Rachel's Systema Writings >> Assorted Essays >> Recreational Lockpicking

Recreational Lockpicking

[lockpicking]
(This post describes my adventures with recreational lockpicking and some links and information about the same. Lockpicking should only be done on your own locks or on those for which you've received express permission to pick from the actual owner of the lock. In other words, keep it legal!)

A few weeks ago, I was sitting in my apartment when I heard a horrible clanging noise coming from the street. I looked out the kitchen window and saw two maintenance guys trying to break open a cast-iron gate by hitting it repeatedly with a crowbar. The gate was locked with a heavy chain and a padlock. The two of them were taking turns hitting the padlock with a crowbar. I guess they lost the key and were hoping to bust it open. But anyone could see the heavy padlock was designed to resist such brute force. Only a cheap lock can be broken open with a crowbar. I wondered why they didn't just take the gate off its hinges, which surely would have been difficult, but a far sight easier than bashing up a heavy-duty padlock. I also thought that picking the lock would be easier than bashing it open. But these guys were short on finesse. They bashed on that lock for a good twenty minutes before giving up and presumably calling a locksmith. I wish I might have helped them. I love picking locks. I probably wouldn't have much success with that one, but I would have enjoyed trying.

My fascination with locks began at an early age. I was a quiet and obedient child, but also solitary and eccentric, and sometimes I got into mischief by inventing my own games. I grew up in a Victorian house with skeleton key locks. Our junk drawer was filled with 19th century hardware, including many different skeleton keys. I got it into my head that one of these would fit the lock on our front door, and because skeleton keys are hard to copy, everyone would be immensely grateful if I discovered a spare housekey. But unfortunately, I lacked finesse. I stuck a skeleton key into the keyhole, turned it forcefully, and broke the key in the lock. My parents were angry, the whole mechanism had to be removed to get the piece of the key out. I was sent to my room without dinner (I realize this is draconian by today's parenting standards. My parents didn't actually starve me. My mother brought me a plate a few hours later. But listening to everyone else eating dinner, talking and having a good time, felt like a terrible punishment.) But even this did not dissuade me from trying to find a spare housekey. It wasn't long afterwards that I did the same thing again, another broken key, missed dinner, and angry parents. I wish I could say that was the last time, but I was a stubborn child, and I was had this bizarre fixation on discovering a spare key. Somehow I ended up smashing a panel of plate glass on our front door. My stepfather heard the crash and came out to the front porch. I was expecting severe punishment, after all, I was a repeat offender. But he just took a quick look at the damage and immediately got into his car and drove to the hardware store. I was still sitting on the porch when he returned with a replacement piece of glass. I figured that my punishment might be fixing the glass. But he just calmly repaired the glass while I sat there watching. He wasn't angry, he wasn't even exasperated. I guess he just accepted that I was unable to restrain myself where locks are concerned. Shortly thereafter I discovered that skeleton key locks are easily picked with a piece of wire. And we did benefit from my mischief. The skeleton key lock was soon replaced with a deadbolt and a prop for the inside (a primitive version of "The Club" for doors.) If a kid can do it, then of course a burglar can as well.

So I had early experience with "brute force" and lockpicking, and why it can actually make a lock more impenetrable if it breaks and the whole mechanism has to be removed. A few years later, I started working at a riding stable. In the winter, after I finished all my chores, I'd wait in the tack room for my parents to pick me up, because it was the warmest place in the barn. All the boarders kept their saddles and other equipment locked in trunks, and I would amuse myself by picking these locks. They were mostly combination locks such as people use on gym lockers. These are easy to crack; like skeleton keys and small luggage locks, they are meant to dissuade rather than completely deter thieves. By turning the dial slowly and gently, you can feel where it slips into the right notch when the number is correct. Maybe the new combination locks are more secure, but these old ones were quite simple to crack.

As a side note, locks on even something as valuable as an automobile are not necessarily secure. When I was in high school and working in a health food store, my friend gave me the key to her car and asked me to run out and get some cassettes from the front seat so we could listen to music. She was very surprised when I returned with a handful of Barry Manilow tapes. I would have thought that automobile locks are unique to each owner, but apparently they are not. That was actually the second time I keyed into the wrong car, and both were fairly new models. Do automobile manufacturers rely upon the good will of their customers not to steal each others' cars, or do people just assume their lock is one-of-a-kind? On the other hand, I owned an old Ford Comet in high school, a '64 lowrider. I guess some thief thought this old lock would be easy to pick, because they tried to break into the trunk. They didn't get in, but completely mangled the lock with a "brute force" attempt. Looks can be deceiving. My old car turned out to have a fairly secure lock even on the trunk, whereas the new models could be opened on the driver's side by someone who happened to own the same model.

In high school, I began working at a different barn where I learned how to "card" open locks. After the owners left for the evening, they would lock the office. Again this was the warmest place in the whole stable. I want to make it clear that I wasn't breaking in to steal anything or even snoop around, just to warm up in the dead of winter while waiting for my ride home. The spring-mechanism locks such as used on interior rooms like bathrooms or closets are very easy to card open. Since there was nothing in the office worth stealing, they used this lock just to deter anyone who happened to wander in. But I think this is even less of a deterrence than a combination or skeleton key lock. Patience isn't necessary, these can be sprung open in matter of seconds by sliding a credit card between the door and the frame and pushing against the barrier mechanism.

That is my experience with extremely basic, low-security locks. Not exactly cracking the vault at Fort Knox, of course. I also enjoying opening "stuck" locks, when people say that the key doesn't work anymore. Usually the problem is that the lock mechanism is sitting crooked. Instead of just turning the key, you can lift and turn, or push down, to the right or left, and then turn. But it takes sensitivity, you have to feel when the inner mechanism shifts into the right place so the key can be turned. It's a funny thing about locks, there is a higher potential for frustration than even with a vexing puzzle like a Rubik's cube. People don't have much patience for a stuck lock, they tend to just keep turning it in the same direction over and over again, maybe giving it a casual jiggle, but for the most part, brute force seems to be the standard approach...except for those who enjoy opening stuck locks. I don't know why I enjoy opening stuck locks or picking low-security ones. It's not like I'm hoping to find some great treasure; I recently spent a half-hour coaxing open a stuck lock securing an ancient, rusted bicycle. It is the lock itself that I enjoy; maybe it is just my preferred version of a Rubik's cube. Recreational lockpicking is an obscure but thriving practice:

Why lockpicking? The truth is I get so much out of lockpicking. These are some of the skills required for and developed by the simple (and often not so simple) act of picking a lock:

- Analytical skills
- Fine motor skills
- Attention to detail
- Patience

As well, these are some of the things I get out of it:

- A continuously renewing challenge
- A sense of accomplishment
- A skill few others possess
- Continuous learning
- Meeting new, often like-minded, people


From Introduction to Sport Lockpicking (PDF)

Regarding the legality of lockpicking, it's not unlike martial arts or for that matter, computer hacking. The same actions can be illegal in different situations, but it's all a matter of context:

I've often explained to people that it would actually be pretty ineffective to use lockpicking for the purposes of burglary. A burglar is interested in the fastest, most effective and reliable way in. Lockpicking is simply not that. Regardless of your skill as a lockpicker, you simply don't know when you approach a new lock what you will find. You may open the lock in mere seconds. Or, perhaps, it will take you upwards of 30 minutes. For that matter, you may never get it open. It is my belief that no criminal wants to stand outside a home for as much as 30 minutes trying to open a lock when a more destructive but quicker method exists. As sport lockpickers, we are only interested in non-destructive methods of entry.

Also from Introduction to Sport Lockpicking (PDF)

I used to think my fascination with lockpicking was an indication of slightly felonious tendencies. After all, it's most commonly associated with burglarly and B&E. But I've recently discovered that lockpicking is a legitimate and legal hobby, and now I'd like to learn more about it. Here's an interesting online community devoted to the topic: www.lockpicking101.com

So, are there any recreational lock-pickers on this forum? Please don't discuss anything illegal or even questionable! This is strictly for fun. I realize that some of my anecdotal descriptions above do describe illegal breaking and entering. I view this very diffently as an adult than I did as a kid. Nowadays, I would never break into an office to stay warm or amuse myself by breaking into other people's locked trunks. But kids don't have the same perspective on right and wrong. I hope you will view my youthful trespasses as juvenile misconduct rather than felonious intent.