How to free yourself from a plastic zip tie!

by Shirley Marie Bradby

October 25, 2016

How to free yourself from a plastic zip tie!

In many films there are scenes in which people who were previously immobilized by plastic zip ties placed on their hands and feet, are able to very easily free themselves. This is not pure fiction! There really are ways to remove a tight plastic zip tie!

One technique is to remove a shoelace from your shoe, create a bowline or slip knot at both ends of the shoelace and create a loop at each end. Next, put one loop over your left shoe and then slip the shoelace between your hands and the zip tie. Then, put the other shoelace loop on your right shoe. 

Now, just use a bicycling motion with your legs and feet, rubbing the shoelace against the plastic zip tie which creates a saw-like friction ... and you are done! Obviously, success is better guaranteed with thicker shoelaces!