Manacles

Harry Houdini |  Manacles

Manacles have long been used by escapologists as a form of restraint. There are different types of manacles, the most common in magic acts being handcuffs, thumbcuffs, leg or ankle irons and neck irons.

Handcuffs are restraining devices designed to keep a person's wrists very close together thus making it very difficult for them to unlock the manacles themselves.

Thumbcuffs are similar to handcuffs but are obviously smaller in size and are designed to restrain the wearer further by keeping both thumbs close together. These manacles are generally used by table magicians as they are small enough to fit in the pocket.

Leg irons are another favourite set of manacles for escape artists and are similar to handcuffs but the distance between the cuffs is bigger. They can be used around the elbows, if desired, too.

The neck iron is not really a manacle on its own, but linked via chains to other manacles and you would begin to feel really restricted in your movements.

So, a combination of the aforementioned manacles along with adding a few chains, and padlocks and any fan of magic will probably think of the great Houdini in his famous pose, right, similar to the Houdini device. Although Houdini was not the first performer to do handcuff escapes, he collected and studied locks as a hobby, so he was able to take his act to new levels and soon became known as the Handcuff King. He used a combination of the knowledge gained from studying locks, physical strength and trickery when escaping the manacles. Although he often used real cuffs, he sometimes used trick cuffs too. Every time, allowing public inspection before and after the escapes. If he was offered a particularly difficult set of manacles, he could insist they be placed higher up his forearm, where he could simply move them down and slips his wrists through. As Houdini would probably say, "for any budding escapologist, a set of manacles is a must."