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Dizzy from those stall-fumes
after being locked in the men's room at the Texaco for three
hours? Pissed off at your boss for taking away your
'cabinet-privileges'? Or are you just frustrated from trying to
slip your girlfriend out of her chastity belt by using a variety
of lubricants?
Well your days of nausea,
cubical shoot-outs, and virginity are gone!
All you'll need to pick those damn locks keeping you from your
desired goals and destinations are two simple tools: a torque
wrench, and a pick. If you don't happen to be San Francisco's
Escape-man, or the ghost of Houdini, you probably don't own these
tools. But they're quite simple to construct. Here's a list of
stuff you can make your own tools out of.
Picks-
Filed down bicycle spoke (up
yours kid next door)
Reinforced paperclips (it's basically two paper clips unraveled
and stuck/melted together)
Long safety-pin (about 1.25- 1.50 inches long should work)
A run-of-the-mill sliver of metal.
The Hobo-Pick (My fav.)- A fork with 1 filed down tine on it.
*When filing a spoke or a tine make sure the width of the pick is
about the width of 3 baseball cards, or 4 playing cards, stacked
on top of one another. And make sure the pick is as smooth as you
can make it.
Torque Wrenches-
The metal pocket-clip from a
pen (make sure the top of it is bent at about a 90-45 degree
angle)
A bent flat-head screwdriver.
*Just because you're not Charles Atlas doesn't mean you can't
bend a screwdriver. Don't heat it up or anything- that's bad for
the metal- just whack it (heh heh, 'whack it') with a hammer a
few times (the bend of the screwdriver should be somewhere about
90-45 degrees.)
Now that you know what you tools you need, you will have to know
how to use them. To better understand how to use your tools, you
must first understand how a lock works.
That small metallic cylinder
inside of your doorknob is called the plug, which is where you
plug a key. Those little jags inside of the plug on either wall
are called wards; they keep you from jamming the wrong key into
the plug. That big metal dealy around the plug is a called the
hull. When the proper key is put in, the plug can rotate inside
of the hull. The space between the plug and the hull is called
the sheer-line. The only thing keeping the plug from being able
to spin are the pins inside of it. There are usually 7 pins in a
lock. Each pin has two sections, a top (the driver) located in
the hull with a spring pushing it down, and a bottom (the key
pin) located in the plug. There is a break between these to
pieces of the pin. When the proper key is put into a lock it
pushes the pins up so that the tops of the key pins are level
with the top of the plug, and the driver is level with the bottom
of the hull. Thus there is now space for the plug to turn without
a driver pin in the way.
To make things simpler for you, I'll just (try to) explain the
fastest and easiest way to pick a lock. It's called scrubbing.
1. Carefully slide your pick into the plug. Dodge those accursed
wards and push the pins up.
2. Insert your torque wrench and turn it to simulate the turning
of a key.
3. 'Scrub' your pick back and forth out across the pins- you
should be able to feel them- and keep applying torque with your
wrench.
4. About 1 or 2 of pins will now have set (fallen into it's
place) Depending on which way you turn your wrench the pins will
set from front to back, or back to front (working back to front
is preferred among most professionals)
5. Continue scrubbing the pins and applying torque until each pin
set. When this happens the plug can be turned, and of course the
lock can be opened.
The basic concept in scrubbing is to find the correct amount of
torque needed to set the pins. Once a pin has been set the key
pin will fall back down, but the driver will stay above the
sheer-line because it will catch on the edge of the plug (if
you're turning it with the torque wrench)
To make sure a pin is set, press up against the key pin. If
there's a little pressure it's not set. But if it rises up and
falls back down without any resistance it's set.
Misc. Tips
~ Filing down the fingers-tips you use to hold your pick will
make them more sensitive, you'll be able to feel the pins better.
~ If you're the Hero/Villain type of person try carrying your
tools in your mouth. It'll give that Secret-Agent finesse. That's
how a true escapist/lock-picker carries them.
~ If you're having trouble sliding your pick in into the plug all
the way, try using some lubricant. If you're an oldskool
escapist, or are just posing as one, I suggest using snot.
~ Always relax when picking a lock. Be alert not tense.
~ Think of what you're escaping to, not what you're escaping
from.
That's basic lock picking. Now that you know how; don't. And
remember: if someone gets up in your face about scrubbing, you
tell them "Yo, I'm pickin'!"