Tape escape? Really?

[Astro Pen]

I watched this and my BS detector was going off.

Duct tape just doesn't give that easy.
I doubt any of us have been in a hostage situation but what do you think?

 

[Christine Wheelwright]

Great instructional video for hostage takers. Always duct tape the wrists behind the back! Personally, I prefer fur-lined handcuffs.

 

[Mon0Zer0]

This reminds me of Bob Mortimer ripping an apple in half with his bare hands...

 

[Pyan]

This reminds me of Bob Mortimer ripping an apple in half with his bear hands...

I'm sure @Ursa major could do that as well...

 

[Ursa major]

This reminds me of Bob Mortimer ripping an apple in half with his bare hands...

To which the only proper response is: "Core blimey!"

I'm sure @Ursa major could do that as well...

I'd like to -- it would serve that evil fruit right for trying to choke me so often (something that other fruits don't do) -- but I'm literally a 9-stone weakling (after once being an almost 14-stone weakling).

 

[Foxbat]

Duct tape is easy if you break it across its width. It may well be by working from the wrists, she’s achieving this angle.

 

[The Crawling Chaos]

Only seeing this now. The video was staged quite poorly and it's possible the tape had been weakened beforehand to guarantee success, but this technique does work. I performed it myself multiple times while following an anti-abduction course.

It also works just as well on plastic zip ties (assuming you don't mind the occasional bit of torn skin). If that can be of any interest to someone here for a story, the trick is to ensure the pawl of the cable tie, which is its weak spot, is exactly between your wrists and that the zip tie is as tight as it can be (tighten it with your teeth if that's not the case). Then perform the exact same motion the lady was doing in the video. An alternative is to use your hip bone rather than your ribcage as the surface of impact. Most people who had problems with this technique are those who interrupted the motion too early and just constantly punched themselves, so it's important that you really follow through as if you were trying to pass through your body, not hit it.

Of course there are probably limits to what can be achieved. If your wrists are tied with a full roll of duct tape or a 2-inch-thick cable tie, well, good luck (although I haven't tried those specific situations, so who knows).