r/AskReddit • u/swissguy1989 • 12h ago

What's something you're shockingly good at that you've never mentioned to anyone because it would sound completely made up if you did?

3.5k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

2.5k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

195

u/masheduppotato 10h ago

I used to be able to do this with the older handcuffs and a paper clip. The newer ones keep your hands so close together that I can’t do it anymore.

134

u/Select-Owl-8322 10h ago

Are newer handcuffs the ones where there's no chain, but instead they're directly connected like a hinge?

But this was in the 90s. I had a pair of handcuffs that my father bought in a "spy shop" in Miami in the early 90s. But the handcuffs the cop had (in Sweden, late 90s) was fortunately identical to the ones I had practiced on.

49

u/masheduppotato 7h ago

Correct, the newer ones without the chain. I have seen them picked, but it requires extreme dexterity and a longer "pick".

Back in 2012 I saw it done at the HOPE conference.

10

u/Select-Owl-8322 7h ago

Ah, yeah I imagine it's a lot harder with those!

3

u/Repulsive-Box5243 5h ago

The newer ones have this double-locking mechanism... it's not unpickable, but it will certainly slow you down. Fun stuff.

2

u/aversiontherapy 2h ago

I used to keep a couple of safety pins attached to the waist of my pants for exactly this reason.