Prison handcuffs from China - looks like Clejuso MW

My friend found one interesting handcuffs which is used in prisons in China. He sent me some photos and the cuffs is in the mail now.
It looks like Clejuso Medium Weight. I will have more information and better picture post after I receive the cuffs.

Howard, these look a lot heavier than the Clejuso model 13. It also looks like it takes a bit and post key as opposed to the hollow ended barrel key. Do you know which style key it takes? I would be interested in hearing more about this cuff and it's use in China. I have never heard of the Chinese people using handcuffs this heavey before.

Cheers, Mike

My friend found one interesting handcuffs which is used in prisons in China. He sent me some photos and the cuffs is in the mail now.
It looks like Clejuso Medium Weight. I will have more information and better picture post after I receive the cuffs.

They look similar to the Clejusos, but not quite the same. More like a deliberate imitation, in fact. Particularly, the cross-section of the bow on the Clejuso cuffs is quite different.

For comparison see Yossie's pair: http://www.blacksteel.com/hcs/index.cgi ... =10&mode=1

My friend found one interesting handcuffs which is used in prisons in China. He sent me some photos and the cuffs is in the mail now.
It looks like Clejuso Medium Weight. I will have more information and better picture post after I receive the cuffs.

I think I can answer Mike's question when I receive the item next Monday. It looks like it is left and right hand made. The shape looks like Clejuso HW or MW. The connecting chains looks like Hiatt Darby's.

I never come across this kind of handcuffs before (I mean from China, the most popular ones were the H&R style and some brass handcuffs from the 50's), all I knew was what my friend told me: this Clejuso type handcuffs were used in prisons. I don't think any law enforcement officer will carry 1 kg on their belt, a duty restraint needs only to sever the very basic purpose: to confine someone temporary. So it doesn't matter if that is a pair of COLT, Peerless 400 or even a pair of cheap play cuffs. I suspect this cuffs is not use as a duty equipment, but why they make it so heavy and chunky if it is use in prison? I have no idea.

Saw Stan's quote on the other thread:
IF it looks like a cuff, smells like a cuff, and quacks like a cuff...it's a cuff and belongs in the collection.

So I don't mind to add to my collection.

My friend found one interesting handcuffs which is used in prisons in China. He sent me some photos and the cuffs is in the mail now.
It looks like Clejuso Medium Weight. I will have more information and better picture post after I receive the cuffs.

Extremely nice item, and unusal for China. I don't recall seeing a heavy cuff from China before, but they sure have some heavy leg irons.
Stan

My friend found one interesting handcuffs which is used in prisons in China. He sent me some photos and the cuffs is in the mail now.
It looks like Clejuso Medium Weight. I will have more information and better picture post after I receive the cuffs.

Dear fellow collectors,

as you probably know I come from the Czech Republic, former Czechoslovakia. I was very young when communist regime was defeated and my country started it´s demecratic orientation. However I experienced only 7 years of this totalitarian period I know a lot about those times. I have been interested in army a police, their history and equipment and so on. That´s the reason why I also know about political prisoners, their processes.
Political prisoners, and their pleading are typical for each totalitarian country (still China too). These people had no human rights, they were captured in terrible conditions. However no publication on cuffs have ever been issued in my country, I have got a suspicion that also special restraints for those prisoners existed. Also very heavy, bulky and of medieval style.

The purpose of those restraints is not to be light, wearable and usefull for everyday service. Absolutely not. The only purpose is to break the prisoner´s human will, these restraints are designed to create a feeling of impossibility to escape, they must create the feeling that he is the worst person from the whole society, that he is exposed to his/her jailers. They must be heavy to carry to tire this person, like medieval shackles.
Or at least this was official procedure of communist party against political prisoners in the 50s in my country and I guess in China now too. That´s the reason why these heavy handcuffs exist.
From you who have lived in democratic countries for all your lives is this probably something unimaginable, but it is reality...

Best wishes

Josef
Czech Republic
http://cz-pouta.wz.cz

My friend found one interesting handcuffs which is used in prisons in China. He sent me some photos and the cuffs is in the mail now.
It looks like Clejuso Medium Weight. I will have more information and better picture post after I receive the cuffs.

I totally agreed with what Josef says. I think I mentioned in my other posted that during the "cultural revolution" era, there were numerous restraints made in China, mostly home made by various authority. The more simple, the better. The only purpose these restrained served was to confine someone's limbs. These restraints were roughly made and I think if we use it nowadays, there will be dozens of law sue for brutality. The most common item was 2 semi-circle rings with a rod that passes through in the middle and fastened by a padlock (see attached pics) and these are still in use nowadays.



Another point that our friend brough up is these restraints were to break someone's will. The Taiwan prison system still practice this by welding 3 Kgs leg shackles onto long term sentence inmates permanently. I was able to get a few sets of these and some of our fellow collectors got them already. Finally I am able to get the corresponding 1 Kg hand irons that the Taiwan prison is using and they were sent to 2 of our collectors already. This reminds me of the chaingang.


For this Clejuso type handcuffs, I suspect that they were used in public prosecution for the inmates to wear to have more visual impact to the public audience as they could be clearly seen from a distance (they like to do this kind of public sentence in China). I don't think this item is intend to use for long term because it is too "fancy" with a locking mechanism and I am sure the lock is quite easy to pick.


I received some emails from fellow collectors asking if I can get a few more pairs. When my friend told me about this item, I have asked him this question already, those guys are very eager to make a few bucks to spend for the coming Chinese New Year. However, I just told him to send me one pair so that I can take a close look to check the quality first before I place any "order". Unlike the magnetic handcuffs, this item is not a widely use item, in fact I think they stop producing it, so I won't be able to get many.

I can give more information in 24 hours time as I tracked my parcel, it is at the delivery office and will deliver to me Monday morning.