SQRT's Chinese Armcuff
This is another one of SQRT's "off the cuff" caches. She came up with the idea and here is the result.
Now when you find this thing, the trick is to get the cache out of the Armcuff. Please make sure you have cameras ready when you go for this cache. You should be able to get some really funny pics with this one.
Please be careful when removing the container. You will see how it is held in place and can be easily broken. No force should be needed, just both of your harms.
!!!!! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PARK AT THE PARKING CORDS AND NOT AT THE PLACE NEXT DOOR !!!!!
HAVE FUN!!!
A Chinese finger trap (also known as Chinese finger prison, Chinese finger cuffs, Chinese finger puzzle, Chinese handcuffs, and Chinese finger torture; other known imitation versions of this toy are Mexican finger fun and Mexican handcuffs) is a gag toy used to play a practical joke on children and unsuspecting adults. The finger trap is a simple puzzle that traps the victim's fingers (often the index fingers) in both ends of a small, woven bamboo cylinder. The initial reaction of the victim is to pull the fingers outward, but this only tightens the trap more.
The solution to escaping the trap is to push the ends inward toward the middle, which enlarges the openings and frees the fingers, before slowly twisting them out of the trap so as not to trigger the tightening reflex again. A second form of escape is to push one's fingers together and then grab the ends of the trap with one's middle fingers and thumbs. The fingers can then easily be pulled out.
The tightening is simply a normal behavior of a cylindrical, helically wound braid, usually the common biaxial braid. Pulling the entire braid lengthens and narrows it. The length is gained by reducing the angle between the warp and weft threads at their crossing points, but this reduces the radial distance between opposing sides and hence the overall circumference. The more one pulls, the more the circumference shrinks (i.e. the trap tightens). The same effect is used in specialized textile manufacturing, electrical contractors' wire-pullers, Indonesian woven fruit presses, and by fly-fishers.
Chinese finger traps are not intended for use as restraint devices. Strong victims of the prank may break the bamboo strips when they pull outwards, attempting to free their fingers and stretching the trap beyond its limits. However, a variation on the Chinese finger trap used in orthopedic medicine — namely, providing even pressure to the patient's digit(s) and at the same time immobilizing the joints — serve a similar purpose as a traction device.
The Chinese finger trap is also a commonly-used metaphor for a problem that can be overcome by relaxing, i.e., not trying too hard to solve it, or for a belief system that includes punishment for disbelief in itself. For example, in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy.
The finger trap can be seen in a number of films and television programs, such as the Stan Laurel short "Dr. Pyckle and Mr. Pryde" (1925); the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Last Outpost" (1987); the feature film The Addams Family (1991); Chasing Amy (1997); and Mulan II (2005).
