RyanVaene
#1Hello everyone,
I have been thinking about this for a while, and want to offer this as my contribution to the forum which has given me so much information and education about the history of handcuffs and restraints.
My series is meant to be a visual comparison of the history of "modern-vintage" restraints. This is unfortunately limited to my personal collection, but I would enjoy having others contribute their own pictures and information, as well as any comments and questions/information.
PLEASE keep in mind that I am by all consideration a NOVICE collector, and have only recently begun collecting in earnest, and I WELCOME all corrections and clarifications on the information put forth, as this is as best as I can tell from what I have read.
The first part in the series is regarding Darby style non-adjustable handcuffs.
Starting from the top on the left side, the oldest example of this style handcuffs in my collection, the Hiatt 104, which I have found to be a fairly common vintage handcuff, with various markings. This example is "Hiatt Best, Warranted Wrought, #589", although the key is numbered "5". I have polished these by hand with Simichrome, as they were fairly dirty/rusty, and I figured if I damaged the patina, it wasn't a tragedy due to their being fairly commonplace. I actually like the way they ended up looking, as the patina and character remains while being a little more shiny and smooth looking. I find these to be fairly large sized, or at least larger than the remaining cuffs in this post.
Next, we have a pair of Hiatt Alloy handcuffs, which could be considered a 'reproduction' or a more modern run of a slightly different design. As Hiatt seems to have made the steel 104 in multiple sizes, perhaps the more modern alloy production was changed to a singular size suitable to most of the market? Does anyone have any alloy hiatt handcuffs of differing size? These were purchased from Louisiana, and were said to have been a display for many years. They seemed unused but with no lubrication to speak of, the surface seemed almost "dusty". They seemed to absorb a lot of oil, and after polishing, now an even blue-gray finish.
Below, a pair of modern KUB handcuffs, which seem to be a further variation on the basic design. Like most KUB items, these are nickel plated brass, with stainless steel O rings connecting the swivel to the cuffs. These are the smallest in this picture, although not by much. I find that the design varies from the two above more significantly. In particular, the locking part of the shackle, (just before it enters the top of the locking cylinder) flares out quite a bit, and combined with less of a 'belly' to the curve of the top and bottom of the cuff as viewed in the photo, I find it to fit poorly to my wrist, although it fits fine on smaller persons. They do not have any markings, while the key is marked "Chicago Handcuff", which is a retailer of the Pakistani KUB items.
Finally, to the far right, a pair of RCS handcuffs, which are made of steel. These were purchased from Canada. The keys are unmarked, while the cuffs are marked on the end cap of the locking cylinder, "RCS 1951" with a broad arrow, and on the other cuff end cap, "21C 246". There are two dimples on each cuff, where the bow meets the locking cylinder. I have learned that this is used to refer to size, and this is the "medium", as it were.
Thank you for reading the first part of my series. Again, I welcome any corrections, questions, further information, or comments. The future installments of this series will be done on Darby adjustable handcuffs, Darby leg irons, and other pieces of my limited collection that I find noteworthy of sharing on the forum.
I have been thinking about this for a while, and want to offer this as my contribution to the forum which has given me so much information and education about the history of handcuffs and restraints.
My series is meant to be a visual comparison of the history of "modern-vintage" restraints. This is unfortunately limited to my personal collection, but I would enjoy having others contribute their own pictures and information, as well as any comments and questions/information.
PLEASE keep in mind that I am by all consideration a NOVICE collector, and have only recently begun collecting in earnest, and I WELCOME all corrections and clarifications on the information put forth, as this is as best as I can tell from what I have read.
The first part in the series is regarding Darby style non-adjustable handcuffs.
Starting from the top on the left side, the oldest example of this style handcuffs in my collection, the Hiatt 104, which I have found to be a fairly common vintage handcuff, with various markings. This example is "Hiatt Best, Warranted Wrought, #589", although the key is numbered "5". I have polished these by hand with Simichrome, as they were fairly dirty/rusty, and I figured if I damaged the patina, it wasn't a tragedy due to their being fairly commonplace. I actually like the way they ended up looking, as the patina and character remains while being a little more shiny and smooth looking. I find these to be fairly large sized, or at least larger than the remaining cuffs in this post.
Next, we have a pair of Hiatt Alloy handcuffs, which could be considered a 'reproduction' or a more modern run of a slightly different design. As Hiatt seems to have made the steel 104 in multiple sizes, perhaps the more modern alloy production was changed to a singular size suitable to most of the market? Does anyone have any alloy hiatt handcuffs of differing size? These were purchased from Louisiana, and were said to have been a display for many years. They seemed unused but with no lubrication to speak of, the surface seemed almost "dusty". They seemed to absorb a lot of oil, and after polishing, now an even blue-gray finish.
Below, a pair of modern KUB handcuffs, which seem to be a further variation on the basic design. Like most KUB items, these are nickel plated brass, with stainless steel O rings connecting the swivel to the cuffs. These are the smallest in this picture, although not by much. I find that the design varies from the two above more significantly. In particular, the locking part of the shackle, (just before it enters the top of the locking cylinder) flares out quite a bit, and combined with less of a 'belly' to the curve of the top and bottom of the cuff as viewed in the photo, I find it to fit poorly to my wrist, although it fits fine on smaller persons. They do not have any markings, while the key is marked "Chicago Handcuff", which is a retailer of the Pakistani KUB items.
Finally, to the far right, a pair of RCS handcuffs, which are made of steel. These were purchased from Canada. The keys are unmarked, while the cuffs are marked on the end cap of the locking cylinder, "RCS 1951" with a broad arrow, and on the other cuff end cap, "21C 246". There are two dimples on each cuff, where the bow meets the locking cylinder. I have learned that this is used to refer to size, and this is the "medium", as it were.
Thank you for reading the first part of my series. Again, I welcome any corrections, questions, further information, or comments. The future installments of this series will be done on Darby adjustable handcuffs, Darby leg irons, and other pieces of my limited collection that I find noteworthy of sharing on the forum.