Cuff of the Day for May 10. Modern American Handcuffs that never really succeeded.

The Topic for today:  Sunday - Modern American Handcuffs that never really succeeded. - Gotcha, Trilock, Goncz . . . . 

Here is the schedule for the coming week
Monday - Czechoslovakia/Czech Republic/Slovak Republic
Tuesday  - Rankin
Wednesday -  Nichols
Thursday - Scandinavian restraints
Friday - Palmer
Saturday - Bean
Sunday - Pre 1800's restraints from around the world

Please send me your suggestions for future days.

Today I would like to look at:Modern American Handcuffs that never really succeeded. - Gotcha, Trilock, Goncz . . . . 
It takes a lot of investment to start the manufacturer of a new cuff.  Many have tried, but few succeed.   Today we look at
companies that have tried, but have never really succeeded.  Their cuffs may have been fine, even superior, but they never sold
enough for success.

I will start with a couple of Trilock handcuffs.   The world was simply not ready for plastic handcuffs. 

The Gotcha cuffs were an interesting innovation that unfortunately never made it.
I am not certain what did them in but I do know that they had production problems that lasted over a year.
I bought and paid for a dozen or more sets for my sheriff dept and it took about 14 months for them to ship out from the factory.
I am aware of 3 different models or styles before they ceased production.  They made chain and hinged handcuffs and leg irons.
The first model took a hexagonal key and later models took a Judd style 3 lobed type key.  Their cuffs had a keyhole on both sides of the cuff to improve officer safety.

Tuff Kuffs High Security Handcuffs. The swivel handcuff design.

Goncz Handcuffs

I’m not very keen on modern cuffs but there are also several vintage and antique cuffs
with no commercial success. Sometimes the reason was an awkward construction that just didn’t work in the field, in other cases the construction was old and obsolete already from the beginning
In Feb 20 1912 the swing-around patent was issued to G. A. Carney. Only just a little more than a month earlier, in January 9,  J. F. Carberry got his patent.
The swing-around handcuffs soon came to dominate the market and other constructions got obsolete. If J. F. Carberry had known of Carney’s invention these handcuffs were probably never manufactured.
The precursor to the Carberry, the Cummings patented in 1899, had as I understand a fair commercial success and they are not that rare. The Carberry on the other hand cannot have been sold in any larger quantity as we rarely see a set for sale. It’s a just a great cuff that hit the market too late.

Lars

Lars

Your thoughts about the lack of sale of the Carberry cuffs is probable correct. It is interesting to note though that the Tower handcuffs, which should have been made obsolete by the Carney cuffs , were still being sold through the 1940s.

Matt

The Trilock range of handcuffs were marketed by AEDEC International Inc and were patented in 1992. With AIDS and HIV positive people making headlines the idea was the blue inserts could be autoclave to sterilise them.
They were made in 4 models Joe has illustrated two and here are the other 2 an unusual Cable Link and a Webbing Strap type. The first models had plastic bows which were found to be too light and the cuffs could not be flicked onto the wrist. Later a steel lining was added which gave the bows more weight.

Not having many modern cuffs I will follow Lars with old cuffs that didn't succeeded 

Im going to expand a bit on the mention and pic of the Tuff Kuffs. Here is the original box and two original keys with the Kuffs. Even has the original price tag of $108.99. The Tuff Kuffs were a good enough idea, but the construction was missing a key component. With the center that pivots, they never included a stop or a locking feature on the swivels. Had they made a way to arrest the swivel at the halfway turning point, I think these cuffs would have made it further than what they did. Without the stop and locking mechanism, the Kuffs were just too dangerous! A struggling prisoner could get bound up with their arms over extended and pulling at joints, tendons and ligaments.. Causing permanent nerve and muscle damage. What interesting, is that the makers of this Kuff, knew that! They even went as far as to put a warning on the instruction sheet, instead of fixing the problems!
-Richard Knip-

Arms Tech Inc. were situated in North Hollywood CA and was owned by John Goncz.  They started making handcuffs in 1996 and offered a range of products including an unusual High Security model which had a raised turret to make picking more difficult.  They also had two springs so more pressure was required to turn the key.

Matt3114 wrote: ↑

May 10, 2020

Lars

Your thoughts about the lack of sale of the Carberry cuffs is probable correct. It is interesting to note though that the Tower handcuffs, which should have been made obsolete by the Carney cuffs , were still being sold through the 1940s.

Matt

Matt,

Your are right and that's very interesting. How could Tower survive so many years with an outdated construction?
One reason could be that Tower had a very strong market position at the time and they were skilled enough to keep it.
How they could sell their outdated cuffs into the 40's is a mystery. But they did for sure

Lars

"Carthage must be destroyed" - and Gotcha still owe me two sets of cuffs that I paid for. 

Don't have much to contribute to this topic, I'm afraid.

Lars

You are right about their market position, Tower cuffs had a great reputation. Police departments were also likely to stay with what they had. They knew the Tower cuffs, had used them for decades, an advantage that the Carberry never had. In addition in the later years Tower cuffs were made by The Union Hardware Company and advertised in their catalogs which were distributed widely, resulting in vastly superior marketing and advertising.

Matt

Goncz did make a few prototypes, not too sure how many. This is a stainless steel folding model.

Wow Chris,

I never knew about this one.
I met with John Goncz a few times and he never mentioned this one.
I think you have a leg iron too

Here is another Gotcha that I found a pic for.
I believe this was their last model before they gave it up.
It features the 3 lobed design keypost.
I do not know why they cut out the two 90 degree notches in the frame as the key did not have the corresponding appendages to go into the cut outs.
It also seems strange that they never made the security channel in the bow to interlock with the cuff body.
A high security cuff should have this.  Even a POS Valor cuff has that!

NilsKrueger wrote: ↑

May 10, 2020

"Carthage must be destroyed" - and Gotcha still owe me two sets of cuffs that I paid for. 

Don't have much to contribute to this topic, I'm afraid.

Nils, I think I remember that you ordered them and got stiffed.
I probably asked how they would even let you order any.
When I ordered mine, I had to have them shipped to my department headquarters and they would only sell them to me as long it was for official law enforcement use and not for collecting.  They were sticklers' on this mandate!  I don't think anyone that I ordered them for is using them now.

Thanks Mark, yes I do have two Goncz Prototype Legirons.  These are both from the Alex Nichols Collection and are illustrated on page 186 of his book.  Not too sure what to do with them, they were in storage at Tetbury Police Museum together with lots of other cuffs.  They had a flood and lots of items have incurred damage.  Luckily Alex made sure the collection was insured and he did receive compensation.

Just a thought Joe, really enjoying contributing to the topics you choose. You have listed tomorrow as East European Restraints. Think this may be too large for a one day topic. Can I suggest you split this into Russian/Ukraine as one topic, CzechRepublic/Czechoslovakia as a topic
Other East European countries to include Hungary, Romania, Yugoslavia etc.

Chris
Someone else asked for the GDR as a separate day and I was already thinking of giving the former USSR a separate day.   but dividing by four also works.
So lets do four.    We will start with Czechoslovakia/Czech Republic/Slovak Republic.
Joe

I think these should also be added to the Unsuccessful American Handcuffs post. They came out and they were sold, but the sales only stretched for one year. The hinges of the model 200 and model 210, were found to be the weak point on the cuff's design. Smith & Wesson learned that the hinges were subject to being broke if the hinge was forced the opposite way of which it opened. The S&W Model 200 and 210 both hit the market in 1990. Both models were pulled from sales in 1991. Marking the biggest failure, of a product line, for an otherwise very successful restraint maker.

The first one here is the "prototype" for the concept of the hinge design. Notice its smaller and thinner and only has 2 large teeth to the hinge assembly. This pair has no serial number.
The next is the production model that was actually  sold of the M-200. The hinge was made wider and had several, smaller teeth, to make up the hinged section.

Last of the series was the Oversized M-210. Same hinge as the M-200 production model. As far as I know, a "prototype of the M-210 has never shown up in a collection, anywhere? I dont even know if they made a concept design for the M-210 or if they just went straight to production, using the assembly from the production M-200? I have also read that the M-200 and M-210 were also available in a blued finish. Has anyone ever seen a blued 200 or 210? Does anyone have one in their collection, currently? I have not seen an M-200 or 210 in blued finish, nor do i own one. That would have been a very rare option for this cuff, I would think?
Thank you to David Teeters for amassing the histories of both Smith & Wesson and Peerless and producing 2 books full of pictures and information on these cuffs and both companies restraint lines. Two great digital books to get, if you dont already have them!

-Richard Knip-

chriscuffs6 wrote: ↑

May 10, 2020

Goncz did make a few prototypes, not too sure how many.  This is a stainless steel folding model.

Chris,
I was wrong when I stated that I was not aware of this cuff.
I should have remembered that I saw the original drawing for it in 2011 and took a pic of it.

I got some pictures from a BOA representative of some original prototypes they never released.
The cuffs in the picture used to be for sale if you ask : alan.lurie@boa-st.com

Wow! Those are some great pictures of some BOA cuffs that I have never seen before! Thanks for sharing those!
-Richard Knip-

This is very interesting. The BOA engineers seem to have some good ideas.
Thank you for sharing :-)

I forgot about these Cuff Calipers.

The concept was for the officer to arrest his subject and then record the settings on the cuff so that IF the arrestee was to claim that he or she suffered wrist damage from the cuffs, the court could place the cuffs back onto the wrists at the same increment and then decide if they were on too tight to cause the damage on the claim.

This pair has its measurements laser etched onto a peerless 700.  The company may have used other cuffs and/or leg irons as well.

Another good example, Mark! I ran across a competitor's cuffs to the Cuff Caliper. These are a Smith & Wesson Model 1 and 1H that are marked, just like Cuff Calipers. But they were made by a company named Eagle.
These are the only two examples I have ever seen. There was no address given for the company.

-Richard Knip-

Richard,
It's possible these could have been made up by or for, Eagle-Armorment Company.
Just a guess.
Dave

Thank you for the information, Dave! I wish there were more to go on. Each cuff is printed with the scale and only the name "Eagle." There are no stickers or any additional info on the boxes. Just another cuff mystery, that has a probable solution, Eagle Armorment Company, but may never be proven as such.
-Richard Knip-

djhalfdead wrote: ↑

May 10, 2020

Im going to expand a bit on the mention and pic of the Tuff Kuffs. Here is the original box and two original keys with the Kuffs. Even has the original price tag of $108.99. The Tuff Kuffs were a good enough idea, but the construction was missing a key component. With the center that pivots, they never included a stop or a locking feature on the swivels. Had they made a way to arrest the swivel at the halfway turning point, I think these cuffs would have made it further than what they did. Without the stop and locking mechanism, the Kuffs were just too dangerous! A struggling prisoner could get bound up with their arms over extended and pulling at joints, tendons and ligaments.. Causing permanent nerve and muscle damage. What interesting, is that the makers of this Kuff, knew that! They even went as far as to put a warning on the instruction sheet, instead of fixing the problems!
IMG_7813.JPGIMG_7814.JPGIMG_7818.JPGIMG_7817.JPG
-Richard Knip-

Click to expand...

Man I really want to get a couple of pairs!

CuffedUpInIrish wrote: ↑

Jan 27, 2022

djhalfdead wrote: ↑

May 10, 2020

Im going to expand a bit on the mention and pic of the Tuff Kuffs. Here is the original box and two original keys with the Kuffs. Even has the original price tag of $108.99. The Tuff Kuffs were a good enough idea, but the construction was missing a key component. With the center that pivots, they never included a stop or a locking feature on the swivels. Had they made a way to arrest the swivel at the halfway turning point, I think these cuffs would have made it further than what they did. Without the stop and locking mechanism, the Kuffs were just too dangerous! A struggling prisoner could get bound up with their arms over extended and pulling at joints, tendons and ligaments.. Causing permanent nerve and muscle damage. What interesting, is that the makers of this Kuff, knew that! They even went as far as to put a warning on the instruction sheet, instead of fixing the problems!
IMG_7813.JPGIMG_7814.JPGIMG_7818.JPGIMG_7817.JPG
-Richard Knip-

Man I really want to get a couple of pairs!

Click to expand...

Tuff Kuffs are one of the hard ones to find. As soon as they hit the market, they get sold. The two different types I have in my collection was a being in the right place at the right time, kind of deal. Keep watching for them. They are out there. Most collectors that get them, wont let them go. It took me over 20 years of collecting to get my Stainless Steel set.
-Richard Knip-

djhalfdead wrote: ↑

Jan 27, 2022

CuffedUpInIrish wrote: ↑

Jan 27, 2022

djhalfdead wrote: ↑

May 10, 2020

Im going to expand a bit on the mention and pic of the Tuff Kuffs. Here is the original box and two original keys with the Kuffs. Even has the original price tag of $108.99. The Tuff Kuffs were a good enough idea, but the construction was missing a key component. With the center that pivots, they never included a stop or a locking feature on the swivels. Had they made a way to arrest the swivel at the halfway turning point, I think these cuffs would have made it further than what they did. Without the stop and locking mechanism, the Kuffs were just too dangerous! A struggling prisoner could get bound up with their arms over extended and pulling at joints, tendons and ligaments.. Causing permanent nerve and muscle damage. What interesting, is that the makers of this Kuff, knew that! They even went as far as to put a warning on the instruction sheet, instead of fixing the problems!
IMG_7813.JPGIMG_7814.JPGIMG_7818.JPGIMG_7817.JPG
-Richard Knip-

Man I really want to get a couple of pairs!

Tuff Kuffs are one of the hard ones to find. As soon as they hit the market, they get sold. The two different types I have in my collection was a being in the right place at the right time, kind of deal. Keep watching for them. They are out there. Most collectors that get them, wont let them go. It took me over 20 years of collecting to get my Stainless Steel set.
-Richard Knip-

Click to expand...

Oh man, that's disappointing to hear, and I'm trying to get 2 of them! Lord... such a pity :( thanks for the heads up though!

I've got to ask, if anyone knows - WHY half of these cuffs actually failed? Particularly the Gotcha, TuffKuffs, Arms Tech/Goncz, Trilock, and BOA?

CuffedUp:   In my opinion:

1. Economics:  Too expensive for average Police Departments to purchase for all of their officers.

2. "If it ain't broke...then it don't need fixing":  Peerless and S&W have long survived because
      their design is perfect as is. If they are put on properly (behind-the-back; keyholes away
      from fingers) and the prisoner has been searched, and they are checked on a regular
       basis...the suspect isn't going anywhere.

3.   The "universal key system" is NEEDED in the field, for patrolmen.....to make "handing
       off" prisoners to other officers seamless -  without the risk of lost keys.

4.  For High-Security TRANSPORT...don't look Forward.........Look BACK! ---and use Tower DL
      handcuffs; H&R Supers; Oregon Boots; Judd, Maltby; Marlin-Daley; Cummings; Caveneys; etc, etc. etc.

5. If a new security handcuff doesn't fit into an officer's existing "handcuff belt pouch"...then,
      forget about it gaining acceptance.

6. Officers, like most humans - resist CHANGE.   I see no need for the constant "improvement"
    over existing handcuffs in this world.
 

.   

Joe Fox wrote: ↑

Oct 20, 2022

CuffedUp:   In my opinion:

1. Economics:  Too expensive for average Police Departments to purchase for all of their officers.

2. "If it ain't broke...then it don't need fixing":  Peerless and S&W have long survived because
      their design is perfect as is. If they are put on properly (behind-the-back; keyholes away
      from fingers) and the prisoner has been searched, and they are checked on a regular
       basis...the suspect isn't going anywhere.

3.   The "universal key system" is NEEDED in the field, for patrolmen.....to make "handing
       off" prisoners to other officers seamless -  without the risk of lost keys.

4.  For High-Security TRANSPORT...don't look Forward.........Look BACK! ---and use Tower DL
      handcuffs; H&R Supers; Oregon Boots; Judd, Maltby; Marlin-Daley; Cummings; Caveneys; etc, etc. etc.

5. If a new security handcuff doesn't fit into an officer's existing "handcuff belt pouch"...then,
      forget about it gaining acceptance.

6. Officers, like most humans - resist CHANGE.   I see no need for the constant "improvement"
    over existing handcuffs in this world.
 

.   

Click to expand...

Interesting and some pretty logical arguments there actually! I admit I do need to look up the names you mentioned in point 4 as none of them are familiar to me! but thank you for the feedback, that's greatly appreciated :)