Lockpicking
Equipment Primer
How
Pin Tumblers work
The Basic Principle of lockpicking
Equipment : Lock Pick Set
Equipment : Lock Pick Gun
Equipment : Inflatable Wedge
Equipment : Silent Drill
Equipment : The Qwik Pick Tool
Equipment : Plug Spinner
Equipment : Circular Tension Tool
Equipment : Training Equipment
A
lock is actually a mechanical machine and like any machine has
its imperfections. The pretext of lockpicking is that these imperfections
can be exploited in order to bypass the lock.
There
are quite a few different types of locks such as wafers, pin tumblers,
cylindrical, combination locks and others. Basic locks can be
opened as simply as with the use of a skeleton key, however the
majority of locks used are of the pin tumbler variety, these have
become the standard and are used extensively for many applications.
These require more effort and equipment to exploit;
How
pin tumblers work
When
you put your key in the keyway, the teeth of the key push up the
pins connecting the keyway's inner cylinder to the outer cylinder.
The pins are of different heights, when the key is put in the
lock the pins are set in such a way so as to allow the inner cylinder
to turn. If pushed incorrectly the pins block the perimeter between
the inner and outer cylinder and therefore do not allow the inner
cylinder to turn and open the lock.
The
Basic principle of Lockpicking
A
pin tumbler is never perfect, keeping in mind the above process
for opening a lock; if a slight torque is applied to the inner
cylinder of a lock and the pins in the keyway are actuated with
a pick tool in such a way so as to trap the pins in the lock opening
position, once all the pins are in place the inner cylinder will
turn and therefore the lock will open.
This
technique is not demanded all the time and there are many different
ways to bypass a lock without working with the lock itself. The
next sections will cover the different types of lockpicking equipment
available.
Lockpick
Set
This is the fundamental tool for lockpicking. A lock pick set
is made up of tension tools and picks. This equipment is always
manufactured out of steel for durability. The picks have to be
designed in such a way so as to comfortably maneuver in the lock.
The tension tool has to be of such a shape so as to not interfere
with the pick tool while it is maneuvering in the keyway. A basic
pick set is very cheap and contains a leather pouch, various picks
and wrenches of different sizes and shapes. Although the basic
set is good to experiment with for entertainment purposes a serious
set is needed for more complex applications. The advanced pick
set has many more different types of tension tools and picks and
is more expensive than the basic set. A good advice is to obtain
the advanced set if work is to be done on a larger variety of
locks.
Lockpick
Gun
A lock pick gun is an advanced tool for opening pin tumbler locks.
It was designed for the FBI to facilitate the quick opening of
locks. Although this device can open a lot of different types
of locks it is not suited for all of them and contrary to common
belief training is required to be able to use this tool. It works
by hitting all the pins in a lock at the same time with a needle
while applying a torque with a tension tool. There are two versions
of the lockpick gun, the standard mechanical version which has
a trigger that has to be pulled in order to actuate the needle
that will strike the pins. The other version looks like an electric
screwdriver and is powered by batteries which is also more expensive.
Opinions vary widely on the benefit of the electric lockpick gun,
one opinion is that the electric version is more comfortable to
use as it doesn't require the repeated pulling of a mechanical
trigger. Whichever solution is chosen will require training as
with all lockpicking equipment.
Inflatable
Wedge
A small handpump is connected to an inflatable balloon produced
out of tough unbreakable material. To open a car door or a normal
door the balloon is placed between the door and the frame then
inflated. When inflated it separates the door from the frame by
enough distance so that the door can be opened bypassing the lock
entirely. This device is a smart version of the door jack which
spreads the frame of a door for opening. The limitation of this
tool is that it cannot be used for a door surrounded by concrete
and the concrete does not give any leeway to the expansion of
the frame, it is best used for a door frame surrounded by a wooden
wall.
Silent
Drill
Although any drill could be used a silent drill is specifically
targeted for special operations when very quick door entry is
required without detection by the surroundings. A drill is the
all over best lockpicking tool there is. One drilling technique
involves drilling over the shoulder of the keyway so as to drill
through the pins and render them useless giving very quick access
to the lock. The disadvantage is that the drill destroys the lock
leaving it useless for further use, also silent drills are very
expensive unless an off the shelf drill can be substituted. Another
major requirement is that it has to be battery powered to allow
for on site use.
The
Qwik Pick Tool
Made well known by its role in the movie 'Gone in 60 seconds',
Nicholas Cage used this tool to open the door of the car he was
stealing, as with all movies the truth is very different. The
Qwik pick tool is actually looks like a pen with a large clip,
the clip is actually removed and used as a tension tool while
the pick is extracted using a knob. This is a fantastic tool to
use on lock cabinets, drawers and other less secure locks, it
would also work with the lower quality door lock and several car
door locks however it is not an absolute solution as it is extremely
difficult to use on any of the higher quality pin tumbler locks.
Still it is an interesting tool and worth having in a collection.
Plug
Spinner
Not really a crucial tool to have but could be quite useful. If
a lock is picked and accidentally turned the opposite direction
of opening this tool can be used to reverse the position of the
lock without having to pick the lock again, it works by using
a spring to quickly turn the lock past the pins before they are
moved into place.
Circular
Tension Tool
A tension tool that is easy to gauge by using graduations. A common
problem with the normal tension tool is that it is difficult to
understand how much torque is being applied to the lock unless
the user is very experienced. Different locks can require different
torques so the use of this tool creates an exact science out of
tension tools. There are different varieties such as the spring
loaded version or the button operated version.
Training
Equipment
Lockpick shops carry an extensive line of training products and
equipment. This is for a good reason, all the above tools are
useless without the proper training in their use. There is literature
on lockpicking all the kinds of locks, safes, cabinets, bypassing
techniques without using a pick tool and training manuals and
videos. The training equipment available usually includes a practice
see through lock and can be found in different varieties of difficulties.
