## Friggen' handcuff keys!

Post by mikeybound » Fri May 30, 2014 5:37 pm

Everyone makes it sound like a walk in the park, uncuffing your hands from behind. I have to say, my experience with my own keys say otherwise. It has only two links, and double locking yourself is hard. Lining up the key seems almost impossible, even with a mirror.
How do you guys do it?
Last edited by mikeybound on Sat May 31, 2014 8:20 am, edited 1 time in total.

### Re: Friggen' handcuff keys!

Post by EricU1845 » Sat May 31, 2014 4:29 am

I don't know HOW I do it, I just do. I think it has a lot to do with individuals, how your wrist is shaped. It's what I've noticed playing lots of cops and robbers games with handcuffs, and escape challenges, too. Some people have thinner wrists, and the cuff can turn around your wrist really easy, so you have more room to move around. Some people have thicker wrists, so the cuff feels kind of tight , and also the larger the handcuff is when closed, the less ROUND it is. So your wrist is trapped in more of an oval, and that won't rotate around the wrist at all. So then there's a lot less room to move your wrist around, and you can't do things like get keys in as easily.
I've felt it both ways. I was pretty skinny as a kid, and I used to be able to double lock hinged handcuffs on myself behind my back, and that's with my hands right next to each other! But a couple of years ago, I bulked up, and I could barely do anything with my hands behind me, even with chain cuffs. I lost weight again since then, and it's easier to do things, but not like when I was a kid. I can't double lock hinged cuffs anymore usually, but I can with chain cuffs.

### Re: Friggen' handcuff keys!

Post by BranBTAT » Sat May 31, 2014 11:38 pm

I'm not really sure how I manage to do it, but you can ask anyone I have played with and they will certainly tell you I know how. I have a more 3D brain and can imagine the shape of the handcuffs in my head and know how to place the key properly. With cuffs I haven't had time to look at and explore in depth, I can use my fingers and feel around and make a mental picture of the design which helps me position the key properly. It also helps with rope too. I guess that's more of a personal trait really. I'm also a bit flexible too which helps me as well. Though I cannot rotate my wrists in the cuffs at all and experience the oval mentioned above. That is very much a disadvantage.
A bit related, I had a recent scare with uncuffing myself with hands behind my back. I had modified a key to work with my cuffs and it has always worked fine in the past, this one time however it got stuck in the keyhole. I couldn't turn it all the way to disengage the ratchet mechanism nor could I pull it out. So that was fun. Eventually I managed to get the key out and use a proper key though.

### Re: Friggen' handcuff keys!

Post by ropedin » Tue Jun 03, 2014 4:54 pm

Practice, practice, practice. I've picked handcuffs from behind with a paperclip, it's not that hard once you know how. Though I've never done it with the keyholes facing inward, I don't actually want to get stuck.