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Lock Picking – A Basic Guide

hackthis.co.uk

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Re: Lock Picking – A Basic Guide

#81

Post by sitkack »

entropy_ wrote: post #72
GuiA wrote: post #7

I taught myself how to pick locks my final year of high school - in France, high school students have to take the "baccalauréat", a set of exams that cover everything you've studied in high school, in all subjects. It spans the course of 2 weeks or so, and you get 1 week to prepare before it. I hadn't been doing so hot in high school (writing assembly for my TI-83's z80 was more fun than reading Shakespeare and doing…

Similar thing happened with my when I was ~14, except it was the family desktop -- laptops were way too expensive for us back then -- and they had a lock on a power switch that led up to the computer. Learned to pick locks and got extensively lectured about why I shouldn't do things just because I can. My parents eventually gave up on trying to lock my out of the PC(after trying BIOS passwords, OS-level passwords and…

I am going to make a new word, "learnacrastinator", "learnicrastor" (feel free to fix/expound). One who learns a subject or skill while procrastinating studying for another.

Re: Lock Picking – A Basic Guide

#83

Post by sitkack »

portmanteaufu wrote: post #60
jamesbritt wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nice idea. Depending on where you sell this from you may want to check the laws about providing such a tool and if you need to verify anything about the customer before allowing a sale. For example in some parts of the USA one has to show proof of either being a licensed locksmith or a member of some law enforcemnt group.

Here's a good starting reference on the legality of owning lockpicks from state to state: http://toool.us/laws.html It doesn't cover sale / purchase, just ownership by state.

Wow, two different colors of green. That person must hate the color blind with a passion.

Re: Lock Picking – A Basic Guide

#84

Post by School-Cotton »

sitkack wrote: post #81
entropy_ wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Similar thing happened with my when I was ~14, except it was the family desktop -- laptops were way too expensive for us back then -- and they had a lock on a power switch that led up to the computer. Learned to pick locks and got extensively lectured about why I shouldn't do things just because I can. My parents eventually gave up on trying to lock my out of the PC(after trying BIOS passwords, OS-level passwords and…

I am going to make a new word, "learnacrastinator", "learnicrastor" (feel free to fix/expound). One who learns a subject or skill while procrastinating studying for another.

Fixing bugs in a large open-source project while I should have been studying for major exams was what landed me a Google Summer of Code position, which (I assume) is what landed me an interview at a major tech company.

Safe to say that a huge proportion of my current income is directly due to "productive procrastination" :)

Re: Lock Picking – A Basic Guide

#85

Post by timeecho »

Wont always work thoughwith every lock. What does work is a drill. All cylinders must be made of soft non-corrosive metal like brass.Just send a big enuf drill down the cylinder and twist it with a screwdriver, quiker;)

Re: Lock Picking – A Basic Guide

#86

Post by DonateKarma »

Growing up as the middle of 7 children - 5 of them girls - I taught myself how to open padlocks with their bobby pins. It started for the usual mischief, opening their secret young girl things, and then moved onto more rewarding achievements. My technique was to break the pin into two, using the wavy pin as the tension pick, and the straight pin to rotate the barrel. This hasn't failed me on any padlock I've come across, and with practice will take only a few seconds.

Re: Lock Picking – A Basic Guide

#87

Post by Smerity »

emhart wrote: post #19

Pardon the self-promotion, but this hits a bit close to my area. If you'd like a much more comprehensive guide: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL66CD42F86F3A1F85&feat... I also cover disc detainers, and a bunch of other stuff. I'm shooting a new series on lock forensics presently, just got a great microscope that can take my DSLR for high def microscopy.

Self promotion is no issue when you have high quality content! I started picking locks recently for fun and your guide on YouTube is one of my favourite resources. It's also my go-to whenever trying to show someone in a minute or two the gist of lockpicking.

To find you on Hacker News is a pleasant surprise =] Keep up the good work!

Re: Lock Picking – A Basic Guide

#88

Post by [deleted] »

jheriko wrote: post #4

A much cheaper and easier approach that works for most locks is to get a coke bottle and tear a strip out of it, then use it to do the 'hollywood credit card trick'. unlike a credit card it doesn't snap or break very easily - the type of plastic will become softer when placed under pressure and is very flexible but strong - if you continue to force it in the right area it will work its way around hard corners and int…

[deleted]

Re: Lock Picking – A Basic Guide

#89

Post by freehunter »

saraid216 wrote: post #69
freehunter wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you factor in things such as "I'm a skilled programmer, but I don't know Ada." Are you still a skilled programmer? Sure, you're quite good at Ruby and Javascript. But you don't know Ada. Why not? Because your goal was never to learn every programming language. If you want to pick every lock available to you and you can do so quickly and successfully, you're a skilled lock picker. Buying harder locks just to show…

> When you factor in things such as "I'm a skilled programmer, but I don't know Ada." Are you still a skilled programmer? "A programmer" is not necessarily "A person who knows Ada". You're trying very hard to play semantics and it's not working for you. You don't get to call yourself a skilled swordsman because you sliced up some virtual goblins, simply because the only things you felt like slicing up were virtual go…

And you're trying really hard to make things more complicated than they are. A skill is not a complicated thing. Allow me to put the words in your mouth that you are struggling to say: "not a true Scotsman".

Re: Lock Picking – A Basic Guide

#90

Post by analog31 »

herbig wrote: post #2

I was really into this back in high school but never got proficient in it. The concept is simple to understand but actually executing it takes a LOT of practice. Raking can open a lot of older locks pretty quickly, but that doesn't mean you're skilled. Also, just owning the tools is illegal in some states.

>>> Also, just owning the tools is illegal in some states.

Yes, there is a provision in state laws against possession of "thieves tools."

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