How To Unlock Plastic Handcuffs

Step 1: The Handcuffs

In my handcuff video, I showed you how to escape from a pair of stainless steel police issue handcuffs using a bobby pin. Well a lot of people wondered about the plastic handcuffs, you know, the zip tie type.

Well now I'm going to show you how a magician might escape from a pair of these type of cuffs. Here's a pair of one time use restraints. These are made of a polycarbon resin, very hard plastic. They feature a roller lock retention system which really locks in tight. Normally the only way these type of restraints can be removed is by cutting them off.

Step 2: Unlocking the Handcuffs

By examining the design a little bit closer I was able to figure out how to unlock these by using an ordinary pin. If you look carefully at the retaining block there's just enough room to fit something very small in between the roller lock and the straps. A pin does just the job. By taking the pin and inserting it between the roller lock and the strap you block the roller lock from the teeth on the straps.

Step 3: Escaping

Now a magician would have a pin hidden that he could easily access, and after being strapped in tight he can remove the pin, and insert it, and loosen one end of the handcuffs. Then it's easy enough to take the pin and insert it in the other side, and loosen the other cuff. That's how a magician would escape from a pair of handy cuffs.