How To Escape From Handcuffs (Steel and Plastic)

Saw this on another site and it reminded me of my LE days...believe me, this works!! One never knows when this technique might come in handy in the future...

Presented for entertainment purposes only







[edit on 22-5-2009 by RolandBrichter]

How To Escape From Plastic Handcuffs

nice videos thanks

what about a straight jacket?

locking houdini up must have been a nightmare

Heres another method albeit hard to convey in words without actually showing you in person, to escape using a pen cap. When the officer cuffs you try to keep your hands balled into fists flexing your wrists (This will provide the little extra room you need to get out) once cuffed break the metal "pocket clip" off found on many pens such a a "pilot brand pen" Slip that piece over the ratcheted end of the cuffs or holes on some cuffs, and and push it tight against the mechanism, once thats done simply tighten it on more click, which will advance the pen clip in between the mechanism and prevent it from locking. Then as long as you hold the clip in place you can open up the cuffs. This method works with both the ratchet type cuffs AND the ones with spaced holes and sprocket type mechanism! Hope this comes in handy sometime!

great vids, the second might be useful one day -alas in the UK our police use much more modern design for metal cuff so this won't work

Nice one!

Of course never try to escape from the Police.

Hate to be a kill joy, but i'm not sure it's appropriate to educate possible criminals on how to escape from an arrest situation.....

I have an ebook on ways to get out of handcuffs, it's pretty complicated because there are many types of hancuffs that have differnt ways of getting out, but once you know it's quite simple I think, I have not read it much.

Originally posted by Ratman
Hate to be a kill joy, but i'm not sure it's appropriate to educate possible criminals on how to escape from an arrest situation.....

Well it says that it's almost impossible to get out of it in the standard hands behind back way.

Also it might be handy in a situation where it was is not a cop who cuffs you, maybe angry wife, or crazy burglar, or something, anyway it's always useful to read up on survival techniques.

[edit on 22-5-2009 by _Phoenix_]

Star and Flag for you.

I'll certainly find that useful information when some bad guys hand cuff me.

You just never know.

reply to post by _Phoenix_


he's just saying that , it might be hard back ways , thats why you would bring your hands under your legs ,its eazy if you lie down or sit back. i know a dude that got out of hand cuffs and stole a cop scanner from under the seat of the cop car he was in lol

That wont always work with steel handcuffs because they have a double lock which holds the ratchet in place and stops the metal part from moving you can still pick em kinda hard to explain how without pictures

if you really wanna learn about lock picking i suggest the book how to pick locks with improvised tools dont remeber the authors name but you can get it on amazon pretty cheap

reply to post by Ratman


It's not the criminals that I'm worried about....they already know these things.....I was in law enforcement for many years

[edit on 22-5-2009 by RolandBrichter]

Great videos

never leaving the house without a bobby pin and a sewing needle


this really is a great video and really education considering all the conspiracy theories involving all us americans being thrown in a camp



just curious as ive never tried escaping from cuffs before

but the video says the person will cuff you with your hands behind your back "making it near impossible"

whats the difference where your hands are, if the hair pin works, it should always work as long as you do it right


and im sure i could search online and figure it out on my own but someone here might know already and be able to help easier

how do you save a video like this to your hard drive?

[edit on 22-5-2009 by Dramey]

reply to post by RolandBrichter


what utter twaddle - in his " demonstration " the cuffs are so loose as to be totaly ineffective anyway - fitted correctly - you simply do not have the range of movement to do this

ps - engineers have used the stick a shim through the lock of zip ties for years to release a cable lock that was incorrectly positioned or needed something else adding to the bundle - without the hassle of cutting off the old one and using a nother

The type of metal cuff shown is easier to break than to pick. When my friend was in the police academy they learned how to use leverage to snap off the pin holding the cuffs together. We went through about a dozen pair of cuffs practicing it, but it works. If you don't have the right leverage, or are not fully committed to breaking it, you wind up with very painful bruises and still in cuffs. A lot of law enforcement don't use that type anymore.

Also, in my experience, the cops never use the second pin lock. Yes the cuffs have it, but the shim still works, because if you are nice and polite to the cops, they won't take any special precautions.

I once slid a gun away from a cop's lockbox and waited to watch him freak out. He laid it in the box with the door open and turned to do something else, I was shocked and amused. I slid it around behind the door to the lockbox and stepped back. He almost soiled himself when he turned back and it was gone. I tried to look innocent and concerned for the split second and then he saw it behind the door. He assumed he had done it himself, but if I were a real criminal, he would have been dead. I have also moved my hands from the back to the front while sitting down. It is harder than it looks, but it can be done. Doing it quietly is the hard part.

The plastic straps can also be broken with a stiff rod placed along your arm between wrist and cuff, but it is much more difficult and painful. I have not personally attempted that type.

If TV is anything to go by, brake you thumb and the cuffs will just slip off.....
it would have to be dire circumstances for me to try that.

And that guys voice in the video sounds like that guy from household hacker.
you know the guy who makes a high def speaker from 2 paper plates then lulz at all the idiots who can't make it work.


can anyone vouch 100% what is described is accurate?



this clown
www.youtube.com...
www.youtube.com...

Im an LEO in Detroit, and we use the S&W cuffs shown, and yes...sadly it is 100% accurate. Ive been able to do it behind my back. The problem being is the "universal" cuff keys which were designed to be of ease to law enforcement, but with internet, mail order, and being able to buy real cuffs just about anywhere, this design is now obsolete. Thankfully, the people we detain are either to dumb to look these sort of things up, or ar too busy "slangin" dope to go on the internet and educate themselves in any way. As for the plastic cuffs, we deploy those in large group custody scenarios, ie the detroit fireworks mishap of 2007 when we arrested 30+ people with under 20 officers present. But you can use the seatbelt mechanisms, or just about anything metal on the cage or in the prisoner cab in the cruiser to break the locking mechanism with minimal damage to Mr. Criminal, thankfully the cage is more sturdy, and the cruiser doors are only opened by the officer on the outside, but the blood drawn from escaping the plastic cuffs, and a riled up suspect creates a problem bigger than just him being unrestrained.


BTW the gents videos along with his others are all pretty good.

He goes by KipKay and has a youtube channel with alot of tutorials and nifty easy make gadgets. He also has a website listed on his channel.

some really sweet laser projects as well.

check it out.