The Lock-Picking Lawyer

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Lockpicking has become a sport. You are very unlikely to get done over by someone who can do it these days. Modern (decent) locks take time to learn.
You might get someone bypass a lock with shims or a knife buf to single point pick or even jjggle lock is pretty remote.
Mikejhn, what lock was on your gate?
 
Some locks will only pick, during a full moon, others on even dates, or whilst wearing purple socks.
Least thats my experience, more by luck than skill. I shall keep practicing.

Bod
 
Apply more rum

(Edit - Removed my amusing picture of Jack Sparrow holding a rum bottle - just remembered the court case. Ooops)
 
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Reading the above posts reminds me of an incident some 30 years ago when at work.

I was saying about a combination cycle lock that I had forgotten the combination to and

How easily I had been able to open it

One of my workmates said “I’ll bring you one you won’t open”

“ I’ve played with it for years and not succeeded”

Feeling full of myself I said “bring it Jack and I’ll show you how”

Next day he came in all smug and tossed it to me and said “here smarta***e, open that”

I had never seen a lock like it in my life.

About 2” diameter with 5 brass reels, each reel had every letter of the alphabet on it as well as symbols Hearts, Clubs Diamonds and Spades.

Turning the reels was like turning a ball race, no resistance, and no side to side movement.

I played with it for a while pulling and turning the reels when it suddenly opened.

Trying not to look surprised I looked down and it spelt F A D E D.

I quickly snapped it back together and tossed it back saying “ any more want opening”

“How the hell did you do that” he said.

“easy” I lied “you can feel when they line up and also hear it”

For the next few weeks every time you went in to the workshop someone was trying to open it, pulling and holding up to their ears, hilarious.

I eventually had to admit it was a fluke that I opened it.

I won’t tell you what I was called, I probably couldn’t even spell some of the words.



When the lock is open all of the reels were on a splined shaft allowing you to remove them and replace to give a different combinatiion


Alan.
 
My next door neighbour has just had their Motorhome stolen from the paddock opposite their house, the scrotes took the fence down between our paddock's and took the Motorhome out of our gates, it seems the lock to our gates was picked rather than cut, they even put it back, unless they had a key?
Oh yes, easy enough to lock it again.
I've been round the house replacing locks put in by major builder. I replaced one, then picked the old one in 5 minutes - quite scary. Minor comfort, there aren't many around with the skills of the lock picking lawyer or Bosnian Bill.
 
Some years ago a friend had a small car repair/servicing workshop on an industrial estate in the UK. It got broken into and his tools were stolen. He replaced his tools and improved his security. By the time this sequence had been repeated 3 or 4 times his doors and windows were like Fort Knox. The thieves then knocked bricks out and entered through the wall. It can be really difficult to stop a determined low-life.
 
The only thing most doorlocks keep out is an honest person, most can be bypassed or forced. Picking is for fun not illicit entry (mostly)

Take a look at Deviant Ollam (YT) he is a Pen(etration) Tester in America, hired by companies to test their security. He opens doors with plastic (credit card style) wire/string , a thing like a bent awl and in one case, a mouthful of whisky.

That last one isnt any old building, it is the front door of his bank. Although the Muricans dont seem to use 5 lever mortice locks much.

In one of his videos he talks about picking and how in his line of work it is a last resort
 
One Friday night a couple of years ago at about 10 pm, I managed to lock myself out of my flat. The door has an automatic latch and I'd not taken my key with me - as I always do. So after failing to kick the door in and after much cursing I wandered off through the rain to the police station in my slippers. They were very helpful and called the local locksmith and then drove me home in a patrol car.

5 mins later the locksmith turned up and asked if I'd locked the door with a key. I explained that I hadn't. He grinned, pulled out from his tool bag what looked like a bit of saw blade and shoved it into the door, successfully pushing the catch back. I considered the €40 I handed over to him to be a fair fine for my stupidity. The moral is to perhaps keep a bit of saw blade under the door map in the event of a repeat performance.
 
That is a great channel. That guy communicates and thinks clearly and efficiently in a way that I could only dream of. I work with a lot of attorneys. Not sure that any of them have time for hobbies like that...They all drink or have an exercise addiction to relieve stress. This guy is clearly a cut above.
 
Separately, the mrs and I have had conversations about security. She is crazy about safety, yet never focuses on the fact that next to our entry door, we have an elephant sized window that is almost step through height.

When she says "do you think we should change the locks?" I usually say "no, I think the ones we have are plenty good for the folks who are too polite to break the windows".
 
Was at a large flea market outside of Sacramento, CA some years ago, it is a mix of sellers who have large booths and are there every weekend, and folks just selling for the weekend, was looking at the stuff at one of the regular vendors booth, & there was a book written for the locksmith trade on how to drill & open various makes of safes, for 2 Dollars I bought it, not going to use the information, as no need & stealing is stealing.
 
About 10 years ago I was in Cambodia on a fairly modern Honda motorcycle (no immobilizer) when the keys were stolen from a hotel room. I was fuming and close to lashing out at the hotel manager.

"What's your problem?" he asked nonchalantly "it's only a key...just go and get a new one made."
"What are you talking about?" I replied "this is a brand new Honda motorcycle from europe, you can't just make a new key."
The manager rolled his eyes, and called a chap who appeared 5 minutes later on a scooter with a satchel. He hopped off, shoved a few key blanks in the lock, got out an old hand file, and started cutting notches in the chosen blank. Within about 3 minutes had the motorcycle running.

A couple of years later I sold the bike with the aforementioned key - the buyer never batted an eyelid.
 
Was at a large flea market outside of Sacramento, CA some years ago, it is a mix of sellers who have large booths and are there every weekend, and folks just selling for the weekend, was looking at the stuff at one of the regular vendors booth, & there was a book written for the locksmith trade on how to drill & open various makes of safes, for 2 Dollars I bought it, not going to use the information, as no need & stealing is stealing.

Useful if you buy a second hand safe and it's locked though. Don't some people try and make a living from that? You never know what you'll find!
 
Addressing the earlier point about drilling locks which can be picked, I worked as a Locksmith for 10 years, and I have drilled a lot of locks, which I hated, but which was often the only way to open the lock without very expensive specialist tools, or a massive investment of time in developing skill with less expensive tools.

I opted to teach myself to pick cylinder locks, including Mul-T-Lock and Banhams, as I hated drilling locks unnecessarily, and I could easily make the tools required myself. I started learning how to pick lever locks, and made myself a reasonable serviceable lever pick, but left the trade before I got anywhere near proficient. My employer at the time had less than zero interest in teaching me either, so it was all five in my own time and at my own expense.

When I was working I was pretty good
picker, and practised a lot - probably a couple of hours everyday, and on a wide variety of locks, and I was still regularly defeated by locks in the field. Even though I still practice occasionally in an effort to keep my hand in, my abilities have declined hugely. Maintaining a skillset which allows you to consistently pick everything you come across is a huge task, and simply not a practical reality for most lockies.

Specialist warrant locksmiths invest in tools and skills to open as non-destructively as possible, but the converse is that their lock fitting is often pretty rough.

When i drilled locks I did my level best to ensure I kept damage to the bare minimum, and this is a skill in itself - you should see what some "locksmiths" do to get a lock open - a photo from the 'black museum' is enclosed for you enjoyment.
IMG_20210106_135013.jpg
 
Large council estate in Cambridge built just after WW11. Established that there were only 20 rear door key pattens for over 400 houses.
 
A while back my wife took her mum shopping in a bmw e45. She locked the car on the central locking then popped open the boot, put the keys on the boot floor, grabbed her bag and her mum shut the boot before she could stop her. We were very very glad of the skilled locksmith who opened the boot with absolutely no damage to the car or lock system, he came recommended by another locksmith as "there's only 1 guy in South Wales can sort that out". Did it in less than a minute.
 
My wife had a similar experience when she left her keys in the car (Ford), shut the boot and the doors locked automatically. The AA wanted her to sign a waiver for the damage as they wanted to fit an air bag between the door and frame and force the door open.

After telling them to get lost, she did some phoning around and got in touch with a locksmith who'd been on a special training course, was registered with the police, and had a set of skeleton keys that would "open most cars in the country"
 
Apparently bmw locks on that series couldn't be re-keyed or opened with skeleton keys as the key re coded the locks every time it was used, I seem to remember bmw offering to replace the entire central locking system as a replacement key was not an option. Watching the locksmith was a real treat - he "picked" the boot lock by shorting the wiring sub loom, amazing to watch him do it
 
This is sheet pedantry, but I solid-gold promise he didn't use skeleton keys. They're a very specific tool, which are ineffective against the vast majority of locks in current production, and certainly not remotely helpful on any vehicle lock, with the possible exception of one drawn by a horse.
 
'Skeleton key' was my generic term for his bit of magic - no idea what he used, I didn't see it, and I just picked a vague lock picking term out of the air so I didn't need to write a sentence explaining I had no idea what I was talking about :LOL:
 
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