RyanVaene
#1Hello fellow collectors! It's been a while waiting for these to arrive, and for me to get around to taking decent photos, but I now have the set of 2018 vintage stainless steel shackles from China. As part of my series "Modern Vintage", I feel these new cuffs being made in China have unique quality and design attributes to be included here. Although they lack historical value, and the lock is not highly secure, I consider these to be more than just an adult market novelty.
They are made of stainless steel, with a smooth finish. This is more of a brushed finish vs mirror, but still very shiny. The chains, while lacking a swivel, are also stainless heavy gauge chain. The size of the chain itself is a bit overdone, as the connecting links are smaller diameter and would have been appropriate for the entire chain. Here is the full set.
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Below we see the full set with one handcuff unlocked. You can see the detail of the lock, which is a core lock. The keys and locks are the same across all cuffs. The key only has three simple cuts, and the lock would not be hard to pick, although I have not tried yet. All edges are very well rounded, and the oval shape is smoothly curved in this stainless steel. Only on the inside of the collar is there any indication of metal deformation, (a slight rippling texture).
Here we see a close up of the locking mechanism, which is fairly straight forward and simple, if not high security. To unlock, the key is inserted, turned 1/4 turn, and the core lock aligns to withdraw from the cuff with the key. Locking is accomplished by closing the cuff, inserting the core lock with key, and turning 1/4 turn the other way, whereby the bottom of the core lock will rotate 1/4 turn, unable to withdraw due to the profile of the lock housing. The key is then withdrawn. The handcuffs are available in two sizes, as are the leg irons and the collar. All of these are the larger size; the collar is 16.7" circumference, which is still relatively small, especially considering that neck collars don't need to be tight, and in fact should not be tight. The handcuffs are about 7.5" circumference, while the leg irons are about 10.25".
I've noticed that Chinese made shackles tend to be liberal with use of heavy chain. From the infamous weighted prison leg irons to these modern consumer-marketed versions, the chain is often of unnecessary size and weight, which becomes more of a burden and even punishment on the wearer than the length of the chain itself.
It has been nice to see the forum more active, and I'm glad I can finally resume my series illustrating what I call "Modern Vintage" with my collection.
Next up: Swing through style handcuffs and leg irons!
They are made of stainless steel, with a smooth finish. This is more of a brushed finish vs mirror, but still very shiny. The chains, while lacking a swivel, are also stainless heavy gauge chain. The size of the chain itself is a bit overdone, as the connecting links are smaller diameter and would have been appropriate for the entire chain. Here is the full set.
.
Below we see the full set with one handcuff unlocked. You can see the detail of the lock, which is a core lock. The keys and locks are the same across all cuffs. The key only has three simple cuts, and the lock would not be hard to pick, although I have not tried yet. All edges are very well rounded, and the oval shape is smoothly curved in this stainless steel. Only on the inside of the collar is there any indication of metal deformation, (a slight rippling texture).
Here we see a close up of the locking mechanism, which is fairly straight forward and simple, if not high security. To unlock, the key is inserted, turned 1/4 turn, and the core lock aligns to withdraw from the cuff with the key. Locking is accomplished by closing the cuff, inserting the core lock with key, and turning 1/4 turn the other way, whereby the bottom of the core lock will rotate 1/4 turn, unable to withdraw due to the profile of the lock housing. The key is then withdrawn. The handcuffs are available in two sizes, as are the leg irons and the collar. All of these are the larger size; the collar is 16.7" circumference, which is still relatively small, especially considering that neck collars don't need to be tight, and in fact should not be tight. The handcuffs are about 7.5" circumference, while the leg irons are about 10.25".
I've noticed that Chinese made shackles tend to be liberal with use of heavy chain. From the infamous weighted prison leg irons to these modern consumer-marketed versions, the chain is often of unnecessary size and weight, which becomes more of a burden and even punishment on the wearer than the length of the chain itself.
It has been nice to see the forum more active, and I'm glad I can finally resume my series illustrating what I call "Modern Vintage" with my collection.
Next up: Swing through style handcuffs and leg irons!