Cuff of the Day for May 8. Chubb.

This week I would like to continue cover a different manufacturer each day covering various countries as we go. 
Please send me your suggestions for next week.

Here is the schedule for this week
Monday - Stotz
Tuesday  - Griffin
Wednesday -  Elijah Rickard
Thursday - Konepaja Voima  and Harrington & Richardson
Friday - Chubb
Saturday - Tower
Sunday - Modern American Handcuffs that never really succeeded. - Gotcha, Trilock, Goncz . . . .

Here is a copy of the Wikipedia entry for Chubb.

"Chubb was started as a ship's ironmonger by Charles Chubb in Winchester, England and then moved to Portsmouth, England in 1804. Chubb moved the company into the locksmith business in 1818, in Wolverhampton. The company worked out of a number of premises in Wolverhampton, including the purpose built factory on Railway Street, now still known as the Chubb Building. His brother Jeremiah Chubb then joined the company, and they sold Jeremiah's patented detector lock.
In 1823, the company was awarded a special licence by George IV, and later became the sole supplier of locks to the General Post Office, and a supplier to Her Majesty's Prison Service. In 1835, they received a patent for a burglar resisting safe, and opened a safe factory in London in 1837. In 1851, they designed a special secure display case for the Koh-i-Noor diamond for its appearance at The Great Exhibition.
In August 1984, the company was purchased by Racal under the chairmanship of Sir Ernest Harrison OBE. After the group was floated out from Racal, in February 1997 it was bought by Williams plc. In August 2000, they were sold to Assa Abloy. In 2006, Chubb was merged into the group Mul-T-Lock within Assa Abloy. The Chubb Electronic Security subsidiaries produce smoke detectors, fire alarms, burglar alarms and glass break detectors. "

Chubb Escort handcuffs are well recognized as the most secure handcuff commercially available.  Here is an early model. 

Does anyone know the day that the Chubb Escort cuff was first introduced?
Joe

Not what you were expecting?
I've shown these here before and the explanation for LIPS handcuff stamped Chubb was something to do with the changes in ownership of the company. The details escape me. These were trialed in Australia but found no to be as robust as required, and so were not continued with.

Paul
Those are really neat!. 

Here is another Chubb experiment from the 1980s.   Thankfully they never continued with these.
They are Hiatt alloy cuffs. Definitely not up to normal Chubb standards. 
I also have a similar adjustable Darby, but at the moment I can't find it for a photo.

Joe

Chubbs

I have nothing too exciting in Chubb cuffs that are not already posted but lets not forget what Chubb is mostly famous for, safes!
I have worked on a few Chubb safes in my long career but never had to open one with a lost combo or failed lock situation. The money would have been good, but I am glad that I avoided that nasty task.
This is one of their old safe plates.

I also have nothing exciting in Chubb cuffs.

Lars

I have a few different Chubb cuffs to offer to the  display, today. I have the 1K52 Escort Handcuff with a full set of Spacers. I also have a Belly Chain that was made by Steve Chase, using Chubb 1K70 Arrest or Detainer Handcuffs. Steve made 3 of these with the cuffs centered in the front and 3 of these with the cuffs separated at the sides. I have one of each, but I am only adding my centered pair.
Lastly was something a friend found for me in the UK. It is a SecuriCare 1K70 Disruptive Passenger Kit for use on an airliner. The cuffs come factory made with on large center link. The person is seating in a set on the airliner, with their hands cuffed in front of them. The maroon strap, wraps around their biceps and chest and is buckled behind the seat and pulled tight. The yellow strap has a clip that goes through the center ring of the cuffs. The strap then runs down under the seat and is pulled up to meet the buckle behind the seat where it is added to the buckle arrangement. Then the yellow strap is also pulled tight, pinning the person to the back of the seat and pulling their hands downward and pinning them to the front of the seat. A very secure restraint, when used properly. I sold two of these on Ebay a few years ago and kept one for myself. I know that one of the sets, ended up going to my friend, Aaron, in the U.K. and sits in his collection. Does anyone know where the 3rd set went to? You can tell the sets I sold, because I had the instructions laminated, since they were becoming brittle and getting torn.
-Richard Knip-

There are only 2 Chubb cuffs left in my collection.

Chubb Escort



Chubb Detainer

Not too sure where to start. I guess Chubb Escort MK1. These were introduced in about 1966 - there is a famous photo of Mick Jagger when he was arrested in 1968 wearing the MK1 cuffs.

The very latest Chubb Escort MKIV. Chubb changed the finish and also their name is cast into the lock case. This set still has the Keys on their security tag. Also the set of inserts numbered 1,2 and 3. Three being the smallest. Back in 1975 when I set up Fetters with Maurice, Chubb agreed to supply us with the Escort cuffs. They were always expensive, keys were priced separately and inserts were also extra.

So much history on Chubb. Attached article from Fordingbridge Museum which is about 10 miles from me. Brian Morland who runs The History of Locks Museum has put in a superb display at the museum. The Heritage Collection is quite unbelievable and quite a lot is on display at The Master Locksmiths Headquarters at Rugby. They have also recently acquired the original Aubin Lock Trophy which was on display at the Great Exhibition in 1851. I had the pleasure of handling the Bramah Key that operates the 52 locks. My very good friend Alex Nichols has donated his collection of handcuffs and restraints to the Museum (excluding UK restraints which are on display at Tetbury Police Museum).

djhalfdead wrote: ↑

May 08, 2020

I have a few different Chubb cuffs to offer to the  display, today. I have the 1K52 Escort Handcuff with a full set of Spacers.U.K. CHUBB 1K52 ESCORT HANDCUFFS #571 (375900) FRONT.JPGI also have a Belly Chain that was made by Steve Chase, using Chubb 1K70 Arrest or Detainer Handcuffs. Steve made 3 of these with the cuffs centered in the front and 3 of these with the cuffs separated at the sides. I have one of each, but I am only adding my centered pair. U.K. CHUBB 1K70 DETAINER BELLY CHAIN CUFFS TOGETHER #880 (50 150) FRONT.JPG
Lastly was something a friend found for me in the UK. It is a SecuriCare 1K70 Disruptive Passenger Kit for use on an airliner. The cuffs come factory made with on large center link. The person is seating in a set on the airliner, with their hands cuffed in front of them. The maroon strap, wraps around their biceps and chest and is buckled behind the seat and pulled tight. The yellow strap has a clip that goes through the center ring of the cuffs. The strap then runs down under the seat and is pulled up to meet the buckle behind the seat where it is added to the buckle arrangement. Then the yellow strap is also pulled tight, pinning the person to the back of the seat and pulling their hands downward and pinning them to the front of the seat. A very secure restraint, when used properly. I sold two of these on Ebay a few years ago and kept one for myself. I know that one of the sets, ended up going to my friend, Aaron, in the U.K. and sits in his collection. Does anyone know where the 3rd set went to? You can tell the sets I sold, because I had the instructions laminated, since they were becoming brittle and getting torn. U.K. CHUBB SECURICARE INTERNATIONAL IK70 DETAINER DISRUPTIVE PASSENGER KIT #572 (100350) FRONT.JPG
-Richard Knip-

Click to expand...

I was half asleep when i typed this. The Belly Chains were made by my friend Steve Chace. Not Chase, as I originally typed.
-RK-

Spot the typo! Should read 1835 not 1935. This has been corrected so my leaflet is now very collectable - make me an offer!

Love the Escorts, this shows their mechanism and the Lock Pick and decoder for them. The pick was government controlled until about 8 years ago. The make up key is still restricted.

The Chubb Arrest Handcuffs have a possible 24 key combinations. The vast majority are keyed alike. Here are three restricted issue Prison / Home Office cuffs and a photo showing their mechanism.

Here is the Chubb Escort MKIII. The name Chubb is engraved on the base of the lockcase.

chriscuffs6 wrote: ↑

May 08, 2020

Here is the Chubb Escort MKIII.  The name Chubb is engraved on the base of the lockcase.

So, MK1 is the unpainted one. MKIII has CHUBB engraved on the bottom. MKIV Has CHUBB cast into the top of the lock body. What does MKII have and how many version of the escort cuff are there?
-RK-

The Chubb 1K58!! I first heard about this 8 years ago and got the feeling it would never be available. So decided to try and make a set. The mechanism uses Abloy ProTec locks which I managed to buy keyed alike at great expense.
I recently came across a good quality photo of the actual cuff in use in Italy. I spoke to Chubb who confirmed they did make a special batch of 20 for the Italian Prison Authority.
Thanks to Nils I have the Italian Bomissa Transport Kit so with the better quality photo I am thinking about getting 10 made. I have already got orders for 4. Their price will be expensive approx. $500 if I use a standard Cam Lock the Abloy Locks would add about $250 to the price.
PM me (cgower1@aol.com) if you are interested in a pair.

I got these from Joe Tanner a while back and the letter that came with them states that Mr. Lovett at Chubb found these at their factory but he does not know who made them.
It also states that there are only 2 pairs in the world.

I believe that Chubb made them and Mr. Lovett just was not aware that someone unbeknownst to him, made some prototypes in the factory because they look like Chubbs, smell like Chubbs and have keys that seem to be Chubbs.
Maybe one day, the story will have an ending.

Well done Mark in getting those from Joe. Think Alex shows them in his book. I was very friendly with a couple of people who worked and designed cuffs at Chubb. I know of at least three different prototype that were made until they patented the 1K70 Arrest cuffs.
I was never allowed to photograph them and one design was similar to a Hiatt Peerless but with a barrel key and I think 2 levers. Guess they are hidden away somewhere maybe one day they will surface.

Auburn trophy at the 1.18 mark. There is a colour version, still looking. 

Dug this old blog up from a while ago.
I finally grouped my Chubb Escorts up and noticed a few variations between them all and can only assume that they may be due to different models and/or age.  Each of the keys vary in design as well.  The shape, length and keyways are varied and not at all similar to many other cuffs made by other manufacturers.
It may be possible that each agency ordered their cuffs with keys which were specified just for them.  A neighboring police department's keys would not work in the cuffs from a different town.
In searching older comments here, I have not found much in regard to the different varieties that Chubb manufactured over the years.
I can use some help in identifying what I may have here.  I would like to know what models I have and get a better understanding of what years these may have been produced.
Many thanks in advance for any help on this.

Everything you wanted to know about Chubb Escorts but were afraid to ask.
These cuffs are a bit different from many other cuffs as there are many different lock options and keyways, and bittings.
I think they had many small changes and improvements over their manufacturing timeline.

All 3 of my examples have the aluminum sized inserts and I find that I have 2 sets of the number "1's".  One pair has a size "3".  
IF anyone has a set of number "2's" for sale or trade for a # 1, lets talk!
It would be nice to have all 3 sizes.

3 different lock bezels.  The middle and right ones are set deeper into the body.  The left one may have 1 extra disc in the lock that makes the lock cylinder slightly longer.
The earliest model of this cuff used a very different bezel which was not circular.  It had 2 protruding tabs.  It also utilized the square shackle hole.

I am guessing that the Escort on the left is earlier in manufacture than the ones to the right as it does not have the hex screw that allows the cuff to come apart, or if it does, it is not as pronounced as the others.
The earliest model (shown earlier in this blog) had the same square shackle hole, so my cuff on the left was made similar to that.
It also features the square shackle which slides up into the body when unlocked.  I would guess that it was harder to manufacture a square hole in the lock body as a round hole would be.
The lock is not as set back or deep as the others and the key blade on 1 side is thinner.  This key can be inserted only one way as it isn't symmetrical, and the bezel has squared edges in the keyhole.



The middle one is marked at the top of the body with the Chubb logo and uses a non-symmetrical triangular shaped key.  The keyway is rounded and not squared as the left one is.


The Escort on the right has a more symmetrical keyhole and has the "Chubb" name on the bottom of the lock body.
This model has the square key.



This cuff and its key are marked C/CC. (middle on in pic at the top) No idea what area or agency this represents.




Not sure if the square key is an original key or a copy.
It will not fit in the keyhole of the other 2 cuffs as the 2 sides or blades are about the same thickness, or more symmetrical.



I am sure that there are quite a few models, variations and keyway differences with these cuffs,
I believe that different prisons, police stations or other agencies could order locks and keys to their specific needs and that a key style in one cuff would be different than another cuff made during the same time period.  Maybe if a collector had 50 of these cuffs, they could all be different in some way.

In all 3 of these, the inserts are numbered, but only by pair.  It seems that they only numbered 1 of the inserts and not both when sold as a pair.

I am not sure if these cuffs are still in production or not.  I know that my sheriff department has a few of these that is used for high-risk prisoner transportation.

Thanks again for any info regarding these unique cuffs!