I need an old looking cuff, that I can claim Houdini used...

...then lie to the audience and talk about "rapping" them open, then "show them how it was done."

Suggestions?

Thanks

Mark

Ian can make nice darbies with weakened springs for that. The Irish-8 I use for the rapping demo is his handiwork.

Steve

This is a very good question. I'm working on an escape where my hands will be cuffed outside and I'll be inside a box. For dramatic effect I want to rap the cuffs open as well. I planned on using just any set of bridge jumpers from what I already have. Now that Mark points it out though it should be cuffs that (gimmicked or not)would fail when banged open. It's just more believable.
I look forward to what Ian has to say.

Ms.M

Steve...I would like to hear about presentation when you use your Irish-8's with the weakened springs. I have heard about E.A's with very bruised wrists when you regularly rap open cuffs. Is this "part of the job" and you have to live with this, or is there an easier way?

Apparently Houdini would have a piece of lead sewn into his pants at thigh level to allow him to rap, and as lead is a soft metal, perhaps that took away some of the shock waves.

I'd be interested to know. Obviously I could just rap them open when not on my wrists, for demo purposes, but I don't like to give away the method.

Mick

Hi, either an old pair of standard darbies or Irish 8 coverted will do the trick. The cuff I use are steel darbies and I rap them one against the other but pulling both wrist down in opposite arcs and making the bows strike each other. I can usually get both side to release at the same time.

I also use the floor or a table and until you master the right spot to hit the cuff and which position to have your wrist in, there will be bruises. No pain no gain...

Ian

In my presentation, I slip the left hand (from the slightly larger locking side) and then rap the cuff open against the palm of my left hand (the spring is weak enough that I can do this painlessly). I do this while talking about the 'weaknesses' discovered in this classic cuff.
As for the 'giveaway' aspect...every Houdini biography describes 'rapping the darbies,' so I see it as giving entertaining physical reality to what many a junior-high-school kid has already read about. Plus, if they manage to find a real set of ungaffed darbies and try the same thing, they will just get bruises and be left scratching their heads.
I did this stunt busking, and it's amazing how many people were left with their mouths hanging open at the IDEA that I could open the cuffs without a key, even though they saw the technical 'how.'

Steve

Well, I plan to use this in my Physic's shows to grab them while I teach inertia.

Ian or Steven, which cuffs are those, exactly, so I know what to buy.

If anyone is interested I just got in some "gravity" darbies and Irish 8s.

Clyde

Hey Mark,

While I certainly do magic in the classroom, I never thought of using handcuffs to teach physics. Physics is my favorite subject to teach, but I always stay away from escapes in front of the kids. Too much liability and all. if it works for you...go for it.

I use the Irish Eights in the same way in my Houdini lecture, but rap open on the padded top of a small set of drawers that carry some of my cuffs. By rapping the "empty" shackle, there's no pain nor bruising (well . . not so much, anyway )

Houdini exposed "rapping" on the stage of the London Hippodrome, in the lead up to the Mirror cuff "challenge". OK, it was the reporter who rapped open the Darbies on the edge of the stage ("So much for regulation handcuffs!"), but it was Houdini's script..

The Irish Eights are lovely cuffs for demo's of this kind. Use a weak spring, and really SLAM them shut HARD when showing how they lock. This is an important presentation point - the specs. assume/remember you had to slam them hard to open them, too (?)

Riley

Sounds like the Hiatt Rap Aparts.

Hi Don, can you please clarify your question or statement?? I don't know what you are talking about. Who said they or any of these cuffs were Hiatt?

Ian

Hmmm. . .well, my "Irish Eights" are certainly Hiatts, but the term 'rap apart' is new to me.
However, I'm slowly getting used to inter-continental terminology!

Riley

Hi riley, I think the term rap apart was invented and created by Don ( maybe some kind of trick so be careful ! )

I really enjoyed watching Paul Michael Glasser in the Great Houdini's rap the Irish eights on the table. The image has stuck with me for years.

Ian

I tried rapping the 8s while they were on both wrists; it didn't work for me. Perhaps trying to swing down both hands in the rigid cuffs works against the momentum required to make the inertia factor work? Rapping a chain-link cuff (like a Hiatt 104 with weakened springs), rapping one cuff at a time, might work better. Anyone out there rap weak-spring 104s?

Steve

Yes. I would not recommend anyone rapping open 104's or Irish Eights unless they are fitted with weaker or shorter springs. Steel is stronger than bone

Chris Gower also raps Irish Eights on a block of wood.

Regards

Riley

I once bought 15 pairs of old Hiatt 104s and tried rapping the cuffs open (while not wearing them) on an anvil. Only pair opened one both sides. I tried the cuffs on and rapped them again with a lesser force than when I held them freely. I was able to get only one side open but nearly broke my wrist. The old story of Houdini rapping the ucff open on a pillar at Scotland Yard is just a story.

Ian