joreth | The Most Challenging Form Of Restraints In Hollywood: The Basic Handcuff

Hey screenwriters: all handcuffs use the same keys*. If you have a "good guy" handcuffed somewhere that there are law enforcement personnel within easy reach, that person is not really trapped.

Like, the guy who just had a briefcase bomb handcuffed to him in a courthouse. There are literally hundreds of people in that building who could unlock that briefcase from him.

Or the cop who was cuffed to her office door - the second the bad guy leaves the room, anyone in that building can immediately uncuff her.

On top of that, handcuffs are like the easiest restraints to pick. The locking mechanism is *really* simple (which is why the key itself is really simple).

For most average people, handcuffs are pretty insurmountable, hence the reason why cops use them. But in a TV show or a movie where cops are everywhere and the person in handcuffs is on the same side as the cops ... perhaps another form of restraint is in order.

* There are some manufacturers that modify their keys so that they are specific to their model, but still, all the cuffs in that model use the same key. Maximum security handcuffs use a different key from standard handcuffs. Thumbcuffs use a different key from standard handcuffs.