Handcuffs

Police issue handcuffs vary dramatically from force to force and even by each new recruit intake.  It was originally the company Hiatt that made the vast majority of the "Rigid" handcuffs that most police officers love, also known as the "Speedcuff".  The old style Hiatt cuffs were designed with a solid central piece of ergonomically designed plastic between the two end "bracelets" which is designed to be gripped in one hand by the responsible officer for maximum control of the detainee.

As you can see from the image the central "grip" is curved to fit comfortably and securely in the hand.

This model of handcuff is hard to come by as Hiatt & Co have now gone out of business, and when they closed down they still held the patent on the specific style.  For a long time there was nothing quite like it on the market, although the company TCH now make a very similar handcuff for which they must have found a solution to the original patent problem to produce.

In the interim it fell to US company ASP Inc. (Armament Systems and Procedures) to produce its range of semi-rigid handcuffs.  Asp cuffs were hinged to fold in the middle which made them compact and convenient to wear on a belt and due to the bi-lateral only movement in the hinge allowed a fair degree of control of the detainee when gripping the centre of the handcuff.  The hinge of course did reduce the control compared the the Hiatt Speedcuff design.

ASP also produce a range of chain link cuffs as well as plastic restraints or as they are more colloquially known - plasticuffs .  Both the rigid and chain link handcuffs as well as the plasticuffs are available in tactical black as well as what seems like an odd choice - bright yellow!  The bright yellow colouring however serves a purpose and these are know in the trade as "identifier cuffs" as it makes a detainee more visible.  There are also in fact bright pink handcuffs which have been adopted by some prison services in an effort to reduce the "tough guy" image of a prisoner being detained in cuffs and make them embarrassed to be seen in the bright pink bracelets.
 

Cadet Boots

When it comes to buying Cadet boots price has got to be a major consideration.  Between the ages of 12 and 18 most peoples feet continue growing rapidly so investing a lot in a pair of boots that will only last 6-8 months before the cadet out grows them is really not necessary.  Chances are the cadet will need larger pair of boots before the boots start to fail them in the field, especially if they are only parading once a or twice a week with the odd camp once or twice a year.

For most cadets, black "uniform" looking boots will be sufficient. A leather or "action leather" toe that can get a nice shine for parade and mainly leather side construction, at least below the line of bloused combats any way will be all that is needed.  Sole wise something with a fairly chunky tread pattern for grip on mud, grass or gravel when on exercise is going to cover most needs.  A highly slip resistant compound with SRA, B or C rating wont really be necessary for a cadets needs whether they are police or army, or any other branch (ACF, RAF, Marines etc.)

With that in mind a passable pair of light weight cadet boots would be something from the Grafters Range which are all under £50 and should last as long as the cadet still fits into them (but possibly not that much longer).  For a few quid more you can splash out on a pair of Magnums or Bates boots, which are much more popular with the serving uniformed services and have a good reputation as cadet boots for their durability and suitability.  Magnum and Bates tend to use more whole grain leather, or higher quality action leathers which do tend to polish up a lot better for parade and you can get a decent bull on the toe then as well.

Once cadets reach the age of 16 or a bit older their feet may have stopped growing and investing in a pair of Lowas might not seem so silly if a future career in the forces beckons or even if they for see an active outdoor lifestyle with hiking etc. being a regular activity in the future.  Or if their parents are particularly minted a pair of Danner Acadia Boots would probably do down a treat with any cadet lucky enough to find them under the tree on Christmas morning.

TurtleSkin Gloves

One of the most respected brands, TurtleSkin is renowned for its range of needle, puncture and cut resistant gloves specifically designed for police, military and law enforcement personnel.  TurtleSkin gloves use their range of protective fabrics manufactures at Warwick Mills factory in the USA since 1870.

Turtle Skin offer a specific range of police products, designed to provide not only optimal protection from sharps as well as allowing for maximum tactile feedback whilst maintaining a smart professional appearance which is a suitable match for uniform whilst on duty.

One of the most popular models is the TurtleSkin Alpha glove, offering needle and cut resistance on the palm and fingertips and cut resistance on the back of the hand. The knit on the back of the hand is also a high stretch design so as not to restrict movement when opening and closing the hand.

Similar to the Alpha Glove, the TurtleSkin Bravo glove offers the same hypodermic needle and cut resistance on the palms and fingertips but they have replaced the back of the hand with a breathable mesh fabric.  Ideal for warmer weather, the Bravo glove offers the highest levels of breathability available.

The best levels of cut and needle resistance in the Police uniform range of gloves (TurtleSkin do also offer gloves for use in the refuse industry or even for handling poisonous snakes!!) is the Search Glove, offering 11 times more protection from 28 Guage needles than normal police gloves and include full protection all around the index finger able to withstand 1.1lbf of force applied through a 28 guage need.

Strap Cutters

A good strap cutter is actually an invaluable bit of kit that is normally overlooked by a lot of people when they are putting together their kit list but is really an invaluable addition to your load out.  A standard "decent" strap cutter from a reputable company like Gerber, specifically designed for cutting seat belt straps, is going to set you back around £35 and will normally come with a window breaker or punch facility.  This will be a good investment for many years of reliable service and provide a product that is truly fit for purpose.

As a budget alternative you can use "industrial" strap cutters designed for cutting box strapping but surprisingly effective at cutting through seat belt webbing! These are going to cost you a lot less than £35, more like £5-£10, but will probably not last that long so by the time you have had to replace it 3 or 4 times you would have been better off investing in something a bit more suitable.

As an alternative to a single purpose strap cutter Gerber have also released a version of their standard Crucial Multi-Tool that comes with a strap cutter instead of the bottle-opener/carabiner.  Specifically designed for the tactical market, this version of the crucial also comes in Gucci black!  For just under forty notes the Crucial Multitool has a fully functioning strap cutter that is fit for purpose and also packs the usual knife, screw drivers (flat and philips head), can opener and pliers.

Traffic Wands and Hazard lights

Now traffic wands and hazard lights are not really anything I thought I would be blogging about in my tactical careerer, they are hardly the most fascinating of topic subjects, but I recently saw quite a cool set of hazard lights in action and thought they warranted a mention.

The set in question was a kit of 6 "Hockey Puck" sized discs that were a clear plastic inner coated by toughened rubber ribs that sat in a plastic carry case that you plugged into your car cigarette lighter.  Within each puck was a rechargeable battery cell and the 16 LED heads, and on the centre of each puck was a magnetic contact to allow you to stick it to a vehicle or the hull of a ship, or any metal surface really and the two contact points for re charging when put in the carry case.

Each hazard light had 9 different options that you could cycle through:
Solid-On High - 8 hours
Rotate - 15 hours
Alternate - 10 hours
Quad-Blink - 15 hours
Double-Blink - 30 hours
FastBlink - 12 hours
Slow-Blink - 100 hours
Solid-On Low - 60 hours
S-O-S - 24 hours
Flashlight - 15 hours

The cool thing about the lights is each one was virtually indistructable! You can run them over with a 4*4, submerge them for prolonged periods (though they float naturally) and they will work at temps from -40C to +100C.

Traffic Wands are not so cool but seemed like quite a handy little gadget.  Basically a big red plastic ice cream cone that you put upside down on your torch to convert the white beam into a glowing red beacon which you can use for directing traffic, pedestrians or just making yourself visible without blinding anyone you catch in the eye with a 100lumen white beam!  If you are working Roads Policing then it is definitely worth investing a couple of quid in a traffic wand to keep in the back of your car....the Hazard light system runs to about £120 quid so I would push for stores to kit you out with one of these!!!

Bivvy Poles - WTF

Just a very quick post to rant about the state of basic issue kit.....Why are Royal Marines Reserves (not sure about Regs) expected to buy their own Bivvy Poles?  Ludicrous, you get issued a bivvy but no poles! This is pretty standard issue and given that maybe 10% of recruits make it to getting a green lid for 90% of new recruits forking out ~£15 for two bivvy poles seems a bit steep!

Polish, trouser twists, razors, folding toothbrush, shaving soap etc. I can accept, they are personal use items and you would have to buy a civvie equivalent anyway even if you weren't in... but the bivvy pole seemed a bit cheeky!

Anyway rant over.

Ballistic Eywear

There are a few major brands of ballistic eyewear available; at the top end of the market (in terms of price at least) is the Oakley Standard Issue range, lower down the price (and cool kudos) spectrum is the Swiss One Safety range and somewhere in the middle are the likes of Wiley X and ESS.

Oakley Standard Issue Ballistic Eyewear closely resembles the high street fashion brand in terms of design but with suppressed (or in some cases removed) logos. So where the regualar Oakley design might have a silver "O" on the elbow and the text across the nose piece the Standard Issue version would have a black "O" in the elbow and no text whatsoever across the nose. All the Standard Issue range are ballistic rated, only some of the high street versions are ballistic rated.

Wiley X are similar to Oakley in that they have a "fashion" and extreme sports background as well as their tactical range of ballistic eyewear (they also have a less trendy Fishing focus due to the excellent visuals and protections levels offered with their polarised lenses when operating in and around water.)  Also similar to Oakley they offer "array" packs with 2 or 3 lenses, normally clear and smoke, or clear, smoke and rust/rose which give the user a range of ballistic lens options for use in different lighting environments.

The Swiss One range of ballistic eyewear comes from a more safety focused background, designed for the needs of industrial users, but with a bit more fashion sense and comfort in mind than the tradional safety goggles you might get issued.  Don't be fooled though, Swiss One Eyewear offers high levels of UVA and UVB protection - comparable to any other sun-glass brand out there - as well as industrial standard EN Safety standards.

ESS are a more recent entrant to the market that surged into prominence when they won the UK MOD contract for supplying the British Army with ballistic eyewear for the current deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan.  The general consensus was the product was acceptable, nothing to write home about, but did the job well enough, suffering from the usual complaint of easy scratching but generally robust.