
The MIT Lockpicking Guide - AndyBaker
http://www.blurofinsanity.com/mit/lockpick.html
======
Stratoscope
If anyone is wondering, everywhere the guide mentions "sheer force" and "sheer
line", that should be "shear force" and "shear line". It's like "wind shear".

"Sheer" doesn't even make any sense in this context: "sheer force" would be
twisting the tumbler so hard you break all the pins, and that would not
exactly be considered "lock picking"!

What's interesting to me is how pervasive this misspelling has become. A
Google search for "lock picking sheer force" finds 17,500,000 matches, but
"lock picking shear force" finds only 205,000. I wonder if all these
misspellings originated from this MIT guide, or if there was something else
before that?

~~~
devindotcom
Rest assured, soon there will be only one word, with multiple, conflicting
meanings - same as the last hundred or so conflicts. That's living language
for you!

~~~
mitosis
Eye no.

------
fabulist
On a legal note;

IANAL, but I did a little research before getting started in lock picking a
while back. iirc, there are no federal laws against having picks. However,
states often have laws against "possession of burglary tools". In my
jurisdiction, if they can establish intent to burglarize -- ie, you're also
carrying an empty duffel bag, a crowbar, and a map with the bank circled on it
-- its a class II felony.

I repeat; I am not a lawyer.

~~~
joshuak
Then you should just build them into your business card.

[https://www.flickr.com/photos/ranh/106709219/](https://www.flickr.com/photos/ranh/106709219/)

~~~
fabulist
I like how the torsion wrench works, thats clever.

I used to carry a similar card. It was a fake credit card that opened up, and
had a small set of picks inside. I kept it in my wallet in case I was ever
locked out.

------
sampo
Why does most of the world continue to use the pin tumbler locks, when the
disc tumbler lock (invented in 1907) is almost impossible to pick?

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pin_tumbler_lock](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pin_tumbler_lock)

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disc_tumbler_lock](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disc_tumbler_lock)

~~~
a1a
Burglars in general do not read MIT guides. Even if some might, security is
still a weakest link problem. The easiest way into a house is by window, the
letterbox, etc, speaking of locks in general it's easiest just to use a bolt
cutter.

~~~
at-fates-hands
>>> speaking of locks in general it's easiest just to use a bolt cutter.

Which is why I never understood the Master Lock commercials where they shoot a
bullet into the body of one of their padlocks showing how tough it is.

~~~
jjoonathan
No, I think you understand the commercial just fine.

------
hf
I believe one of the more famous Richards were mentioned in this everlasting
classic:

Richard P Feynman, who, on having picked a certain lock, complained that
"[t]he trouble with playing a trick on a highly intelligent man like Mr.
Teller[0] is that the time it takes him to figure out from the moment that he
sees there is something wrong till he understands exactly what happened is too
damn small to give you any pleasure!"

The volume »Surley, You're Joking Mr Feynman!«[1] contains many, at times only
seemingly so, light-hearted reminiscences in similar spirit.

[0] Edward Teller (1908, Budapest – 2003), a Hungarian-US nuclear physicist
known colloquially as "the father of the hydrogen bomb"; see
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Teller](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Teller)

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surely_You%27re_Joking,_Mr._Fe...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surely_You%27re_Joking,_Mr._Feynman)!

~~~
wikwocket
Here's another Feynman lockpicking anecdote: a video about his exploits
cracking peoples' safes at Los Alamos during the Manhattan Project:
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Waw11zhaKSk](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Waw11zhaKSk)

------
ryannevius
A really invaluable skill. Picking locks has saved me on multiple occasions,
to get into my own property. It has also made me rethink the way I secure my
valuable goods. If only for this second reason, I think basic picking skills
should be learned by everyone.

~~~
webjprgm
I've had to pick a lock twice, once on a closet in my (work place) office and
once on my sister's basement door. Both times I used paperclips for pick and
torsion wrench. Very handy to not have to tear apart the entire door.

I have not been able to pick front door locks the same way. Probably need real
tools for that. Plus some locks have wards in the way which are harder to deal
with when using a fat paperclip.

------
edem
There is a guy on youtube called bosnianbill, his channel:
[https://www.youtube.com/user/bosnianbill](https://www.youtube.com/user/bosnianbill)
is full of useful information.

You can also find Mike Gibson's "Lock Picking: Detail Overkill" which is a
great book for starters!

~~~
harywilke
thank you for that. I've seen the MIT guide bouncing around the internet since
forever, but never fully digested. the narrators comments are helpful to
understand just what he is doing and what the locks are made like. i recommend
any of the 'Gutted' versions.

------
ColinWright
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3008447](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3008447)

------
bob_george33
[http://www.lysator.liu.se/mit-
guide/MITLockGuide.pdf](http://www.lysator.liu.se/mit-guide/MITLockGuide.pdf)

PDF Version for anyone interested.

------
mx12
After I saw this guide a while ago, I got really interested in lock picking
and ended up buy a kit. There a decent subreddit and it's a good resource to
get started. I purchased the kit they recommend PXS-14, and it works great. I
remember I picked my first lock in about 5 minutes and then spend another hour
trying to do it again. It takes a while to feel right and become consistent.

Subreddit:

[http://www.reddit.com/r/lockpicking](http://www.reddit.com/r/lockpicking)

Plus there getting starting guide:

[http://www.reddit.com/r/lockpicking/comments/bzq80/where_do_...](http://www.reddit.com/r/lockpicking/comments/bzq80/where_do_you_start_start_here/)

PXS-14 Kit:

[http://www.lockpickshop.com/PXS-14.html](http://www.lockpickshop.com/PXS-14.html)

~~~
mimiflynn
Peterson sells some good kits for beginners and they are a bit more
comfortable to use than the Southord ones mentioned above:

[http://www.thinkpeterson.com/picksets.html#LESS%20EXPENSIVE%...](http://www.thinkpeterson.com/picksets.html#LESS%20EXPENSIVE%20Pick%20Sets)

Of course, its up to personal preference, they are both great brands.

------
delinka
The goal of your [physical?] security shouldn't be to be uncrackable, but to
delay the would-be criminal long enough to be detected and, hopefully,
apprehended. "Yes, the lock can be picked in a week, but by then, your
employees should have returned to the office and noticed the burglar picking
away at it."

It's easier to just walk into the open bank, masked, and make demands. And
there's still a chance to get away with it. A chance, however slim.

------
arca_vorago
I remember reading this as a teenager and buying my first keychain lockpick
set. One of my favorite sayings is that, "In order for a locksmith to fix a
lock, he must first understand it's inner workings. Just like a locksmith,
before we can understand X, we must understand how it works first."

I fell out of practice, but whenever I cruise by a hacker space with a
lockpick area I will try and take the time to test my abilities. These days
lock technology makes some locks very difficult (double-mushroom pins, etc),
so I usually can only do the medium difficulty locks.

I had amassed a huge collection of lock/key templates and even some stuff
about safecracking, but unfortunately had a hdd crash and lost most of it.

The bottom line with lockpicking, like other things, is that nothing beats
practice.

------
darksim905
I still don't see why this was "renamed" or why it's being posted at other
sites -- was it originally taken down from MIT or moved or not maintained or
what?

~~~
vacri
At a guess, "MIT Lockpicking Guide" implies a guide to picking locks at MIT,
but "MIT Guide to Lockpicking" implies a general guide supplied by MIT.

------
chrmaury
Does anyone know of a link to download this resource? I'm not confident that
it will remain active, especially after all of this attention.

~~~
jamiis
If you are on a *nix machine you can run:

wget -rkp -l3 -np -nH --cut-dirs=1
[http://www.blurofinsanity.com/mit/lockpick.html](http://www.blurofinsanity.com/mit/lockpick.html)

If on mac os you'll need to brew install wget or follow this tutorial to use
curl [http://psung.blogspot.com/2008/06/using-wget-or-curl-to-
down...](http://psung.blogspot.com/2008/06/using-wget-or-curl-to-download-
web.html)

After you've downloaded the website you can run a simple server in a terminal
by navigating to where you downloaded the website and running

python -m SimpleHTTPServer

Then navigate to
[http://0.0.0.0:8000/lockpicking.html](http://0.0.0.0:8000/lockpicking.html)
in your web browser.

LPT: I do this with coding tutorial sites before getting on planes so I don't
waste money buying internet and time browsing other content.

------
INTPenis
Funny thing but my only real life experience of lock picking and none of those
techniques were used. It was a combination lock with 4 wheels and it was easy
to figure out the combination with a little piece of plastic wedged between
each wheel and the lock face.

------
chrisBob
Are there any successful, self-taught lockpickers here? I have tried to learn
a few times, and I think I understand the theory, but it is hard to put into
practice. Every time I need to open a lock I don't have a key for, I still
grab a drill.

~~~
webjprgm
I am self-taught (Google) and have had success only with inside doors where
the locks are cheaper. I've also just used paper clips which could explain my
problem with front door locks. It also still takes me 10 min+. (And I've only
done it twice.)

------
jonalmeida
I remember there being a neat 3D gif floating around Google+ that showed how
to pick a lock in a few (frames per?) seconds.

~~~
darksim905
Look up Schuyler Towne & any of his animations. Also, I believe
[http://www.theamazingking.com/](http://www.theamazingking.com/) has a
lockpicking game on his site, but it is a little dated

~~~
craigwblake
Schuyler has an entire instructional series on lock picking on YouTube that's
very good. He introduces the concepts and terms, uses cutaways to illustrate
the mechanisms and walks through basic beginner techniques for common locks.
Highly recommended.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVSL0liiWoc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVSL0liiWoc)

------
barking
For a while tv shows commonly had people getting in using a credit card to
push back the bolt.

You don't see it anymore though

~~~
emhart
Deadlatches have existed for a very long time, to prevent that problem. Next
time you are looking at a door with a latch instead of, or in addition to a
bolt, look "behind" the main latch and you should see a small, separate bit
protruding. Press that bit in, and then try to push the latch back. The latch
shouldn't budge. That's a dead latch.

Found a good picture, here:
[http://www.gaterslocksmith.com/images/deadbolts/Deadlatch-
bu...](http://www.gaterslocksmith.com/images/deadbolts/Deadlatch-button-
pictures-007_new.jpg)

Unfortunately, while they have been on the market for a very very long time,
not everyone uses them, and many that do use them don't use the proper strike
plate for their door, or just allow them to go into misalignment. So, the
deadlatch doesn't actually get pushed back when the door is closed, and the
latch can be carded as though it weren't even there.

~~~
barking
Thanks for explaining that and for the link

------
tlow
This looks instructive, is it a legal copy and if so is there a downloadable
version?

------
ngcat
We all know the story, the Book Hackers by Steven Levy tells it all.

