Friday, 21 April 2006

Lock Picking/Bumping

Still annoyed at the $220 bill I had to pay to have a guy open our front door (having locked our keys inside) and was wondering how hard it is to actually pick locks... 

So, via metafilter, have been checking out the demonstration (97 min, Windows Media format) of this incredible lockpicking technique by the TOOOL association. It explains the principle behind the technique and shows how to make your own tools (filing a key into a bumpkey).

What's impressive about this technique is that it apparently requires very little training, works with a large majority of pin tumbler locks and doesn't leave any trace.
In addition, the tools (a bumpkey that fits the target lock and a flexible hammer) are simple, discreet and easy to make (bumpkeys seem surprisingly tolerant to fabrication flaws).

Also worth checking out, a howto video for making your own (traditional) lockpick set

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