Hinged vs chain handcuffs

[Dagga Boy]

Hiatt no longer exist as a company. Hiatt used to be a company that made handcuffs in England. Hiatt-Thompson was the main US importer of Hiatt cuffs, and Hiatt or Hiatt-Thompson cuffs were the real English made deal. Safariland bought the Hiatt company and moved production to the US. Safariland made really crappy copies of Hiatt cuffs under the Safariland label. Safariland dropped the Safariland label and brought back the Hiatt name, but I don't know about the quality. Hiatt-Thompson became CTS-Thompson and they also make copies of Hiatt cuffs. I have a pair of the Tri-max leg irons and they seem fine, but they don't see much use and no one has tried to break them yet.

Thanks for the update. I only used real, made in England Hiatt's over my career.....which says something toward quality. This included lots of arrestees under the influence of PCP, and Methapmphetimine or Cocaine overdoses. I also had to pierce one monsters wrist to get them on with no issue.
Like Chuck, I have some real differences than many in how and when it is time to cuff. In many cases I cuffed far earlier in a contact when I had the most minimal PC for a detention, and later if I had a resistive person who may have needed to take a nap before the cuffs came out. The balance for me of exceptional control and no car wiggling and activity was a trade off I gladly made for maybe a little bit more work on the fighters. It was a balance I was good with. I actually think it made me Really be in control which forced discipline in when it was cuffing time.

[tanner]

Relying on pain compliance when fighting to get cuffs on someone is less than ideal.

Just had to help an officer apply cuffs to a drunk and high dude the other night. She didn't establish control before cuffing. Now we got four cops on one dude, but he has a hinged cuff one one wrist. I clamped on to that hand and didn't let go before we eventually tumbled (rather inelegantly) to the ground and finished up.

If she waited until there was a cop in control of each arm (or one cop fully in control of both) it would have been a simpler problem to solve. Easier to fight someone with bare wrists.

I disagree with Nyeti on the types of cuffs to use, but subsribe to the theory of either cuffing early or cuffing late. ��

[Whiskey_Bravo]

Now I am very confused...

Tracking with/completely agree with the discussion of compliance before cuffing. I was trained the same way. However, which make and model of hinged cuffs do you guys consider the best on the market currently? My experience is with ASP steel and aluminum hinged cuffs and Peerless standard sized hinged cuffs (801c). Should I consider the Peerless/S&W/Safariland oversized hinges as a good primary cuff (chains as backup)?

[pablo]

I don't understand oversized hinge cuffs. The S&W universals are one thing since the close really small. Big boys and girls generally aren't the ones that can jump cuffs or are flexible enough to break them. Trying to put hinges on a fat or inflexible person is just more trouble than it's worth IMO, they have actual physical limitations on how close there hands can get behind their backs. It's the skinny people you have to watch out for.

If I was carrying hinged cuffs in the field they would be S&W Universals or real Hiatts, because they both can fit tiny wrist. The Peerless hinged cuffs are slightly oversized and don't close very small, they're not good for skinny crackheads and juveniles. I've seen a lot more problems with crack whores getting out of cuffs and fighting, than guys with wrist that were too big too fit in one pair of regular cuffs.

[BehindBlueI's]

I don't understand oversized hinge cuffs...Trying to put hinges on a fat or inflexible person...

There's your answer. The strands are bigger, but clamp down nearly as tight as regular cuffs. Hiatt oversized used to be our standard issue. I've no idea what it is now, as after your first pair its on you to buy your own. I kept a pair of S&W chain for truly tiny people, but it was VERY rare for someone to be too big or too small for Hiatts. People that needed two sets of chains went into Hiatt oversized with no problem.

[Dagga Boy]

With the real big ones I just used both cuffs. It was carefully explained that if they were a respectful and compliant arrestee, they could get both cuffs. If they were remotely a problem, they got one,mand I would get them into one and they would be miserable for as long as we were together. I can honestly say that the bigger folks would see those hinged cuffs and weighing their options were downright kind. Agreed with the skinny crack/meth heads being the biggest issue, and that was another plus to the hinged as they had a hard time moving around in the old Hiatt's hinged.

[pablo]

Apparently the old Hiatts factory is back up and running as Total Control Handcuffs. I ordered a pair from the UK, it'll be interesting to see if the old Hiatt quality is there.

[pablo]

I ordered two pairs of TCH cuffs and the quality sucks. They might be made in the old Hiatts factory and look like Hiatts but QC is terrible.

On the hinged pair the hinges bind and they don't unfold on their own. The pawls are pretty rough and the single strand sticks on them.
The chain pair is pretty smooth, but I'm pretty sure a blind man welded the chains and the nickel finish is already starting the wear off the single strands.

Definitely not worth the money.

[Dagga Boy]

Sad news. I had a full career with the same two Hiatt's cuffs. Sad that the company is not what it was.

[BehindBlueI's]

I ordered two pairs of TCH cuffs and the quality sucks. They might be made in the old Hiatts factory and look like Hiatts but QC is terrible.

On the hinged pair the hinges bind and they don't unfold on their own. The pawls are pretty rough and the single strand sticks on them.
The chain pair is pretty smooth, but I'm pretty sure a blind man welded the chains and the nickel finish is already starting the wear off the single strands.

Definitely not worth the money.

Thanks for the update.