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Hackers Hack Handcuffs at H.O.P.E. (Video)

Have you ever been handcuffed and wish you weren't? Even if you haven't, what if you plan to demonstrate at a political party convention in the next couple of weeks? Either way, you need to watch this video, shot by Timothy Lord and unknown_lamer at H.O.P.E. (Hackers on Planet Earth), which will teach you the rudiments of unhandcuffing yourself -- but on purpose leaves out the fine points. For those, you'll need to buy several pairs of handcuffs and practice on your own. At worst, you will probably embarrass yourself no more than Timothy does as he tries to shimmy his handcuffed hands from behind him to in front of him, starting at about 5:18.

23 of 172 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Handcuffs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    At worst, you will probably embarrass yourself no more than Timothy does as he tries

    "Do or do not. There is no try." — Yoda

  2. come on by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I am so sick of partial info that "leaves out the finer points". If you want to make good information, include ALL of the information.

  3. Re:Why Is This Here?? by JockTroll · · Score: 3, Funny

    There are plenty of legitimate good reasons to learn how to free yourself from handcuffs. One of them is being able to call for rescue when your BDSM-obsessed girlfriend has an epileptic seizure after cuffing you up. Oh, sorry, you losers don't have girlfriends.

    --
    Geeks are so full of shit that "beating the crap out of them" takes a whole new meaning.
  4. Ah, there it is! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I clicked every link in the post twice before I realized where to find the video...

    And now I know what it's like for grandma to "surf the Internets".

    1. Re:Ah, there it is! by ceoyoyo · · Score: 2

      Ah, back in the good old days where, when you saw "watch this video" it was a hyperlink, clearly telling you where the video was located.

      Now that we have abusive ads all over the place and all run flash blockers, but everyone likes to do embedded videos because clicking on links is so old fashioned, none of us can tell when TFV is anymore.

  5. And this is why they use zip-ties now. by Kenja · · Score: 5, Funny

    Handcuffs are just for restraining drunks. For the real dangerous folks (protesters, students, etc) you use zip ties.

    --

    "Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
    1. Re:And this is why they use zip-ties now. by ThatsMyNick · · Score: 2

      GP did not choose the right words. If you did what exactly GP describe you will hurt you wrist and the zip tie still wouldnt break. It is more like with full force bring your arms down on you knees or on your back (with a slight force that pushes the arms away from each other), and the right time increase the force that pulls the arms away from each (this will automatically happen when you hit your knees or your back). You will feel no pain and the zip tie will break.

  6. Cute Hack by fm6 · · Score: 2

    But like many hacks, notable for being interesting rather than useful, since cops who need to restrain a lot of people at once use plastic ties, not handcuffs. For an applicable hack see the lastest episode of Breaking Bad.

  7. Re:Why Is This Here?? by pla · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This is really low, even for you people.

    Free clue - The police don't always act in our best interests.

    They occasionally cuff people, throw 'em in a cage, and abandon them for days at a time. They occasionally cuff people and then beat the poor helpless bastard silly, claiming "resistance" (which if they want to claim it, at least you should have the ability to defend yourself and earn the extra charges). They occasionally torture handcuffed hippies by pepper-spray coated q-tips to the eyes.

    The more ways we have to defend ourselves against the bad ones (which for the sake of argument, I'll pretend count as the minority), the better.

  8. Re:Handcuffs at a large protest...not! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Uh, no...they're not (harder to escape from). I can show you (as can a little Google'ing) how to escape from even the stoutest of zip-cuffs in under 1 second. Doesn't mater if you're cuffed front or back. This was (and I'm certain still is) standard training for SOC, SERE and Counter Intel in the military (where I was taught) and is common knowledge (apparently not as common as I thought however). Do yourself a favor and head on over to ITS Tactical and you can see an instruction video from one of my buddies on how to properly 'pop' zip-cuffs with one fluid motion.

  9. What's the escalation in penalties? by HockeyPuck · · Score: 3, Informative

    So let's say you're illegally protesting (without a permit, disturbing bystanders, not disbursing..etc) and you get cuffed by the cops.

    What's the increase in penalties vs. just staying cuffed? ... a bit of research later...

    Seems that you can spend up to a year in jail for what is now a misdemeanor, as opposed to getting a ticket for the infraction.

    1. Re:What's the escalation in penalties? by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 3, Informative

      "Seems that you can spend up to a year in jail for what is now a misdemeanor, as opposed to getting a ticket for the infraction."

      Resisting arrest has always carried relatively harsh penalties. Theoretically, though, you have to do it actively (struggle or try to escape), as opposed to passively (sitting down or lying limp).

    2. Re:What's the escalation in penalties? by NonFerrousBueller · · Score: 2
      Well, there's "can they charge you with it?" and there's "do you want to pay for a lawyer to defend you from it?" I'm quite sure popping any restraints, no matter what you do afterwards, is going to get you further charges, either escape or resisting arrest. Neither furthers your cause. If you're protesting to make a point, don't give the press or the judge further ammo. A future prospective employer/border control officer may not care so much about a disorderly conduct if the reasons are explained, but the resisting arrest or escape can look a lot worse.

      Look, if you're protesting, you should go into it knowing how far you're willing to go, and if it's arrest, just take the medicine and get on with it. Most cops would much rather be fighting "real" crime than clearing away a bunch of filthy free software types upset about Unity,

  10. Re:Why Is This Here?? by SomePgmr · · Score: 2

    That's silly. Many of us know how to do all kinds of illegal things, because there are other reasons to know them, or even for no reason at all.

    I'm sure you know quite a few things that could get you in trouble, but don't do anything illegal with that information.

  11. Re:Handcuffs... by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 3, Interesting

    " They knew how much debt they would be incurring, and under what interest rate they'd have to pay. "

    But here is what many of them did not know, when they made future plans and started their post-secondary education:

    (1) That the government would progressively tighten the terms and time limits for repaying the loans.

    (2) That the government would progressively reduce grants and direct loans, and rely on more private loans at higher interest rates.

    (3) That the economy would crash due to Wall Street greed and government collusion in same, and that they would not be able to find a decent job for years, if then.

    (4) That the government would change the rules about defaults. Many of today's M.D.s and Ph.D.s defaulted on their student loans... and go unpenalized. Yet today, a liberal-arts or business graduate, with far lower debt but who can't finde a decent job, finds him- or herself in a position in which the loan can never be forgiven, bankruptcy is not an option, and their tax returns (if any) are seized by the government every year unless and until the loans are paid off.

    No, they didn't necessarily know all this going in, because the government changed it gradually, year after year.

  12. Re:Why Is This Here?? by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 2

    "I'm sure you know quite a few things that could get you in trouble, but don't do anything illegal with that information."

    Some people just don't get that knowledge is valuable, and the same knowledge can be used by the occasional criminal for evil, but at the same time used by the majority, for doing good.

    "That it is better 100 guilty Persons should escape than that one innocent Person should suffer, is a Maxim that has been long and generally approved." -- Benjamin Franklin, letter to Benjamin Vaughan, March 14, 1785.

  13. Re:Why Is This Here?? by Raistlin77 · · Score: 2

    Except it doesn't teach you anything and ignores the fact that zip ties are used far more than handcuffs for restrainng people these days. It's just another dumb video of timothy wanking around and the editors thinking this stupid shit will somehow stem the tide of user loss.

    Zip ties use the same principle as handcuffs and a shim is equally as effective. If you're going to bash Timothy, you should at least try not to look like an idiot.

  14. Re:Handcuffs at a large protest...not! by mellyra · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Uh, no...they're not (harder to escape from). I can show you (as can a little Google'ing) how to escape from even the stoutest of zip-cuffs in under 1 second. Doesn't mater if you're cuffed front or back. This was (and I'm certain still is) standard training for SOC, SERE and Counter Intel in the military (where I was taught) and is common knowledge (apparently not as common as I thought however). Do yourself a favor and head on over to ITS Tactical and you can see an instruction video from one of my buddies on how to properly 'pop' zip-cuffs with one fluid motion.

    only problem is that law enforcement doesn't use home depot zip cuffs (primarily because these can cut into your wrists in really nasty ways if you struggle) but special models which (besides having rounded edges and being pretty expensive) are also much harder to break or shim your way out of.

  15. Rick-roll Alert! by cruff · · Score: 2

    Don't follow the link, or you'll be sorry.

  16. Re:Why Is This Here?? by mcgrew · · Score: 2

    Except it doesn't teach you anything and ignores the fact that zip ties are used far more than handcuffs for restrainng people these days.

    As wikipedia says, [citation needed]. Zip ties are only used for those rare occasions that they need to cuff dozens of suspects at once. If you get DUI, they're not going to use zip ties, they'll use plain old reuseable handcuffs. For ordinary arrests, handcuffs are much cheaper, since they're reusable.

  17. Re:Why Is This Here?? by mcgrew · · Score: 2

    There is no such thing as bad knowledge, only bad uses for knowledge.

  18. Re:Handcuffs... by mcgrew · · Score: 2

    FUCK YOU, OCCUTARDS!

    Eat shit and die, Koch, you goddamned evil son of a bitch.

  19. Re:Why Is This Here?? by couchslug · · Score: 2

    Not everyone lives in the Utopia of the United States of America where handcuffs are only applied with lovingkindness and for indisputable reasons of Social Good.

    --
    "This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."