I had a police officer in my shop today, and we were talking about handcuffs, and he told me at his training, he was taught to secure a prisoner in handcuffs by having the backs of the hands facing each other, behind the back, and making sure there is a space as big as his little finger between the shackle and the prisoner's wrist before double locking. Also to make sure that the keyhole was in the "up" position.

How does this affect the chance of escape in a peformance situation, if this method is used?

He uses a Hiatt swing through cuff with a rigid connection between the wrists, probably a Speedcuff.

Hey there Mick,

Back when I was taking challenege bets in college, I almost got thrown for a loop. One of the people I was betting aparently knew how to cuff a person the proper way (as you are describing). The only thing that saved me was that my pick was longer than it had to be. This was by dumb luck and not design. If you are cuffed that way, and holding an ordinary handcuff key, you will find it very difficult to to escape. You will probably manage to engage the key in the hole through painful twisting and struggling, but be unable to grasp the jey to give it a turn. The problme with that is all you need is a longer key with a bend in the handle, and the job is done. Criminals know this too. The bit about the little finger is to protect the officer from future leagal action. If you cuff a prisioner snugly, where I come from the have the 20 minute rule. You must check every 20 minutes to see if the circulation is being cut off. Using the 1 finger rule, you insure that the cuff is tight enough not to be slipped off, but loose enough not to do damage.

This hand and lcok placement is much easier to understand if you have a model to look at, or better yet try it yourself, but hopefully you will get at least some of what I am saying.

Break a chain

Thanks Cliff...perfect answer! Let's hope we don't get real police officers to secure us in our shows.

One nasty problem with cuffs put on this proper way is that it's nearly impossible to get your arms around front. (I'm sure, now that I've said that, someone will show up who can do it...LOL)But for me, atleast, that cuts off one very helpful move.
on the flip side if the cuffs are put on me this way and they use the "1 finger rule" I can just slip out...my hands are that small.

Hummm.... now that you bring it up, Mick, it been a very long time since I've had cuffs on that way. I think I'd like to have another go at getting my arms round front with this set up. You've got me thinking.......

If you guys don't hear back from me it means I'm hopeless stuck in a knot of cuffs and legs..and it's all Mick's fault

Ms.M

If that happens Ms M, be sure to let me have a photo!

Ah Morgan, wait till you're my age. I can't pass my hands down that way for nothing anymore!

Ms Morgan,

I once knew a petite young lady who said, "Handcuff me". I did, hands behind her and the cuffs on the tightest notch, and she managed to slip her wrists out. By going beyond the tightest notch, she could just barely squeeze her wrists out. She was limber enough to step through and bring her hands in front of her.

The only way I could restrain her was to have place both hands behind, backs of her hands touching, and place ONE cuff around both wrists. I then put the second cuff around a railing.

Many years ago, I was limber enough to bring my cuffed hands from behind to front, but years (and mostly too much weight) keep me from doing that now.

Have you ever had a handcuff challenge that involved one cuff on both wrists?

I have never been particularly grateful for the size of my wrists which are large enough to preclude any option I might have had of slipping out. However if anyone took a leg shackle or something and did both my wrists, I think it would take the above mentioned "dumb luck" to get me out. I would have to plan for it, practice for it, and probably shim, if I could do it at all.

Davis,
One cuff on both wrists? You know I had to run off and try that...ouch. That's just plain nasty.
I was surprised to find that one cuff would fit on both my wrists. As I read your post I thought the girl in question had to be really small, much smaller than me, and I don't consider myself small. My wrists, however, must be as small as I thought. I can not only get cuffs on this way but, tighten them down rather far.
The idea of using cuffs this way has never crossed my mind. I just hope that anyone who may lock me up, one day, has not read your post.
Any picking or shimming would have to be done with my teeth, there is no room to flex the hands at all. If this set-up was behind the back..like Cliff said "Dumb luck" would really play a big part. It's not impossible to think I might be able to shim with my feet but it would take work...alot of work.
Something else to add to the list of stuff to teach myself. Thanks Davis, you've given me a challenge to mess with and informed me of something that could have really broadsided me one day...neat!

Morgan