Time release handcuffs?

goose

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I have just watched the film 'Lone Survivor' about a US special forces mission in Afghanistan that goes pear-shaped after the troops are discovered by some local goat herders. The only options open to the troops was to kill the civilians or let them go. If they tied them up they would die in the cold. Of course the troops released the civvies, who immediately set the Taliban on them, then things get messy. Being compromised by local civilians seems to be a major problem for SF, western forces in a limited war are unlikely to kill innocent people in order to stay on task. A solution has occurred to me-time release handcuffs. If the troops were issued with 'cuffs that could be set to release after a set time would enable SF troops to get well away from unlucky civilians before they can alert the opposition. The 'cuffs need not be expensive/sophisticated/unreliable, a clockwork mechanism will do the job. And they only need one set per team. Any comments anyone?
 
I am still thinking a minimum of two sets of time-release hand-cuffs per team. That way you could cuff a pair of civilians to a tree and keep them there until the clock in the handcuffs unwinds.

Next question: what type of clock would you use? Would it be activated by an old-school, metal key or a fancier electronic key? If you use a fancier electronic key, would it contain a radio uplink? Would you be able to electronically unlock the hand cuffs once the soldiers boarded their escape helicopter?
 
From both a legal and a moral point of view you become responsible for the individual when you restrict them. How do you intend to protect the handcuffed person from passing thieves, militias, carnivores, etc? Much easier to drop them a few hours walk from the nearest phone.
 
It sounds like the scenario was covert forces inadvertently discovered by civilians who need to make a decision--kill the innocent bystanders in the wrong place at the wrong time or find another way. I think most of those bystanders would be happy to take their chances with the thieves or the wolves vs. the certainty of a bullet.
 
I would keep it simple (read 'reliable'), as a former Royal Marine, I don't trust electronics to survive out in the wild!
 
Something along the lines of a pencil detonator that could be installed in the cuffs in the field and which would trigger the release mechanism at the desired time, perhaps?
 
I could see something like heavy duty plastic zipcuffs but with a telescoping section secured by an internal metal pin with a small acid capsule designed to eat through the pin in X hours once the capsule is broken. Good guys detain innocents, use a pair of pliers to break capsule when it's time to go.
 
Time release handcuffs would also work well for child-molesters. Just cuff them to a telephone pole - near their last victim's residence.
 

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