These are Republic Arms model 65 hinged handcuffs in a black oxide / blued finish. They are South African and were taken from a plane's lock box with an "in case of emergency break glass" access to the key. They are for use on unruly passengers who need restraining. I have an unboxing video on my techwg channel if you would like to see me take 5 minutes standing in an awkward angle to pick a simple lock to get into the box! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U75E_AV3AUQ&t=0s
These were rusty. When I opened the bag I thought they were a write-off. But luckily it was mostly just some surface rust and the front faces look great!
They have 2 hinges which each consist of 2 sandwiched pieces of metal. They are very nice quality handcuffs. They have a Smith & Wesson style double lock, but you activate the double lock by moving the bar in the opposite direction than you would on most other window double lock cuffs.
The double lock and single lock are disengaged with the same turning motion, similar to how ASP handcuffs work.
They are non-mirrored, meaning they use the same cuff piece for both sides, so as both keyways are facing outwards, one of the bows closes over the top and the other closes at the bottom. I prefer mirrored cuffs but this is an interesting design. I mainly like mirrored for having the keyholes facing out in the same direction. This keeps that aspect, while just alternating the direction the bows move. Not bad.
The keyway is at an odd angle, which makes it more troublesome to get out of the handcuffs on your own. They are not perfectly horizontal like Peerless, nor are they vertical like Smith & Wesson. So that could throw off someone trying to escape from these!
Given that these are black and I recently bought some orange scrubs to make an image without using copyrighted material, I decided to wear them for the on-person demo. They are a bright redy-orange and plain, so no camo patterns or dark colours to blend in with how the cuffs look. Also I have done some closer views to add clarity. If you think this bright orange would be advantageous in more demos, let me know and I may do it more often when it's convenient.
I like these handcuffs a lot. I did some work to fix up and restore the finish, since they were a bit hideous looking. This is the first actual South African handcuff in my collection. I do have the Takeda Japanese ones that were used in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in Africa but they are still Japanese handcuffs. These Republic Arms are legitimately South African, which is a cool addition to my collection.
They have been cleaned, oiled, PTFE lubricated and waxed with my usual Renaissance Wax polish.
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