The Forum at Handcuffs.Org

breaking handcuffs

28 visible archived posts · 28 preserved total · topic ID 101

Lizgiz311 29 Jan 2004

I'm interning at a local law enforcement agency and there is a rumor going around that older series peerless cuffs can easily be broken by wedging them together and twisting your wrists? It was tried once and done, but again it is an older series. Does anyone know of any stories like this one? Or know if it can be done with a different name brand or newer cuffs?
Thanks

LizGiz311

Ian McColl 30 Jan 2004

Hi, I am sending you a picture of an Australian pair of Small arms factory made Peerless model 2 which has been bent and twisted until they opened. These came from Risdon prison Tasmania Australia about 7 years ago. this model is still currently in use here. The information I recieved was that the cuff were broekn out of by brute force alone by a drug enduced prisoner.
If the cuffs look bad, I would have liked to have seen his wrists.

If the bow of the one side can be placed between the frame of the other side,(chain linked cuffs) leverage can be applied to force the rivets ( one reason for hinged handcuffs )If the wearers pain is not an issue, enough force will make something give and it seems that bone can sometimes be stronger than steel.

Ian McColl

Dorson 30 Jan 2004

Cuffs like Peerless, S&W, Hiatt, American, etc. can not be easily broken like Ian has tried to convey above. There is a trick to shearing the link on chain cuffs but one has to know what they are doing and it is not common knowledge. As I stated in another thread, you never leave a prisoner alone.

Steve Santini 31 Jan 2004

Hi,
While it is true that some cuffs can be mutilated and even broken by prying the cuffs apart near the hinge pin, it is not possible to do this by using your right wrist to pry apart the cuff on your left wrist and vise versa. Ian implied this was one of the reasons hinged handcuffs are created and/or are used. This is not so. The people who actually succeed in prying apart handcuffs at the hinge point are the prisoners who work in conjuction with another prisoner and a second pair of handcuffs to accomplish this. While there have been cases of prisoners prying apart handcuffs solo, all of the ones I have heard of involve the use of an additonal device such as the metal tab of one half of a seat belt buckle set. With many of the handcuffs in service now which feature "proud" or raised hinge rivets this prying apart possibility is almost nil. With the older cuffs such as the Peerless model 300 and the Smith and Wesson model 90 prying apart was possible because they both featured "flush" rivets. Try prying a modern Hiatt or Smith and Wesson or Peerless cuff apart using only some other cuff for leverage and all you will usually succeed in doing is bending parts of the cuff.Regards, Steve Santini BTW, The hinged handcuffs were first introduced on the North American law enforcement scene primarily to give an officer better "take down" and control capabilities with a suspect.

Tim 31 Jan 2004

Hi Lizgiz,
While everyone here is making good points, including that the hinged cuffs were made for take down and not tamper-proofing, I think the technique your instructor is talking about is the so called Chain leverage problem. By manipulating the cuffs to where the chain is actually in a "V" , one link against the other, it is possible to actually snap the swivel going into the lockcase. I have seen this done to Peerless 300's, Smith models 90 AND the 100, and a pair of Hiatt 2010's with the early type chain swivel. The newer Hiatts , with the elongated swivel, were not able to be broken in this manner. That is the bad news. The good news is I have seen this done by only one person.... my 6'8" , 275 lb. Major. AND he was not wearing the cuffs, he was holding them in his hands and it took him about 25 minutes of playing with each pair to get the chains to actually 'lock up". It is possible though, but if somebody has enough time to play around with the cuffs behind their back that long, somebody isn't doing their job correctly. As Dorson noted, never leave a suspect unattended. Please check back with the people telling you about this and make sure it is what I am talking about, but it is not just a Peerless problem. I would venture to say that there are more pre 300 and model 300's in service than any other one model cuff in the U.S.. The techniques are possible, but the guy I saw do it could bench press your Mama..sitting in her 85 Buick! Have a great day.
Tim

Joe Lauher 31 Jan 2004

Ian sent me the picture. Here it is:

Wow!

Joe

Steve Santini 31 Jan 2004

Hi Joe,
Thanks for posting that pic. The condition of the cuffs is most curious and rather odd. By the extreme bends and twists in the bow arms, I am inclined to believe that this set of cuffs were used as a tool of sorts to pry or attempt to break open something else such as a door or window. It looks from the damage like someone picked or shimmed the cuffs open and then tried to use them as a prying tool. I see no evidence of spread cheek plates or popped hinge rivets which is what we all have been talking about. Nor do I see any sort of evidence that these cuffs were so mutilated while on the wrists of the wearer. Look at the bends in the bows. Such bends are in positions which indicate that they were inflicted AFTER the bows had been unlocked and freed from the lock case. They could not have been caused by a wearer induced escape and only prove the cuffs were used as a tool after someone got them off. No folks, these cuffs are not evidence of what we have been talking about. Regards, Steve Santini

Ian McColl 01 Feb 2004

Dear Joe, thank you for posting the picture of my handcuffs. I must add that I did not personally see the prisoner escape from these handcuffs nor did Mr Santini.

Mr Santini implies that his knowledge and experience over shadows all others.
At no point did I state that the handcuff hinge was broken by prying but that seems to be the whole argument in Mr Santinis first posting.
His comment Ian implied this was one of the reasons hinged handcuffs are created and/or are used. This is not so.
Unfortuneatly, and offering a lengthy exert from a patent paper to back up my point. You are in fact wrong. ( I said the invention of the hinge handcuff was ONE of the reasons, here are 10 ) {see below}

You wrote I see no evidence of spread cheek plates or popped hinge rivets which is what we all have been talking about.
The photo angle doesnt show the obvious spreading of the frame parts, and as for popped rivets, it was yourself who was talking about them, not me. You commented prior to seeing the picture.

Nor do I see any sort of evidence that these cuffs were so mutilated while on the wrists of the wearer. I guess they removed what possible blood may have been on the cuff before I was sent them. What were you expecting to see, pieces of flesh??

No folks, these cuffs are not evidence of what we have been talking about.

No they arent what YOU were talking about.

These are cuff that have been escaped from while on the prisoners wrists, the bows were bent until they slipped back against the pawl. They have no marks or dents to the inner surfaces of the frame section as one might expect from a seat belt buckle set. (and there are not belt buckle sets inside Australian prisons cells)

I have been able to manipulate these handcuffs in such a way as to see how the bend could have been made in the bows and why the bow has been fractured at the point where the straight section of bow teeth was still inside the cuff. The radius of the bow is less than the radius of the frame and the pawl wouldnt hold the bow teeth if they could be locked. As there are not other visible indentations, scratches or gouges in the metal to show additional leverage, I am left to wonder.

Ian McColl

Hinged handcuff patent 4300368
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The overall objective of the present invention is to provide a law enforcement officer with the maximum amount of safety during and after restraining a prisoner with a handcuff assembly. The following are more specific objectives:

1. To provide a handcuff assembly which when applied to a prisoner's wrists restricts flexion, rotation and adduction of the prisoner's hand and wrists muscles and tendons such that if the prisoner were to have the key to the handcuffs in either hand, he would be unable to maneuver the key into the keyhole and turn it so as to escape from the handcuff assembly, etc.

2. To provide a handcuff assembly which would, when applied to a prisoner's wrists, prevent or greatly reduce his ability to extend his arms so as to prevent him from sliding his hands from behind his back and beneath his feet thereby bringing his hands in front of him. This is prevented by putting the handcuff assembly on the prisoner's wrists with his arms in a horizontal position on top of each other.

3. To provide a handcuff assembly with a connecting means that is incapable of being twisted or otherwise maneuvered into a position so that leverage could cause it to break.

4. To provide a handcuff assembly with a connecting means comprised of solid links which are hinged quarterly and which pivot on pins that are completely enclosed within the frame of the handcuffs and can not be tampered with and with the hinge pins at the quarter positions being knock-out proof by being made wider in the middle than at the ends.

5. To provide a handcuff assembly with a connecting means limited to substantially a 190.degree. lateral movement so that a prisoner restrained therein would be unable to get leverage on the link to break it by maneuvering his arms and hands.

6. To provide a handcuff assembly with two independent connecting means so that if one should fail, the other would be sufficiently strong enough to adequately hold the handcuffs together.

7. To provide a handcuff assembly with a connecting means which allows the handcuffs to fold completely flat, one on top of the other, for easy storage in a handcuff case.

8. To provide a handcuff assembly with a connecting means which allows the handcuffs to be comfortably carried over a normal belt or a "Sam Brown" type equipment belt without protruding.

9. To provide a handcuff assembly with a push button double locking device so that an officer can easily and rapidly apply the double lock with his thumb after the handcuffs have been replaced on a prisoner.

10. To provide a handcuff assembly with a push button double locking device in which the double lock activating pin is located in a counter sunk hole in order to prevent accidental activation of the double lock.

Steve Santini 01 Feb 2004

Ian,
You just cannot stand to be corrected can you? Thank you for that thouroughly predictable response. Steve Santini

Ian McColl 01 Feb 2004

#10

Dear Mr Santini, I have no problem being corrected by someone who I am have respect for both personally and especially someone who actually knows the correct information. Life is a learning experience and you should be be learning from this fundemental error. Don't just jump in with information so you can make yourself appear to have all the knowledge.

Many people come to this board seeking information on handcuffs. The best use of the board would be to assist if and only when you have the correct information. If the board was called " people who are better and smarter than any one else on this planet and must always prove his point by being so dam smug about everything" then you could have full and total use.

Three times now on this current board you have made incorrect statements as to cuffs and thumbscrews.

Your reply "You just cannot stand to be corrected can you? Thank you for that thouroughly predictable response. Steve Santini" just proves you own cockiness.

Let the matter rest .

Ian

Steve Santini 01 Feb 2004

#11

Ian,
And yet you assume you yourself are correct? Boy Ian, there is the pot calling the kettle black! Look at the way you just behaved and what you just wrote. Better be careful there lad! Your true colours are starting to show through. Steve Santini

Ian McColl 02 Feb 2004

#12

Below is an exert from a message posted by Mr Santini on another message board as dated.

juniorescapologists@yahoogroups.com
From: "Steve Santini" <VERAHERMANNS@HOTMAIL.COM> Add to Address Book
Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2003 03:38:57 -0000
Subject: [juniorescapologists] Re: public banter

Hello all,
I am not sure wether "bantering about" in public is at all a good
thing but sometimes I see there may be things which need commenting
on. I may not always be right, and I may not always agree, but I do
have over 20 plus years of experience in my corner which I use to
skillfully seperate fact from fiction. I do this for the betterment
of the craft and the education of those learning the craft. I may not
impart my knowledge with kid gloves, and I may be blunt and too
forward for many, but the fact remains I am one of the VERY few
sharing knowledge and experience instead of just saying "I did this,
and I did that" or believing everything I hear as the gospel truth. I
would hope the members here know that when and if I ever say
anything, it is because I KNOW what I am talking about.
"end exert"

Last week I saw for the first time, the TV show American Idol auditions. This is where people who "truly believe they are great" come only to be told the reality of life by their peers.

Thank you Mr Santini for auditioning your legendary personality again. Your peers are watching keenly.

Ian

Steve Santini 02 Feb 2004

#13

Ian,
How wonderful it is that you are so taken with both my work and also my pulic comments that you apparantly save on your hard drive every post I have ever made to any escapology group. Escpecially one like the Junior escape artist group on Yahoo which has been out of existance for some time now. I am truly flattered sir!
Steve Santini

Dorson 02 Feb 2004

#14

Gentlemen,
This back and forth sounds like it is best taken off of here and done in private. There is nothing to be really gained by this.
Thanks for the picture and further explainion but one can only guess that something else was used to force the cuffs open and then used as a tool for some other purpose. Maybe the prisoner found some way to wedge the cuffs to force the bows and lock cases where the locking paws no longer engaged the ratches on the bow. I suspect there is big chunck of the story missing.

Monica 05 Feb 2004

#15

With his hands cuffed behind him, palms away, my husband has broken standard S&W and Peerless chain handcuffs by the "chain kink" method alluded to earlier in this thread. Or, I should say, he broke the chain, but was unable to remove the individual bracelets from his wrists. It took a long time to escape this way; to get the chains to kink and to know that they have requires a feel and many attempts.

He was able to mangle the bracelets (and his wrists) via the "leverage technique" also previously described, but, because of my care to lock the cuffs snuggly about his wrists and double-lock them, he was not able to individually escape them via shimming. He bent the double-bladed sides wildly on both the S&W and Peerless cuffs, but could not remove them via force. He was able to snap the double-bladed swivel joint on the Peerless cuffs only after I removed them from his wrists. He further mangled and significantly compromised the S&W's under the same circumstances, but the swivel rivets maintaned the bracelets' integrity enough to still be considered "operable" - although, just barely.

My husband is not your normal guy - he's a mixed martial artist (me, too), big, muscular, and head-strong like nobody's business, so I don't expect that just anyone could replicate these "feats" of discipline, pain and endurance. The pain and damage that my stubborn husband experienced just to prove a point (men!)....well, it was inhuman (and inhumane) and plain frightening. I learned something about him, but given what I saw him go through, I'd rather have not. I won't let him try that again.

Allan Lavigne 05 Feb 2004

#16

Reguarding breaking cuffs I understand it can be done via sheer force and without kinking the chain. I recently was reveiwing an article written concerning Martial Artest and Strongman Mike Dayton who use to break cuffs as part of his strongman act. Though he did not use the breaking method. He does not do the stunt anymore apparently having broken his wrists twice.
Sine reading the interveiw I was intriqued by this feat having performed so of the more common traditional strongman feats myself, which when actually learned require far less strength in many instances than one would imagain when watching them.
Still actually snapping the links as opposed to wedging the bow or twisting the swivel into a position where it can be broken from fatigue I fine very impressive.
If anyone is interested in reading the article you can go to Yahoo as a search engine and type in Feats of Stength and you'll fine the Mike Dayton article in a PDF format in the first couple of listing.

Monica 05 Feb 2004

#17

I saw an "Arnold-era" bodybuilder do this, too. I forget his name, but he broke the chain by "stretching" it. His hands were in front of him. He was way to inflexible to do it from behind w/ a standard 2-link chain. He had to get help just to take his shirt off!

Monica 05 Feb 2004

#18

Actually, I've seen it twice, I think. The other guy may have been Lou Ferrigno.

Monica 06 Feb 2004

#19

Franco Columbu was the other bodybuilder I had seen break a handcuff chain with his hands locked in front of him.

Margarette 06 Feb 2004

#20

Actually, if anyone is familiar with a group called "The Power Team", at every show, several of them will have handcuffs placed on them (usually more than one pair), and will subsequently break the chain on them. But then, these guys can also blow up to the point of bursting hot water bottles and bend #4 rebar around their necks!!

Margarette

Xtreem 06 Feb 2004

#21

Margarette, is this "Power Team" a Christian strong man group? We have something coming to my town that is a Christian strong man group, all I remember from the advertisements is that they were on "Walker Texas Ranger."

Shawn

Margarette 06 Feb 2004

#22

Shawn,
Yes, the Power Team is the Christian Strong Man group. Many promotional items for them have crossed my desk at the church. If you have a chance to see them, do it. It's amazing at what they can do.

Margarette

Dorson 07 Feb 2004

#23

(pulling stick pin from pocket and aiming for a balloon)

These group of guys you are talking about that do it as a routine for christian groups, this power team I saw mentioned. POP(balloon) They are not using NIJ approved handcuffs, I examined a pair of those handcuffs and found they are not made of steel, not even Al alloy... Can we say pot metal, trade names like Zamak & Gamak which is an Al-Zn alloy. These are cast pot metal and chrome plated and from the untrained eye, hard to tell these are so cheap. When I was shown a pair of them, at a glance could have passed, then I thought the weight was bit off and took a magnet to them. The magnet slide off of them, the chain is steel links that are not welded, 3 links if I remember correctly. Given that bit of info, I wonder what fails first, the chain, swivel, lock case at swivel, bows, locking paws.... Has anyone seen there act and what actually happens in steps?

Allan L. 10 Feb 2004

#24

I have never seen the Power Team in person but I have seen their routine on T.V. They perform all the same routine strongman stunts that have been around since the turn of the century.

In an earlier peice I wrote about strongman and martial artist Mike Dayton, who use to break handcuffs as part of his routine. In the article I read he stated the vast differences in the quality of handcuffs and that there were many off brands that were about 30% easier to break than Smiths or Peerless. Though he did use brand name cuffs in his routine. In the article he focused that the key to sucessfully breaking them was getting through the pain bearier. Which apparently was very significant seeing that he broke his wrists twice performing the feat. Contary to what was written earlier Dayton said that breaking the cuffs in front was the most difficult position and that he was much better able to break them when cuffed behind his back. His first sucessful break in front was performed by placing his arms over and around his knees and spreading his arms apart with his legs. I've tried this position and it does aford you a great deal of leverage if your wrists don't break first.

Tim T 24 Feb 2004

#25

I've seen the power team in person and can say that those guys are up to any challenge. When I saw them a local policeman handcuffed the guys hands behind him but he wan't able to break them so they moved them around front. He broke them in front. They almost always have duct tape on their wrists and the (ex) lead man, John Jacobs has done two pair behind his back. If you've ever seen this man in person it's believable that he could do it. 6'4" and I believe 320plus pounds and has bench pressed 600lbs. It takes several people to pull his hands behind his back and one of the other powerteam members usually locks them down really tight. Both pair usually don't break at the same time and they are pulled at an angle to pop the swivel out. I have seen one where the jaw came open and actually drew blood on one of them's face.

As for the cuffs they had 3 links but wasn't there a "large man's" cuffs that had 3 links? I just assumed that's what they were using. Judging from the effort these guys were using they definately weren't toys not to mention the audible pop when they broke.

Didn't get to examine them up close but I was still impressed.

Tim T

mal 25 Feb 2004

#26

As part of a charity event I once witnessed a lady body builder breaking her way out of a pair of Hiatts 1970 pattern cuffs, proffesionally locked on by a police officer (palms facing out). She wore no protection for her wrists and was quite severely bruised as a result.

Dorson 26 Feb 2004

#27

She is sure lucky, some of the problems with early Hiatts of that pattern was sharp edges to them that would slice open skin...

Monica 28 Feb 2004

#28

Yes, the Hiatts' edges are sharp. The penalty for just a tight pair of Hiatts is enough to keep most in check and minimize the desire for struggle. Especially for escape attempts, I hate those things!