Happy New Year and a discussion about origin.

Hi all!

First of all I would like to wish all of you a happy holiday and a Happy New Year with many nice additions to your collections!

Santa missed to visit my home but thanks to eBay, a great seller and the US Post; a very nice Iver Johnson turned up today. –Not too bad! It’s nothing wrong about knowing what’s in the parcel before opening it. Who didn’t check the parcels before Christmas Eve as a child??

Now I would like to discuss the origin of a cuff mostly referred to as Russian prison handcuffs, see picture below. Compared to these cuffs the Kakola seem to be a real light weight version, they weigh as much as 1250 gram. (2 lb 11oz)

As a matter of fact I actually don’t believe they are of Russian origin but East German based on the following facts:

1. They take the same key as the DDR handcuffs.
2. They also have the very same lock construction with a second pawl to DL.
3. The steering pin, that also locks the lock house to the cuff, is riveted at the bottom of the cuff as for the DDR cuff.
4. My set has the number 1002 stamped to them. I also have a DDR cuff version 1 with the same stamping, see picture.
5. The quality of manufacture is much higher compared to all Russian handcuffs I’ve seen.

Stan, Michael, Mark and Guenter; you have the same handcuffs. What are your opinions about the origin?

Lars


www.holstcollection.com

Hi everybody,

as far as I remember I received my "Russian prison cuff" in the early 1990s, when I found it on the German Gun Fair. At that time I had never before seen this very model, and what I was told about it by the seller was that it came from a prison in Russia. As I had no valid information about the cuff I listed it as "Russian prison cuff" in my collection, and when I came across another pair of them years later, I offered them under this title on ebay. I think these found their new home in Mark's collection.

At that time DDR cuffs were very easy to get, and the similarities of the locking mechanism were quite obvious. Having in mind what I was told by the seller of my cuff I always used to think that the DDR cuffs were made with the Russian cuffs as a pattern. East Germany was under influence of the USSR after WWII, so this would have been a good explanation for the similarities between the DDR and the "Russian" cuffs.

As it seems the following possibilities exist:

1. The seller from whom I received my cuffs had no idea what he was selling and just tried to make the cuffs more interesting by adding a story.

2. The cuffs actually were made in Russia, then in East Germany cuffs were made with the same pattern later. The same stamping might be explained by the use of the cuffs in the East German prison system, meaning the stampings are post-factory.

3. The cuffs were made in East Germany and were exported to Russia for being used there (if my seller spoke the truth about from where he got my cuffs).

I am very interested to read what you others think about that.

Best wishes to all of you,

Michael

Hi all!

First of all I would like to wish all of you a happy holiday and a Happy New Year with many nice additions to your collections!

Santa missed to visit my home but thanks to eBay, a great seller and the US Post; a very nice Iver Johnson turned up today. –Not too bad! It’s nothing wrong about knowing what’s in the parcel before opening it. Who didn’t check the parcels before Christmas Eve as a child??

Now I would like to discuss the origin of a cuff mostly referred to as Russian prison handcuffs, see picture below. Compared to these cuffs the Kakola seem to be a real light weight version, they weigh as much as 1250 gram. (2 lb 11oz)

As a matter of fact I actually don’t believe they are of Russian origin but East German based on the following facts:

1. They take the same key as the DDR handcuffs.
2. They also have the very same lock construction with a second pawl to DL.
3. The steering pin, that also locks the lock house to the cuff, is riveted at the bottom of the cuff as for the DDR cuff.
4. My set has the number 1002 stamped to them. I also have a DDR cuff version 1 with the same stamping, see picture.
5. The quality of manufacture is much higher compared to all Russian handcuffs I’ve seen.

Stan, Michael, Mark and Guenter; you have the same handcuffs. What are your opinions about the origin?

Lars


www.holstcollection.com

Click to expand...

I vote for "made in East Germany, and used in Russian prisons."
Stan

Hi all!

First of all I would like to wish all of you a happy holiday and a Happy New Year with many nice additions to your collections!

Santa missed to visit my home but thanks to eBay, a great seller and the US Post; a very nice Iver Johnson turned up today. –Not too bad! It’s nothing wrong about knowing what’s in the parcel before opening it. Who didn’t check the parcels before Christmas Eve as a child??

Now I would like to discuss the origin of a cuff mostly referred to as Russian prison handcuffs, see picture below. Compared to these cuffs the Kakola seem to be a real light weight version, they weigh as much as 1250 gram. (2 lb 11oz)

As a matter of fact I actually don’t believe they are of Russian origin but East German based on the following facts:

1. They take the same key as the DDR handcuffs.
2. They also have the very same lock construction with a second pawl to DL.
3. The steering pin, that also locks the lock house to the cuff, is riveted at the bottom of the cuff as for the DDR cuff.
4. My set has the number 1002 stamped to them. I also have a DDR cuff version 1 with the same stamping, see picture.
5. The quality of manufacture is much higher compared to all Russian handcuffs I’ve seen.

Stan, Michael, Mark and Guenter; you have the same handcuffs. What are your opinions about the origin?

Lars


www.holstcollection.com

Click to expand...

I believe that I have the handcuff that Michael sold on Ebay.
Like Lars mine is also stamped with the number 1002. On the back
of mine on the connecting link is a triangle in a circle marking.
Any thoughts about this marking?
Gordon

Hi all!

First of all I would like to wish all of you a happy holiday and a Happy New Year with many nice additions to your collections!

Santa missed to visit my home but thanks to eBay, a great seller and the US Post; a very nice Iver Johnson turned up today. –Not too bad! It’s nothing wrong about knowing what’s in the parcel before opening it. Who didn’t check the parcels before Christmas Eve as a child??

Now I would like to discuss the origin of a cuff mostly referred to as Russian prison handcuffs, see picture below. Compared to these cuffs the Kakola seem to be a real light weight version, they weigh as much as 1250 gram. (2 lb 11oz)

As a matter of fact I actually don’t believe they are of Russian origin but East German based on the following facts:

1. They take the same key as the DDR handcuffs.
2. They also have the very same lock construction with a second pawl to DL.
3. The steering pin, that also locks the lock house to the cuff, is riveted at the bottom of the cuff as for the DDR cuff.
4. My set has the number 1002 stamped to them. I also have a DDR cuff version 1 with the same stamping, see picture.
5. The quality of manufacture is much higher compared to all Russian handcuffs I’ve seen.

Stan, Michael, Mark and Guenter; you have the same handcuffs. What are your opinions about the origin?

Lars


www.holstcollection.com

Click to expand...

Thank you for the comments!
Gordon, sorry for forgetting to count you in. Yes, my set also have a small
triangle in a circle stamped to the back side of the connecting link. I also would like to know what the marking stands for.

Lars

Hi all!

First of all I would like to wish all of you a happy holiday and a Happy New Year with many nice additions to your collections!

Santa missed to visit my home but thanks to eBay, a great seller and the US Post; a very nice Iver Johnson turned up today. –Not too bad! It’s nothing wrong about knowing what’s in the parcel before opening it. Who didn’t check the parcels before Christmas Eve as a child??

Now I would like to discuss the origin of a cuff mostly referred to as Russian prison handcuffs, see picture below. Compared to these cuffs the Kakola seem to be a real light weight version, they weigh as much as 1250 gram. (2 lb 11oz)

As a matter of fact I actually don’t believe they are of Russian origin but East German based on the following facts:

1. They take the same key as the DDR handcuffs.
2. They also have the very same lock construction with a second pawl to DL.
3. The steering pin, that also locks the lock house to the cuff, is riveted at the bottom of the cuff as for the DDR cuff.
4. My set has the number 1002 stamped to them. I also have a DDR cuff version 1 with the same stamping, see picture.
5. The quality of manufacture is much higher compared to all Russian handcuffs I’ve seen.

Stan, Michael, Mark and Guenter; you have the same handcuffs. What are your opinions about the origin?

Lars


www.holstcollection.com

Click to expand...

Hi.

I did buy my cuff from Michael on eBay. It think it was in August, 2000.
I will check mine for similar markings.
I am still grateful for the sale!

mark
O--O

Hi all!

First of all I would like to wish all of you a happy holiday and a Happy New Year with many nice additions to your collections!

Santa missed to visit my home but thanks to eBay, a great seller and the US Post; a very nice Iver Johnson turned up today. –Not too bad! It’s nothing wrong about knowing what’s in the parcel before opening it. Who didn’t check the parcels before Christmas Eve as a child??

Now I would like to discuss the origin of a cuff mostly referred to as Russian prison handcuffs, see picture below. Compared to these cuffs the Kakola seem to be a real light weight version, they weigh as much as 1250 gram. (2 lb 11oz)

As a matter of fact I actually don’t believe they are of Russian origin but East German based on the following facts:

1. They take the same key as the DDR handcuffs.
2. They also have the very same lock construction with a second pawl to DL.
3. The steering pin, that also locks the lock house to the cuff, is riveted at the bottom of the cuff as for the DDR cuff.
4. My set has the number 1002 stamped to them. I also have a DDR cuff version 1 with the same stamping, see picture.
5. The quality of manufacture is much higher compared to all Russian handcuffs I’ve seen.

Stan, Michael, Mark and Guenter; you have the same handcuffs. What are your opinions about the origin?

Lars


www.holstcollection.com

Click to expand...

My Russian Prison cuff is marked with 87 on one cuff and 93 on the other. It does not have the triangle in a circle. however I have the following cuffs that are marked 1002 and have the triangle in the circle. This supports the contention that the Russian Prison cuffs are actually German.
I have or have seen the same cuffs without the 1002 and triangle in circle markings.