[tavilach]

If lock picking is this easy, then how are any of us safe? I'm confused...

On a side note, if the product really works, I want it! It'd be very fun to be able to help my friends when they lock themselves out of their rooms, which happens all too frequently. Of course, I'm not going to trust some random website...

[Millennium]

I've thought about trying to pick up the skill. Not that I have any actual interest in breaking and entering; it just sounds like a generally useful thing to know. Then again, maybe I'm just strange like that, given that I'd also like to pick up blacksmithing, airplane piloting, and stunt driving at some point for the same reasons. I'd be interested to hear about the keychain, at any rate.

[tavilach]

Wait a minute! They accept PayPal. This is very tempting...

[sminch]

surely it can't be that easy to pick a lock, or everyone'd have one of these sets or something similar they've wipped up in their basement and locks would be entirely useless. if it seems too good to be true than it's gotta be, i reckon.

that said, i'd be interested to give it a whirl. i can remember making a workable lockpick when i was young and and considering a wide range of career options - if you get a 3" nail, bend the pointy end to 90 degrees, and file it flat it'll work pretty well on cheap padlocks. i'm sure the locks in cars are one hell of a lot harder to pick than that, though, and the times i've called a locksmith to break into my car / house it'd taken them a while to do so with a decent toolkit and doubtless some training...

sminch

[Railroader]

Car locks are nearly impossible to pick. But your standard "Master Lock" padlock is very easy. You can either use a small bent rod and a straight rod to set the tumblers or you can use a piece of shim stock and slid it down the locking rod and into the body of the lock and displace the catch.

[MacMan4000]

like so: http://media.weblogsinc.com/common/v...masterlock.avi

[Xeo]

Originally Posted by tavilach

If lock picking is this easy, then how are any of us safe? I'm confused...

On a side note, if the product really works, I want it! It'd be very fun to be able to help my friends when they lock themselves out of their rooms, which happens all too frequently. Of course, I'm not going to trust some random website...

Trust me, it's not that easy to do. It's a skill and takes practice just like anything else. There are electronic pickers which are supposed to make it easier 'cause it hits the pins very quickly with vibrations. But picking by hand can be done. It will take a lot of practice if you want to get a lock picked within a few minutes.

I've only successfully picked a lock a few times. Like Millennium, I'd like to learn the skill.

[vinster]

Thing is about lock picking is that it takes training and practice to get good at it. Also in countries such as the UK it's illegal to sell lock-picking guides and equipment to anyone except a licensed locksmith, so somewhat of a deterrent to making this an easy-to-acquire skill.

Locks for the most part are devices that keep honest people honest.

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by vinster

Locks for the most part are devices that keep honest people honest.

Exactly. A theif wants you're stuff bad enough he's going to get it.

[Railroader]

How Stuff Works: Lock Picking

[analogika]

Originally Posted by Railroader

Car locks are nearly impossible to pick.

Ahah. Ahahahahaha.

BWAAAAAAAHAHAHHAAAAHAHAHAAAH.

Is that what your employer tells you?

Tee-heee.

First thing to try is always simply the key to a car of the same make. That works more often than is funny - at least for the doors.

Well, okay, technically, I suppose that isn't "picking"...

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by analogika

Ahah. Ahahahahaha.

BWAAAAAAAHAHAHHAAAAHAHAHAAAH.

Is that what your employer tells you?

Tee-heee.

First thing to try is always simply the key to a car of the same make. That works more often than is funny - at least for the doors.

Well, okay, technically, I suppose that isn't "picking"...

Glad I could supply you with a good laugh there.

Employer?!?! What does that have to do with anything? Seriously?

I think you're having flashbacks to the 60's dude. Shoulda went a little lighter on the LSD.

Cars today have very difficult tumblers in them. Call a service to unlock your car for you. They won't go for the tumbler. They'll go for the door latch mechanism. Why, because door locks are very difficult and the latch mechanisms are much easier. As for the ignition tumbler, you better have a computer with you for most cars today. They have chips in them that need to be detected by the PCM before the car will start. The best way to steal a car these days is to simply tow it on a flat bed.

[ort888]

Picking locks is very hard.

My wifes brother used to be a tow-truck driver and he had a lock picking set. It was the size of a small briefcase and costs hundreds of dollars. It was pretty cool. It also came with a big ass book to tell you how to pick various makes and models. You have to buy a new set every few years as the technology in locks changes.

[MaxPower2k3]

Originally Posted by Railroader

How Stuff Works: Lock Picking

good find. always wondered how locks really worked. i feel edified

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by ort888

Picking locks is very hard.
...
as the technology in locks changes.

SHHHHH don't tell sophmoric harlot.

[cszar2001]

Have a look at this site: http://www.toool.nl/index-eng.php

and make sure to check out these (huge) videos (they are well worth the download):
http://connect.waag.org/toool/

[loki74]

its definately not that easy. Maybe for run-of-the-mill locks, but some modern ones would be very difficult. I am familiar with a certain lock for which the key has not only a patter along its side, but also all sorts of patterns and circly sh!t engraved on the side. If its just a little off, it wont open... Having to pick both horizontally and vertically? damn, youve gotta be hella good.

Also, for really high security stuff biomentric locks are not that hard to get. You can get one for the passwords on your computer (granted, those are cheap and probably fairly easy for a knowledgable person to break into). And then theres voiceprint recognition, alarm systems, secutity cams, ok i'll shut up. I dont know about cars, but it aint that hard to seriously secure a home, though it is more than a little expensive....

[timmerk]

I don't know why you guys say it's not easy, obviously you have never bought a decent set and took 20 min of your time. After 20 min in 6th grade, I became a pro. I can pick ANY (yes, ANY) house lock, front door/dead bolt lock, commercial building locks (think schools), tampon machine lock (those cheap ones and all related cheap ones), and a few others. I can not pick padlocks though. I also can pick any cylinder lock (yes, even the ones that don't work with the bic pen trick), by using a cylinder lock picker, I can open a cylinder lock in under 10 seconds. The cylinder locks took me a 2-3 hours to learn though. But all those other locks I mentioned took me 20 min to learn. All I did was read a locksmithing book on the theory of locks and how to use the tools. Once you know this, it's easier then riding a bike.

[analogika]

Originally Posted by Railroader

Glad I could supply you with a good laugh there.

Employer?!?! What does that have to do with anything? Seriously?

I think you're having flashbacks to the 60's dude. Shoulda went a little lighter on the LSD.

Cars today have very difficult tumblers in them. Call a service to unlock your car for you. They won't go for the tumbler. They'll go for the door latch mechanism. Why, because door locks are very difficult and the latch mechanisms are much easier. As for the ignition tumbler, you better have a computer with you for most cars today. They have chips in them that need to be detected by the PCM before the car will start. The best way to steal a car these days is to simply tow it on a flat bed.

I was talking about door locks.

And with most cars (at least according to my trusted mechanic), you *do* have a pretty good chance just trying a different key from the same make.

This may have changed on very recent models, but it makes more sense to invest in electronic anti-theft devices hooked to the ignition tumbler - which is obviously done. Although those are often fairly easy to defeat (often requiring just pulling a single plug in the engine compartment, which does need to be accessed, resulting in slight damage).

[powertrippin]

I have a decent lockpick set, and it is quite challenging to do. I've only picked a few locks with it, some Ijust can't get at all.

[budster101]

Which locks can't you get?

- The one to your chain; cage; or padded door?

Just curious.

---

I have no problem picking locks, it's so easy it's sick. I go to the store, walk down the aisle with the locks in it, and then proceed to pick them. (i.e., I'll take that one, and that one.)

[MaxPower2k3]

On a related note, Master Combination locks are also quite easy to open, although slightly more time consuming. You can narrow it down to 100 possible combinations (from 64,000) and then you just start trying them. Once you get fast at testing combinations, it takes anywhere from 3 to 10 minutes, depending on where in the order of combinations the correct one is. I learned this freshman year of high school, but never used it much, except to open my friend's gym lock once.

[tavilach]

Would I be able to open a simple dorm room lock (the keys look extremely standard) with this keychain picker? That's really all that I'd need it for.

[historylme]

This is awesome.

[RobOnTheCape]

Amazing. Just the other day I tried to go through an old cranberry bog dirt road to avoid the summer throng of traffic, only to find a steel swing bar with a padlock barring entry. Also leads to a secluded pond only accessible by this road. This may be a simple solution.

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by vinster

Locks for the most part are devices that keep honest people honest.