*tap tap tap*
… is this thing on? What’s in the box?
Stay tuned, dear reader, and all your questions shall be answered.
First, let me apologize for the delay on the posting this week, and thank you for your patience! I’m back with some new content, and as I mentioned last week, a new posting schedule.
So, first things first, this is what’s in the box:
That’s the M40-15 by CRKT for scale. Review of that to come.
You’ll note these can be stored flat/open or preloaded, as pictured.
These zip cuffs were kindly provided to me by Tony at Cable Ties and More for evaluation. So far, so good; they’re surprisingly difficult to cut with regular scissors (although EMS shears work about perfectly), but they are, fundamentally, zip cuffs, and therefore suffer some of the limitations that standard nylon zip cuffs the world over do.
Bryan and the other good folks at ITS Tactical have a great explainer here about escaping from standard zip ties, some of which applies to these zip cuffs (cutting and shimming particularly). There’s also an excellent video:
However, the scenario described by ITS is much more realistic in the circumstance of illegal restraint (ie; kidnapping, home invasion, etc) than it is of a law enforcement or military detention, especially the temporary kind usually facilitated by zip cuffs and other disposable restraints.
These are much more likely to be used in a circumstance like a raid, where parties restrained in them are under the constant watchful eye of a team member, and thus will be unlikely to effect these sorts of escapes.
Although my wrists may hate me, I plan to do a short video on whether or not the downward snapping attack will work on these – look for a bit more on that soon, but I’m actually rather skeptical that will work on these, due to the reinforced center section of the cuffs. When I do the video I’ll update this post to reflect it.
Overall, these are quite comparable to the Cobra Cuffs I reviewed previously, with a few key exceptions:
- Much less compact and therefore less concealable, which could be an issue for some users.
- No double-lock feature, and a narrower profile, which is a concern for law enforcement agencies – if someone in custody receives injuries from overly-tight zip cuffs, even if they were initially applied correctly, the agency could easily be held responsible in court.
- More difficult to cut, which could be good or bad; the Cobra Cuffs are very durable against everything except an edged device (scissors, the Cobra Cutter) – if you search your suspects carefully and keep an eye on them, the ease of removal can be a definite perk, with minimal risk.
I wouldn’t necessarily say to run towards or away from either product, but I think for my preference, the Cobra Cuffs come out ahead – I like that a user can carry a few of them on their person without being too obtrusive about it, I really like the safety features, and I appreciate the ease of removal (the variety of colors are a definite bonus too).
All that said, I will firmly recommend the folks at Cable Ties and More if you have any cable tie (or more?) needs – I have had nothing but an excellent experience with them, and hope to review a few of their other products sometime soon – there’s some stuff they offer that I think might be useful for some of my readers. All 4 of you.
Oh, and for those of you wondering why this is a quarantine recommendation: are your kids out of hand? Just need some peace and quiet with the little munchkins unable to grab at things?
Yep, they fit a 5 year old!
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off for some peace and quiet…
-T
YES, I’M KIDDING!
Big Fat Disclaimer: No children or animals were harmed in the making of this blog post. The child pictured participated willingly in the demo. She’s still talking to me, and the cuffs were removed immediately after the photo was taken. Neither, I nor the good people at Cable Ties and More advocate restraining your – or anyone else’s – children, with zip cuffs or otherwise.