Famed (and Federally convicted) hacker Kevin Mitnick knows what it’s like to be clad in irons and he’ll be having no more of it, thank you very much. That’s why he now carries an ingeniously concealed spare on his wrist.
As you can see from the image above, the black strap adorning his wrist looks like a cross between a Survival Strap and a friendship bracelet. But the band isn’t the important part, its the clasp. The centre section is actually cut to double as a cuff key that fits in most cuffs on the market today. Mitnick reportedly employs the band in response to heightened kidnapping rates in Latin America, where he does business.
“I travel to South America, Mexico, Ecuador, Colombia and we have warnings from the [US] State Department about kidnappings going on, especially in Caracas,” Mitnick told CNET. “If I’m kidnapped for some reason it would be great to be able to escape if they handcuff you. That’s why I wear it to South America all the time.”
He’d just better hope that his would be captors don’t bind him with rope, or zip ties, or duct tape, or vines, or anything else that doesn’t require a key to open. You can get your own at Sally’s Cop Shop for about $US17. [CNET via NeatORama]