Project 365 (84/365): The Steel Straightjacket

.:84/365: The Steel Straightjacket:.

While not particularly as dangerous as skydiving and escaping from a straightjacket at the same time, the steel straightjacket visually ups the ante by making it look more and more impossible to break away from. Just looking at the contraption, the normal dexterity skill people can exhibit during regular jacket escapes is thrown away and replaced by a lot of lockpicking skill that is normally never used in such close quarters.

Dixie Dooley’s version of this is particularly engaging because the steel contraption certainly looks very restrictive and intimidating all at the same time. It’s very impressive how he demonstrates his apparent skill in lockpicking, and I like how his eyes tell an intense story without him having to do much else as he goes through his performance. Dixie’s really gifted when it comes to making people take notice of him, and this particular stunt is something that steps up from the standard straightjacket act without having to add any great amount of danger, but certainly adding to the challenge of the escape itself rather safely.

My only gripe with this device is that it needs a lot of custom fitting because it’d be terribly unremarkable if you ordered a steel straightjacket that was simply too big for you. It’d be as clear as day from the get-go if you tried to pass yourself off with that, and if you did the opposite, you might not even be able to fit yourself into the steel straightjacket, to begin with.