A Chinese finger trap (also known as Chinese finger prison, Chinese finger cuffs, Chinese finger puzzle, Chinese handcuffs, 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 remove 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.

There is nothing special about the bamboo material. The tightening is simply normal reactions of braids, usually the common biaxial braid. By pulling the braid, you are attempting to lengthen it. The material to lengthen is ’stolen’ from material formerly used to keep it wide. Total surface area remains constant, so the more you pull the more the diameter shrinks (i.e. the trap tightens). The same effect is used in specialized textile manufacturing, and even by fly-fishers [1].

Chinese finger traps are not intended for use as restraint devices. Strong victims of the prank may break it when they pull outwards, attempting to free their fingers and stretching the trap beyond its limits. Any particular finger trap will eventually break due to repeated use.

The Chinese finger trap is also a commonly-used metaphor for overcoming a problem by not trying too hard to solve it.

Chinese finger traps in fiction

• In Mulan II, Prince Jeeki, the ruler’s oldest son was seen playing with a Chinese finger trap.
• In the first season episode “Confucius Say… Way Too Much” from Time Squad, Confucius punished Tuddrussel by trapping his index fingers in a Chinese finger trap for beating up Confucius in which Confucius described Tuddrussel as a bully.
• In the Star Trek: The Next Generation Episode “The Last Outpost”, Lt. Commander Data falls prey to a Chinese finger trap while briefing Captain Picard and company in the observation lounge. Picard easily frees Data’s fingers while Commander Riker and Lieutenant LaForge chuckle at the android’s silly predicament.
• In Chasing Amy, Alyssa Jones was given the nickname “Fingercuffs” because of a rumoured sexual escapade in which two boys were said to have entered her simultaneously from opposite ends of her body, emulating a Chinese finger trap.

See also

• Joy Buzzer
• Whoopee cushion
• Snake Nut Can
• Chewing Gum Bug
• Fake vomit