Opinions Request: What is the most secure chain handcuff on the market today?

What is the most secure chain link production handcuff on the market today for field use with the following considerations

Strength of material including river designs and cheek thickness
Resistance to picking and shimming such the absence or inclusion of pawl rail guards
Number of pawls whether independent or in unison with key action
Number of connecting teeth to the pawl
Engineering of the internal locking mechanism
Standardized or specialized keying
Resistance or proofing from chain binding

This is merely a thread requesting your opinions from personal and professional experiences. Please do not include high security models such as medeco or assa equipped handcuffs because they are not practical for field use.

What is the most secure chain link production handcuff on the market today for field use with the following considerations

Strength of material including rivet designs and cheek thickness
Resistance to picking and shimming such the absence or inclusion of pawl rail guards
Number of pawls whether independent or in unison with key action
Number of connecting teeth to the pawl
Engineering of the internal locking mechanism
Standardized or specialized keying
Resistance or proofing from chain binding

This is merely a thread requesting your opinions from personal and professional experiences. Please do not include high security models such as medeco or assa equipped handcuffs because they are not practical for field use.

Don't all jump in at once...
I mean it's not like this topic has any relevance to the forum.. :|

justme12, are you in the police force and what are you using now?

Thats gonna be a person to person answer i think. I for one would not use any cuff with a single pawl these days. Cuffs like the cts trimax make picking so much harder but still use a standard cuff key.

Smith and Wesson
Single pawl designs with no proven resistance to picking shimming or binding..

Peerless
Single pawl designs with no proven resistance to picking shimming or binding and concerns with even the hinged model succumbing to humn strength rotational force as demonstrated by the homicide escapee..

ASP
The entire product line belongs in the role playing aisle at toys-r-us with removable lock mechanisms and cheap like designs that are surely to succumb to all kinds of defeat as complained about in many forums..

Chicago
Much like Smith and Wesson by design so no known real advantages other than some people really like the handcuff..

CTS
Double pawl design with a pawl guard that helps prevent shimming without a split tool although short of these improvements I am not sure what the other security advantages are despite the company claiming they are pick resistant because the key is surely universal

Hiatts
I believe they offer these in multiple pawl designs but I have no real experience with these handcuffs although the complaints I have read are the newer models are not as reliable as the older models before there was rebranding involved etc.

The question is how much you are ready to pay for increasing security. German Bonowi Trilock and Clejuso 9  have separated 3 pawl  with very special key. Price - much more than $100. Australian Saf-Lok have very specific lock and key hard to shim and pick. Price - more than $200.

Rivolier make some good ones with a secondary wafer double lock.

Strength: Thick and chunky aluminium and steel.
Resistance to picking: Large non-standard keys for single lock (pickable) and wafer locks for the double lock (extremely difficult or impossible while wearing)
Number of pawls: 1 pawl
Engineering of the internal locking mechanism: From what I could tell it was good, although depending on how far clicked the cuff is, the harder to turn the double lock is.
Specialized keys required for single lock and double lock.
Resistance or proofing from chain binding: Not possible to bind due to the design.

Well if its not a cuff for everyday use then id say chubb escorts. But hinged clejuso 101 are at the top also. Cant imagine carrying with all day

justme12 wrote: Smith and Wesson
Single pawl designs with no proven resistance to picking shimming or binding..

Peerless
Single pawl designs with no proven resistance to picking shimming or binding and concerns with even the hinged model succumbing to humn strength rotational force as demonstrated by the homicide escapee..

ASP
The entire product line belongs in the role playing aisle at toys-r-us with removable lock mechanisms and cheap like designs that are surely to succumb to all kinds of defeat as complained about in many forums..

Chicago
Much like Smith and Wesson by design so no known real advantages other than some people really like the handcuff..

CTS
Double pawl design with a pawl guard that helps prevent shimming without a split tool although short of these improvements I am not sure what the other security advantages are despite the company claiming they are pick resistant because the key is surely universal

Hiatts
I believe they offer these in multiple pawl designs but I have no real experience with these handcuffs although the complaints I have read are the newer models are not as reliable as the older models before there was rebranding involved etc.

Click to expand...

I’ll start by stating that I am probably the least qualified to determine the best new models as I don’t own any ‘new’ cuffs, and haven’t spent much time researching what’s available these days. My collection consists of antique and vintage cuffs/locks, with the most recent examples being close to 20 years old now.
Aside from the chain binding vulnerability of subjects cuffed with their hands in front, you mention the shimming vulnerability as another concern. Here I’d like to point out that the discontinued S&W model 94 has an anti-shim notch in front of the single pawl, though this feature hasn’t been included on the latter model 104 – presumably because double-locking precludes the possibility of shimming the cuffs open.

Yet another vulnerability that I learned of from friends working in law enforcement is the inherent weakness of the swing-thru handcuff design. Over the years desperate criminals have found all sorts of thin metallic structures and objects that they use to pry apart the cheek plates, causing the pivot rivet to separate. Some of the items I’ve heard were used for such include: the steel drawers on traditional filing cabinets; steel folding chair brackets; steel bed frames and bathroom fixtures, etc. Many departments had their rear seatbelts of all vehicles used for prisoner transport removed because the steel buckle insert was sometimes used to pry the cuffs off. This is not a new issue, however, and many handcuff makers have also offered a non-swing-thru model for this reason.

As stated previously, I don’t own any newer handcuffs, but these Deutsche Polizei linked model handcuffs available from Nordhandel appear to have been designed with these vulnerabilities in mind. I think that the swing-beside design, while certainly not new, is more secure than the common swing-thru design of most modern cuffs. The linkage looks impossible to chain-bind, and the heavy gauge quality stainless steel and non-standard lock are nice features at a reasonable price in my opinion.

https://www.nordhandel.de/handfessel-de ... orm-e.html

Regards,
Jason
  
 
 
   

Hi justme.
Well, by way of introduction, I specifically collect handcuffs with high security and non-standard keys. I enjoy lock picking as a sport and have an Engineering background. You specifically discount high security handcuffs, with Medeco/assa, so suppose this discounts Chubbs also.
You seem to be asking specifically about daily use/duty cuffs rather than specialty cuffs. The saf-loks are an obvious choice in this area. The bonowi's are great cuffs, but may be outside the scope of your question.

I felt the comments about the ASP's were a touch unfair, as they have improved and their engineering tolerances today are far better than some other manufacturers. And the high security double pawl with the two bitted key are really not bad for the money.

The S&W 104 have the reliability of S&W.

Very much a case of you get what you pay for.

I would say the 104's have a slight issue where the key can get snapped during use. I have heard of this from a locksmith who has dealt with them.

silentbd wrote: I would say the 104's have a slight issue where the key can get snapped during use. I have heard of this from a locksmith who has dealt with them.

That 104 key is kinda flimsy. We have bent the little flag on the key once. So we keep that key on a separate key ring from ones we use a lot.

When i first got a pair of bonowi cuffs i thought that the key was plastic and it felt like a toy key. But has held up pretty well.

My asp, ( 1 chain & 1 hinged blue lockset, & 1 yellow hinged) have held up well. The chain, blue lockset, one does have a split in the plastic but it hasnt effected the function. No matter how much i try and break it. :)

I hope to get a saf lock cuff soon. Id prefer hinged but id be happy with a 4 or 5

Earlier I neglected to mention that the Peerless hinged handcuffs were used wrongfully in the video of the escape that I posted. In this type of configuration, also used in nuclear missile silo stations, I recommend the Ralkem 9923 single cuff with long chain and Martin style link. This fine cuff was manufactured by the sophisticated weapons designer, Alfa Proj, and I assure you that the gang leader has little to no chance of escaping through the roof or tunneling his way out.

https://cuffsland.de/english/Bilder/Ralkem9923g.jpg

Best of all, it can be had for a song.
Jason
 
     

I was expecting to be rick rolled on that link :)

Okay, I had to Google the “Rick Rolling” term, and was pleasantly surprised to see a reference to Rick Astley’s 1987 chart topper. Those 1980’s performers had the advantage or additional challenge of having to perform on MTV which was all the rage in those pre-public internet days.

The S&W 10x series as well as the Peerless handcuffs could now be defined as “pre spun rivet construction” vs. “post spun rivet construction” models. This is kind of like comparing spinning records to playing CDs, though perhaps in reverse order. All of my S&W 10x series handcuffs as well as my model 104 and all of my Peerless handcuffs would be defined as the former. I’ve never actually carried or even used the S&W model 104 as I also had misgivings about the rather fragile looking key, but absolutely had to have these in my collection.

Jason