Several people have asked me to make a lockpicking zine for new folx, and I want to include some wisdom from y'all.
What are the top few tools in your kit that have gotten you into the most locks/places (specific pick profiles, bypass tools, turning tools)? It would be amazing if you provided a good quality, closeup photo of them so I can have an artist sketch them.
What's some advice you wish you had when you were still pretty new to lockpicking?
Please keep your responses to about ⅛ of a notebook page of text (like a few sentences) total.
Here are my answers:
A slim short hook, a sturdy medium hook, a two-hump w-rake, and a variety of turning tools.
If you can't open it with one of those tools, it's a skill issue. And you're better off learning more about the lock than reaching for another tool.
Gorgeous antique 8-Lever "Mastodon" steel padlock, picked in ~7 seconds, using homemade tools fashioned out of recycled bike spokes.
This is the second of two beautiful antique locks my partner gave me as a present.
The reason this opened so quickly is because several of the levers are rusted in place, and I bypassed the remaining ones and pushed the locking pawls out of the way directly.
A large card table, covered in two white-ish towels, with every square inch packed with locks. The right ⅔ is all love locks of various shapes, sizes, and colors—many decorated with initials and designs. The left ⅓ is assorted locks from my personal collection, from tiny padlocks, to high-security locks, to handcuffs and deadbolts. There are around 200-250 locks visible.
An add on a locksmith site suggests buying a "yale" lock but their headline is "Why Pick Yale Locks" rather than "Why choose yale locks," Kind of suggests a whole different activity.
Additional text is just marketing yadda yadda below that headline.
heise+ | Schlösser knacken für Einsteiger: So starten Sie ins Lockpicking-Hobby
Schlösser können Sie auch ohne Schlüssel öffnen: Beim Lockpicking kommt es auf mechanisches Verständnis und Geduld an. Der Einstieg gelingt günstig und schnell.
Antique brass Yale & Towne padlock, picked open. It is sitting on a black faux leather pad, and the homemade lockpick (a short hook, made from a street sweeper bristle) is lying next to the lock.
Hey lock pickers. Moving into the suburbs and after I buy a house I'll be changing the locks (obviously).
The price for a good medeco lock from my local smith is higher than I can do right now, and I'm looking at getting a Schlage B60 for each entry door. From my reading it appears to be a 5 pin re-keyable lock. However, I haven't picked/taken one apart to judge for myself yet.
Anyone have any input or information sources? There's windows which would act as the alternate entry path for a determine burglar.