DETACHER TYPES & TAG DIFFERENCES
UPD 08\04\2020
This section breaks down the differences between detachers and security tags. I will explain which detachers are best suited for specific tags, and expose the "marketing" ploys and standard scams used by Chinese manufacturers.
As of early 2013, the situation is as follows:
When the EAS (Electronic Article Surveillance) business first emerged, the very first tags were designed with magnetic locks. Since then, the capitalist business machine and its marketers have continuously invented new ways to sell even more expensive security equipment to retailers to justify their own existence.
Breakdown follows:
Why use a detacher instead of a 100k KG pull magnet-
A simple neodymium magnet is a block of material with a uniformly distributed magnetic field. Its entire magnetic force is spread across 360 degrees:
In contrast, Detachers utilize a specialized magnetic system to create a highly deformed magnetic field. The entire magnetic power of the detacher is concentrated into a thin Magnetic Axis, which acts directly on the tag's LOCK:
Consequently, no matter the pull weight or size of a standard Neodymium magnet, its effectiveness is 100% inferior to that of even a basic reinforced detacher. Furthermore, a high-pull magnet costs nearly the same.
In this comparison video, I demonstrate that while a magnet might open a first-generation tag, it fails miserably against a reinforced lock:
(Operator is wearing a protective glove in case the detacher's field catches the magnet.)
Another nuance: standard magnets (not detachers) stick violently to any metal structure. Believe me, I've heard dozens of stories where people ran into serious trouble because a magnet stuck to a shelf or door inside a store. Detachers are much safer to handle due to the focused, directional nature of their magnetic field.
Marketing Ploys and Chinese Manufacturers:
There is a standard measure for magnetic power: pull force in KG. This is completely inapplicable to detachers. Technically, measuring the compression degree of the magnetic axis is highly complex. You would need to calculate the effective contact area between the detacher and a suspended load, plus the material ratios. To simplify this, the industry introduced Gauss (Gs). While it is a real physical parameter, applying it mathematically in this context is extremely difficult. In reality, ratings like 12000, 15000, or 6500 Gs are pure marketing.
In our field, just like for the manufacturers, only one thing matters: YES or NO. Does it open the lock, or NOT-
This brings us to the evolution of security tags. The TAG (specifically the lock system) is always invented first. Only then is a more powerful detacher developed to counter it. It’s not about specific Gs parameters; it’s about engineering a solution that works.
All developers of modern tags are European, and they hold all the patents. Chinese manufacturers, as usual, ignore patents and churn out whatever they can. They were the ones who popularized the Gauss (Gs) rating as a way to differentiate identical-looking detachers and give customers a way to distinguish one from another.
Anti-Ad: The truth about standard detachers:
Greedy dealers always want to invest less and earn more. Since a store detacher is just a component inside a housing, the profiteer awakens: instead of an adequate detacher made from at least N33 material, they throw whatever is at hand into the casing-just a random chunk of magnet, or something like this:
Another risk: there is no guarantee you won't receive a detacher where the internal magnets are improperly glued or misaligned:
And the main reason that led me to everything in my life since the invention of Detacher #1-compactness:
Tag Categories and Magnetic Detachers:
"Keychain" Magnetic Detacher
I cannot call this a detacher. Inside the housing sits a standard cylindrical neodymium magnet (15mm diameter, 25mm height). Calling a raw MAGNET a "detacher" is technically incorrect.
Its capabilities are limited to the cheapest tags with the cheapest locks. These tags are still used, but major retail chains have systematically phased out non-reinforced locks. Any teenager can take a magnet from their parents' aquarium cleaner and hit small shops. Because this is too common, Europe and the US began moving away from weak tags 10 years ago.
Works with First Generation Tags, where the lock mechanism features:
- Three or four metal balls.
- A cup with holes to hold the balls.
- A weak, easily compressed spring.
- All parts made of magnetizable metal.
DISTRIBUTION: Discount stores, small shops, or any retailer that hasn't realized they are 20 years behind. Regional shops often don't care, as local security firms have zero expertise in the field.
#1... Detacher with magnetic power equivalent to Chinese 12,000 Gs units.
The "Standard Reinforced" model.
Covers 99% of stores that do not use SuperTag systems.
Works with Second Generation Tags, where the lock mechanism features:
- Three or four metal balls.
- A cup with holes to hold the balls.
- REINFORCED Spring (stiffer than the standard version).
- All parts made of magnetizable metal.
REQUIREMENT: Can ONLY be opened by a specialized reinforced detacher with a specific magnet configuration. This isn't just one magnet, but several, magnetized and stacked in a specific pattern.
DISTRIBUTION: Major retail chains. Currently used by almost everyone I know-Adidas, Reebok, and other sports brands, Ostin, Zolla, etc. Most "branded" stores use these because shop owners noticed tags were being left behind in corners far too often.
#2... Detacher with magnetic power equivalent to Chinese 16,000 Gs units.
Works with Third Generation Tags and NEOTAG sensors, where the lock mechanism features:
- Three or four metal balls.
- Aluminum cup with holes to hold the balls.
- Aluminum cup to fix the ball-holding cup.
- REINFORCED Spring.
- ONLY the balls and the spring are magnetizable.
- Additional blocking system in NEOTAG sensors (blocking ring included with the detacher for free).
REQUIREMENT: Can ONLY be opened by a specialized Hard-reinforced detacher with a specific magnet configuration. This is a significantly more powerful reinforced unit. NEOTAG sensors cannot be opened by any Chinese detachers except originals or mine.
DISTRIBUTION: No longer rare; widely used in retail chains. Reserved, H&M, and a few other networks haven't fully switched yet, but the transition is ongoing. NEOTAG sensors are used throughout the Adidas network in Russia and parts of the Reebok network.
Opens: NEOTAG, Checkpoint 3G HardTag, Bomba Hard, and others with Hard-locks.
NEOTAG:
#3... Detacher #3, unrivaled except for official, extremely hard-to-get detachers.
The 20,000 Gs rating is symbolic, as it is virtually impossible to measure accurately. It is a highly subjective parameter.
Works with all previous generation tags and the latest versions where the lock mechanism features:
- Three or four metal balls.
- Aluminum cup with holes to hold the balls.
- Aluminum cup to fix the ball-holding cup.
- REINFORCED Spring.
- ONLY the metal balls are magnetizable.
- Additional blocking system in NEOTAG sensors (blocking ring included with the detacher for free).
Latest Generation Tag List:
- DuralTag sensors. Despite the manufacturer's claims that these can only be opened by their proprietary detacher (which costs upwards of $400 from suppliers).
- Rare matte round tags with ink and a purple "Warning" label found in Western Europe (Belgium, UK).
- NEOTAG sensors. Despite claims they require original detachers ($400+), usually sold only in bulk with the tags.
- 2019 novelty: Sensormatic InFuzion tags.
4th Generation tags are extremely expensive, requiring an equally expensive detacher that most store owners and retail chains simply cannot afford.
DISTRIBUTION: Western Europe, rare.