Barrel bolt as emergency release in a chair

(To the moderators: I wasn’t entirely certain whether this fits under safety or DIY – since a barrel bolt exit had never been discussed in this forum, I’m posting it under “safety”) The concept is straightforward: A barrel bolt secures a string which holds a cuff. Shifting the bolt with your foot partially loosens the cuff, allowing you to reach for a key and scissors. Here we have the chair: Image The cuff is secured to the corner brace by the white string running downward. At the bottom, there’s the barrel bolt: Image When the left foot pushes the bolt backward (red arrow), the white string becomes free and the left hand cuff can move. The green string is pulled when the left cuff lifts the white string, triggering a punishment (throwing an urine canister). The left foot is secured in a dog collar linked to a chain around the chair leg. Vertical movement is limited by the corner brace on the chair leg. I ran several tests, and the release mechanism worked well. In my view, this offers an interesting additional emergency exit because it reduces the time until one hand is fully free down to seconds: Push the bolt with your foot, the hand becomes partially free and can grab scissors to cut the string. (At this point I should mention that I am somewhat obsessed with achieving a quick emergency exit.) Here’s the rest of the setup: The right side of the chair holds the standard release: Image The simple (but reliable) ice lock melts, the chain moves out and the right hand can move (to reach a key). The line tightener is only used to make setup easier. Once one of my hands is partially free, I need both scissors and a key within reach, so I placed them nearby: Image On both sides of the chair, a pair of scissors becomes reachable as soon as the hand is partially free (the bolt has been pushed or the ice has melted). The green string secures it to another corner brace so I can retrieve it if I drop it. This is the complete chair (ready for use): Image I have three release mechanisms:

• The icelock will set my right hand partially free (Standard), from there I have access to a key and scissors
• The barrel bolt can set my left hand partially free (emergency I), from there I have access to a key and scissors
• A small chain is fixed to the right cuff, leading to a key that comes with an urine shower (emergency II). If the padlocks fail (read: Incompatible keys), both the standard exit and the first emergency exit will still work (as I can cut the strings with the scissors). If the ice doesn’t melt (read: temperature drops significantly), the emergency exits remain available. If everything tangles up….that would be a problem but the left cuff (emergency release via barrel bolt) and the right cuff (standard release via icelock) are completely independent. And even if both mechanisms get blocked, just the emergency key alone would suffice to set me free. I am fully aware that there is no such thing as “absolute security”, but I’m pursuing it anyway to achieve a “reasonable” level of security. In case of a heart attack, stroke etc., self bondage could still push a problem from “survivable” to “lethal”. Best regards, the Absolute Beginner