Russell
#1The Forum at Handcuffs.Org
Are these real
21 visible archived posts · 21 preserved total · topic ID 2726
One born every minute
#2Of course they're real. There's a picture isn't there? "Excavated from a plantation in South Carolina" and there's a picture of a slave not wearing them and everything!!!
Edgeplay_Cgo
#3They are hand forged leg irons. The patina looks good. The wear patterns look right. The right hand iron is nearly worn through. The original smithing quality was mediocre.
I'm semi convinced there is a line of hand forged reproduction puzzle lock shackles coming out of India or Pakistan, as there are suddenly a number of them out there at low prices. I have some, and I'm not convinced whether they are new or old.
But I'd be pretty confident this pair is not a reproduction.
Anon456
#4You sure these aren't something like horse hobbles or the like? If I was placed in these, it wouldn't hold me for long. And I am willing to bet they are NOT slave shackles at all. Remember the famous words of P. T. Barnum.....
Steve Santini
#5Cow hobbles to keep the rear legs immobile when one is milking the animal so as not to get kicked.
Used for a very short period of time and then taken off.
To put such a short linked device on a horse would not be humane and would chafe the animals legs as horses are more prone to move about at free will.
Horses would have been tethered by the bridle reins.
Not the ankles.
Steve Santini
jq0
#6I have to disagree Dennis. The right hand iron is nearly worn through in ONE place. If there was that much wear at that point the rest of the iron would show wear as well. The round link and the opposite end of the worn link should show the same amount of wear as well as wear between the 2 long links. These are also not puzzle lock shackles. The puzzle lock has a long link between the two sides with a short link that the chain is threaded through. Three link points, these have two. Even without taking the links apart they can be opened wide enough to be removed. They may have been hand forged in the 1800's but they were never intended for use as slave shackles.
Franklin
#7They're cow-kickers.
Yet, not a great set.
They seem to missing that special, almost indescribable "patina" consisting of cow s**t, cow p**s, together with a layer of tobacco juice spit and a fair bit of profanity from those who ever had to use them.
Edgeplay_Cgo
#8They may be Cow Kickers. Cow kickers usually have more of a spring closure, the closure link being simply snapped over the shackle band. But these are individually made blacksmith products, and they come in infinite variety.
J. Kuczero is right, in that they are not true puzzle locks. Depending on the size of the shackles, and the fact that the connecting chain one link long, they may be good enough. It's hard to tell without a foot in them.
The right hand iron is nearly worn through in ONE place. If there was that much wear at that point the rest of the iron would show wear as well. The round link and the opposite end of the worn link should show the same amount of wear as well as wear between the 2 long links.
I'm not sure that's significant. The connecting link appears to be worn the same as the closure link. Wear patterns are seldom uniform. This is due in part to variations in material quality, and to small systematic movements caused by quirks in the design. I think the wear pattern is believable.
anon456
#9Well someone just paid $355 plus $35 shipping for a set cow anti kickers...
Anonymous
#10But those were very special. They were only used on slave cows.
Rodney
#11Yes, during the Middle Passage, as verified by all those cows on Oprah.
Frank Kaiser
#12Hey all,
Since reading this posting, I had to chime in. I was raised on a ranch which included Beef Cows, Horses, and Dairy Cows along with some rodeo stock. Unless a person is a total moron, they would never utilize a metal restraint for a hobble (cow kicker) as I have never seen all metal hobbles. They are mostly made of leather and rawhide with possibly a chain in between to connect the two sides. The reason being, cows and horses can be very panicky animals. If they freak out with metal restraints on their legs, they will easily break their own legs and/or cut their own hoof off on the metal trying to get out of them. This is why they are made of leather or rawhide. To date I have never seen a set of true hobbles made strictly out of metal.
Atlanta*Casting
#13Frank Kaiser
#14Yep, those are hobbles but not entirely made of metal. Like I said, they are made of leather with a chain connector so if the animal panics the leather will break, not the animal.
Steve Santini
#15If...
hobbles made entirely out of metal did not likely exist due to the potential for injury to the animal, how does this explain the countless vintage variations of non locking devices that are obviously made for "something" with legs and yet would not hold a human for 10 seconds because they do not lock?
Ebay abounds with such antique iron devices.
And not just North American Ebay either.
German Ebay, French Ebay, etc, etc.
As well, there are known examples of hobbles made for camels where one side is locking but the other is of the puzzle variety.
Still iron.
Once again metal on animal hooves.
If one wanted to hold a human's legs then by all means use something that locks.
Not something that can be figured out in a split second and undone.
I too have seen leather hobbles and these usually fasten with a buckle.
They are indeed more humane.
But there is no way I will believe for a second that these non locking antique iron curiosities often touted as for use on slaves were ever intended for humans.
Steve Santini
Steve Santini
#16Below are 2 pics of some items in my collection.
The first pics shows 2 different antique iron animal hobbles that came to me from Europe in a box lot of other stuff I wanted.
It was either take the entire lot or nothing at all.
Notice that they do not lock and would be no problem for a human to escape from.
Interesting is the size. One set is much smaller than the others but both simply latch shut.
The second pic is of an actual set of human hand and ankle puzzle irons and attatched padlock.
These do lock and were made for people, not animals.
Indeed iron hobbles were made in a variety of sizes for use on different types of animals.
The locking devices were usually reserved for humans.
Steve Santini
Frank Kaiser
#17Steve,
To tell you the truth I never really heard of hobbles used on anything but cows and horses. I never really thought about camels. I have had dealings with them before as well and they are definitely not panicky animals which they very well could have been used on. I have seen makeshift hobbles used on goats too but no other animal comes to mind.
J.Kuczero
#18Add llamas and elephants to your list Frank. Hobbles can be used on any animal that serves as a pack animal. They've been in use for as long as animals have been domesticated. In mountain and desert regions where there are no trees and either a stake couldn't be driven into the ground or wouldn't hold an animal, hobbles are how animals are kept from wandering away from the campsite, caravan, etc. They also require less material than tethers.
Atlanta*Casting
#19leg iron or animal hobble, you make the call..
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0296992253
Anon456
#20That's easy, animal hobble's
Hanseatenhans
#21Either or - neither - nor - as well as...
In pre-industrial Europe animals have been secured theft by locking iron chain devices you could call either leg irons or hobbles. Camels have been secured with similar locks at the Orient. There have been irons for camels as well as slaves, sometimes the camel ones were nicely decorated. At the Old world in particular Germany or Poland e.g. there were basically small farmers with only few cattle/cows and they were vitally for them.
Greetings from good old Germany