Prison Tattoos
By C.A.
Tats, Tacs, Tatajues, and Filorasos. These are some of the tattoo terms convicts use while doing time in prison.
Tattoos have always been big in prisons across the world because it’s a form of rebellion. It’s a way to tell the prison administration, “hey, you might be able to control where you put my body, but you can’t dictate what the hell I put on it”.
That’s just one one reason. Other reasons include a prisoner’s passion for art. Having quality tattoo skills in prison is a blessing since tattooing is big business behind bars. A seasoned tattoo artist was greater potential of making money in prison than the non talented penitentiary clown selling drugs behind the scene.
The money a convict makes while slinging ink is well earned. Nothing is free in prison as most people may assume. Basic necessities
such as toothpaste and shampoo cost money so if a prisoner doesn't have family or friends sending him donations, he's probabably going to lose his teeth and get head lice.
Not only is tattooing in prison a complicated profession, but a deadly one as well. HIV, Hepatitis C and other nasty diseases are always a major threat when handling the blood of an incarcerated stranger. That’s why an experienced tattoo artist doing time not only understands the art of tattooing, but also the practice of sterilization.
Scoring chemicals such as powdered bleach and latex gloves in prison is a challenge tattoo artists face. Paying some suck ass trusty to smuggle these items out of the unit infirmary cost money, but it’s necessary.
Building a good tattoo gun is another issue any artist interested in going into the tattoo business in prison must master. Just as big brained scientists have advance in technology through out the years, hard headed convicts have done the same when it comes to building their tattoo guns. That’s why prison tattoos these days look so damn sharp. There are two standard types of prison tattoo pistols. The spinner and the relay. The relay method is much better than the now obsolete spinner rig-up of the past.
Heres how these penetentiary Macgyver's create the relay powered pistol.
A convict first breaks down his or her most valued possession, their AM-FM radio, and remove the transistor. The micro-thin copper coated wire is then carefully removed, wrapped around a screw, then used for a relay.
A convict must then smuggle some wire brush bristles from the maintenance shop which will serve him as a needle when sharpened correctly. The cylinder is made from a quality mechanical pencil and the armature bar is made with a piece of flexible pallet band and dime size magnet.
The tattoo gun is now powered by the transistor of yet another radio so owning one of these jack hammers can be costly considering the fact money is hard to come by in prison.
The struggle of prison tattooing doesn’t end there. Any tattoo artist caught slinging ink in prison is in for 15 days Solitary Confinement while all of his earnings are confiscated.
So that pretty much explains why tattoo artists in the pinta make some decent change and are in such high demand.
There’s nothing glamorous about prison life so please do not misinterpret this article as being so. In fact, prison sucks balls but a convict must do what he's got to do to survive in that concrete jungle.
