart ass, and you have no place to bend it, we will muster up all the quick thinking-ness that we can and stick the end of the pin in the key hole and give it a nice little bend.
Now you are free to pick the lock as if you are using the key to open it.
In all seriousness though, just make sure the bent part isn't too long and picking them open will be pretty easy.
And as everyone has already mentioned there are really only two reasons you would ever have to pick cuffs this way...
1. Natalia is coming back and she is bringing her brother Yuri who likes connecting car batteries to things...
2. your GF/Wife locked you to the headboard and left because you arn't sensitive to her emotions... (most likely scenario and best chance of having the bobby pin close enough to get a hold of)
And so we come to the end of my Common sense based and all around useless post.
