The Export King of Batons: The Czech EASY LOCK Was Even Used at the World Cup in Mexico

Few Czech export products enjoy such success abroad. The EASY LOCK baton stands out for its reliability and durability, and you’ll find it in the equipment of police officers in dozens of countries around the world.

Mr. Director, how did you even come up with the idea to start manufacturing the EASY LOCK baton? Don’t tell me it was in your sleep. You must have attended a demonstration and noticed, while in the crowd, some poorly functioning police equipment that saved you from getting a bump on your head. How did it happen?

We’re constantly striving to improve our products—we’ve been doing this for 34 years, after all—so we’ve accumulated a good amount of feedback from police and military units. Well, we saw that our classic batons had already shattered quite a few tiles and left holes in plenty of floors when closed. (Laughter)

You see, a classic (fiction lock) baton has to be locked by striking it against the ground. So we were looking for a more convenient way to lock it while maintaining the same reliability and defensive capability, and that’s how we started developing the EASY LOCK baton, which locks with a button on the bottom.

Did you run into any patent issues during production? What else can actually be improved regarding the telescoping mechanism?

We approach new product development the same way car manufacturers do—and just like with cars, there are multiple brands and approaches. Our strategy is to always develop our own technology that is unique and meets our standards for professional equipment, because professionals in law enforcement and defense are our primary customers—and we’ve succeeded in doing just that. We have our own patented technology developed in the Czech Republic. I’m proud of my colleagues.

The development of the EASY LOCK baton took 8.5 years. Yes, that seems like a long time. But we explored all technical possibilities, and the main criterion was testing by experts in the field, with an emphasis on reliability—and that takes time.

Police and military professionals have to carry it on duty; the baton has to be put through its paces, and then we analyze the feedback to see what worked and what didn’t. What didn’t work was discarded; what worked was further improved. There were many such iterations before we were certain we could move to mass production.

Did you consider using materials other than steel for production?

We did. Mainly with regard to weight, for portability. But we decided that reliability during a live operation is our absolute top priority. We don’t sell pans and pots that, if they break, will leave you without dinner—we sell equipment that saves the lives of police officers and soldiers, or allows them to save the lives of others. It’s extremely important to make that distinction.

Try going into a high-stakes situation or defending yourself during a mugging—when you’re facing a mugger with a knife—with an aluminum toy that flies apart when opened or bends on the first strike. You really don’t want that.

When you draw your baton, things get serious, and everything else—like trying to negotiate—has already failed. You don’t get a second chance. You need its kinetic weight to increase the force of your strike, and you need to know you can rely on it. Always and in every situation. Not in a store, where it sits in your pocket or holster, but on that 1,000th day when things get serious.

Where is it manufactured? Assembled?

We manufacture and quality-check every single unit in the Central Bohemian Region. So, it’s made in Europe. In this day and age, when we’re flooded with Chinese competition and high energy costs, I consider that a small miracle.

What can this baton handle? You surely have rigorous tests—what about dropping it into a sandbox and then reassembling it? No issues? How much can the EASYLOCK withstand?

It’s not even just about sandboxes. Over the course of our history, we’ve sold to 103 countries around the world. That’s 53% of the countries in the UN. Basically, every civilized country has our products. And during development, we have to take our global reach into account.

For example, in Arab countries and Africa, fine sand is a real problem. That’s why we built some play into the baton’s design. The EASY LOCK baton moves a little when opened, and that’s on purpose. Sand gets in there, but it doesn’t affect how it works. Or we tried burying the baton in soft mud—it still worked. We let it freeze in ice, and so on. It’s like the AK-47 of batons. Reliability in critical moments when lives are at stake is key.

I’ve heard nothing but praise for it among police officers. How many have you already supplied to the Czech Police, and to which units?

Thank you. I always greatly appreciate that from the pros. At the EnforceTac trade show in Germany this year, a police officer from the London Metropolitan Police came up to us and said that in his unit, they always complain about the equipment they’re issued—but not about our baton. That’s exactly why we do what we do.

We’ve just won a tender with very strict criteria and tests for Barcelona and all of Catalonia for 22,000 EASY LOCK batons—it wasn’t about the price, but mainly about passing the rigorous tests. That’s when we beat out our competition. So watch out for trouble with the police there (Laughter)

In total, we’ve sold around 2.3 million batons of all types and sizes. If you lined them up end to end, it would be a drive from Prague to London—about 1,250 km of batons.

Of course, everyone needs a different size, level of compactness, and so on. How many types of EASYLOCK do you actually manufacture today? What’s its advantage over the competition? Price, quality, or both?

We offer sizes 16“, 18”, 20“, and 24”—though I’d recommend the 20". Price is definitely a factor, but we always try to strike a balance. For example, our American competitors are twice as expensive. Do you get twice as much for that? I don’t think so.

When choosing tactical equipment, customers shouldn’t think about the price tag—it’s expensive, so it must be better, or it’s too expensive—a baton from China or a pocket weight will do—but they should focus on reliability in a crisis situation, which is our strength.

They should consider that if they carry a baton, they might not use it for 2, 5, or even 10 years. And the right question is: Will they still have equipment that works even after all that time? Even after 5,000 strikes? And our baton will.

With custom-made shirts, they’ll sew monograms onto the sleeves if you’re interested—are you considering something similar? Men usually outgrow their shirts in width, but EASYLOCK will probably be a lifelong favorite. Wouldn’t that kind of engraving be worth it?

Yes, for example, for the tender I mentioned for the Catalan police, we engraved their logo—Mossos d’Esquadra—on the button. That was, of course, an order for 22,000 pieces. But we also make rescue knives, for instance, and we routinely engrave dedications on them for colleagues and fathers.

The product sells extremely well worldwide—it even helped secure the World Cup in Mexico. How many units did you ship to Mexico?

In total, we shipped 6,751 batons of all sizes and types to Mexico.

And what about the rest of Europe? How many EASYLOCK units have been shipped to date, and to how many countries? What about Asia?

You’ll find our baton in every country in continental Europe, so that’s about 40 countries. And in Asia, I can mention Japan or South Korea, for example.

But ESP isn’t just about batons—what other products do you manufacture?

We’re able to equip police officers and soldiers from head to toe. We manufacture a total of 1,800 products.

If I look at some interesting tenders, here’s what we’ve supplied from our portfolio:

• 134,550 holsters for 9 mm magazines to Poland and Hungary
• 90,231 handcuffs to Germany, Ukraine, Estonia, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Mexico
• 20,182 shields to Germany, Italy, Argentina, and Malaysia
• The vast majority of police officers in the Czech Republic carry our patented Tornado pepper spray with an integrated light every day
• Scorpy and Power Max stun guns, which are very popular in Germany
• Training equipment, including our Titan training suit line
• Tactical flashlights
• We’re currently developing gloves and tactical clothing
• Etc.

Plus, throughout our 34-year history, we’ve collaborated with renowned brands capable of supplying products we don’t carry. So we offer a complete package. We know which products are reliable and which aren’t, and we manufacture accordingly. In tactical gear, reliability is key.

Tagy