Training Handcuffs

I am sure most of us have a few sets of Training Handcuffs in their collection. Most operate with a small button or knob. Photo attached of 6 of my favourites.
About 20 years ago I came across a photo of a prisoner wearing a set of Chubb Escort handcuffs that appeared to have a plug over the keyway, sounded like a good idea as it is easy to push a match stick or something in the keyway and jam them. Chubb denied this! Yesterday I received a set of Chubb Training Escorts which have seen better days but still work fine. Has anyone else seen these or got a pair?

a excellent addition to your collection and confirmation of a 20 year puzzle. What material is the knob made of, please.

The knob is steel, never too sure whether to polish it and get the body resprayed. What are collectors thoughts on restoring and polishing old cuffs? I never remove old patina on cuffs, if they have surface rust I will use fine wire wool and WD40 carefully.

Wire brush the knob , then a coat of clear matt acrylic. Black matt spray for the aluminium body wouldn't do harm. 

Chris  - Fascinating item and a great find.

I don't understand any of this. Why do you need a plug over the Chubb keyholes to prevent a match from jamming them?  Why were they were on a prisoner? If I understand, the training cuffs allow you to practice your handcuffing technique without having to bother with the key each time, you just twiddle the knob and they open?
Mike

Chris, congratulations to a spectacular find! I've never seen such set before.

Please explain how it works. Do you simply turn the round knob to open or what?

Lars

Lars, the knob simply turns about 90 degrees clockwise. The same as if the key was in the lock.
Sorry if I confused the issue regarding jamming the lock. Basically the Chubb Escort Handcuff is the most secure handcuff ever made and has over 6 million key combinations. The cuffs are very expensive, the last time Chubb allowed me to buy direct about 2002 they were well over £100, the keys were ordered separately at about £8 per key and the inserts were about £25 per pair. So we have a very high security pick resistant handcuff! I know of a few cases where prisoners were being transported to court, quite often two sets of cuffs were used. What could be more fun on a journey than to shove a piece of paper/wood/chewing gum into the handcuffs! On arrival at the court the cuffs could not be opened with the key and the Prison Officer was held in Handcuffs just like the prisoner until the Fire brigade arrived and used their hydraulic cutters to remove the cuffs - good game and cause a long delay.
Obviously on the training cuffs nothing can go wrong as a key is not necessary.

On the subject of Chubb, attached is photo showing their Inserts. They were made in 3 sizes and supplied in sealed boxes!

Chris, Amy Foote in England had also purchased a set of Chubb Escorts a few years ago that had a bolt, stuck in the lock cylinder that also acted like a training cuff. Give the bolt a twist and the cuffs opened. I do not know if she still has them? I also do not know if someone made them like that or if it was a factory made item? They looked to be well made, for the most part.
-Richard Knip-

That's a very nice set of Escorts Chris, but I'm confused. From your description of the way they function they're clearly some sort of training cuff but I don't reckon we should be comparing them with those in the prisoner and escort photo you've also posted - and this is where my confusion sets in - who and why would anybody escort a prisoner in a pair of training cuffs? It's far more likely that the prisoner is wearing Escorts that are yet another modification, probably along the lines already suggested by Chris of prohibiting the insertion of any foreign objects into the keyway. And we still don't know whether they're factory modifications!

I would suggest that no one was transported in a pair of training cuffs.  As shown in the photo, there are two people wearing a pair of cuffs with something at the position of the keyhole. Now that there is confirmation of a training cuff,  I would suggest that the photo of the two people in a cuff was the training model and may have been taking during a day of training ( so the photo could be using in a static display as an example)  

I agree with Ian, as I said before not sure where the photo was published but photos of Prison Officers are carefully monitored. Do you remember Mike many years ago a photo was published of a Prison Officer in Manchester, the photo showed his keys and it cost nearly £50K to have all the Cell Door Locks replaced by Chubb.
As such I think the photo was posed for during a Training Day with Officers playing the part of Prisoner and Officer.
Originally I thought it may have been a Lock blocker similar to attached photo.

I would offer my best guess and say this pic was taken on Training Day at the academy even if they are in street clothes and not in uniform as would be typical.
In the alternative, this pic could be part of a training manual, showing off the use of these cuffs.
What I am almost certain of, is that it would be unreal if the arresting officer did not confiscate and hold the key chain dangling from the "prisoner's" pocket on the right.  No way that this could be a photo of actual prisoners.