Improvised Escape Tools



In this last chapter of the series, we’re going to look at some more of the specialised tools for counter custody and escaping illegal restraints, as well as improvised tools you can make with items you may have in your home.


Friction Saws:


A friction saw is a great way to get out of cable ties or tape bindings, especially if your hands are bound behind your back.
This is why it’s important to know your physical capabilities. A friction saw takes time to deploy and use, so ideally you would want to break out using the physical brute force methods we mentioned previously, especially if speed is of the essence. But if you know you cannot use those methods, then being prepared with a ready-made friction saw is the next best option.


Friction Saws should ideally be made of an aramid fibre, something durable that can offer high wear and abrasion resistance. These cords can be bought from specialist rope suppliers. The cord should be between 1m to 1.5m in length, with a loop tied on either end big enough to slip your foot through.


To deploy the Friction Saw, you pass it through your binding, slip your feet through the loops and kick your feet in a cycling motion. The resulting sawing motion of the cord against the restraints will cause friction which will melt through most synthetic restraints, including cable ties, flexi-cuffs and certain types of tape bindings.

Click here to view a video on using this technique.


This technique can be used for both front or behind the back bindings, though it may be a bit more finicky to set it up with your hands behind your back it’s not impossible. Having a purpose made friction saw is ideal, but these can also be easily made on the fly. 550 Paracord works just as well, though it is quite thick, which makes it more difficult to slip through tight bindings. Shoe laces may also work as a last-ditch effort, but they will most likely be substantially weakened in the process.


This is a good reason why many people replace their standard shoe laces with aramid fibre cords or 550 cord.


Improvised Tools:


We have already touched a little on improvising a friction saw from your shoe laces. But its also possible to improvise other counter custody tools should you find yourself in a situation without purpose made tools.


Shims can be made from ordinary hair clips, the type used by just about every school girl. These can be useful “Hidden in plain sight” options for ladies, and also won’t attract any attention if left in your bathroom – a place where victims are often kept during home invasions.


To make the shim from these clips, you first need to bend the clip to its open position. Then repeatedly bend the middle section back until it snaps off. Now take the main section and bend the head (largest part) of it repeatedly until it snaps off. Now you will be left with two long shims that are joined by a hinge. You can use this portion as it is as your make shift shim. This may not be absolutely perfect, its going to have a burr on the end of it which will make things trickier, but in a pinch it will work.




It’s also important to practice making these so that you are able to do it if your hands are cuffed, or you are blindfolded, or in the dark.


It is also possible to make handcuff lock picks from hair pins or paper clips. However, we are going to look at this tutorial in another instalment of Counter Custody elements, specifically aimed at lock picking.


Remember, the idea of improvised tools is to use whatever you have at your disposal. That may sound like an obvious thing, but until you are bound and cannot free yourself do you truly understand the difficulty of the situation. Many people (especially guys) assume it will be easy and they can get through anything, and it’s a very humbling experience to find yourself bound by cable ties that are stronger than you thought they were, with your wrists bleeding from repeated unsuccessful attempts to break them.


Using household kitchen knives, sharp edges of surfaces, and other implements you may find around your home to break free of illegal restraints may well become a reality, so having even a little bit of experience at doing it will play into your favour should you ever need to do it for real. Even keeping inexpensive, but sharp, kitchen knives stashed in accessible but hidden places in your home may just be what saves your life someday.


We love to live in a comfort bubble, assuming the worst will never happen to us. Yet if you are the type of person who owns any weapon for self defense, or owns a first aid kit, you acknowledge that bad things can happen and its best to be prepared. Counter Custody is no different.


Failing to prepare, is preparing to fail.