02 October 2011

How to escape from Zip ties


Frankly, I didn't know it was possible to get them off without a sharp cutting instrument - much less to do so this easily.  This is one of a substantial number of related videos that can be searched on YouTube.

Posted not for the purposes of helping malefactors escape from appropriate arrest (because they're not going to be reading this blog and they probably know this anyway), but for anyone else who has worries about what to do if bad guys invade your home or apartment and zip-tie-restrain you and your family and they're in the next room stealing your stuff and you think they're going to murder you or worse before they leave...

6 comments:

  1. Posted because knowledge is valuable. :-) I wonder if I'm strong enough to make that work. I'll have to try.

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  2. It's also little known that non-reusable cable-ties can usually be reused. If you feed the tapered end in from the same side it would usually feed from, but underneath the "proper" one, you can usually release the pawl that engages on the ratchet.

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  3. While I would love to be Houdini, after seeing the photo accompanying this New York Times story I wonder how practical your video is. All of the zip-tie restraints being carried by NYPD officers at the Wall Street protests seem to keep the wrists separated, and the center buckle seems much sturdier: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/03/nyregion/nypds-white-shirts-take-on-enforcer-role.html?_r=1&hp

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  4. Looks like a straight pin is enough to get you out of the specially designed police "plasticuffs"

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kB_gwYz5Mqs

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  5. my experience of having had my ankles zip tied is that with ordinary adult male strength and some tolerance for pain you can pull these apart. that was some years ago, so maybe they have improved since then.

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  6. As an aside, ITS sells some useful (but rather pricey) gear, and their target audience is really military and LEOs.

    ITS has put out a lot of interesting and fun videos over the years, and their knot of the weeks series is very good.

    ReplyDelete

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