Mastering Lock Picking: Tips for Home and Car Emergencies

  • Thread starter vern8304
  • Start date
In summary, the conversation revolves around the topic of learning how to pick locks as a way to save money on locksmith fees and avoid getting locked out of the house or car. Some suggest buying extra keys or using a "Hide a Key" device, while others argue that picking locks is a more interesting and challenging solution. However, it is also noted that lock picking takes time and practice, and it may be easier to simply use a slim jim to unlock a car. Ultimately, the conversation ends with the reminder that breaking into a car or house is illegal and not worth the risk.
  • #36
Just buy a key chain!

Hello all.
Instead of doing all that stuff just buy a key chain, hang it around your nech with keys on it! :approve: :approve:
 
Engineering news on Phys.org
  • #37
It seems like you are trying to ask people to teach you how to rob somebody's car/house by learning to pick locks. You can arrested for posting this you know. JKJK. I don't know much about this subject anyways. At least i don't lock myself out, no offense!
 
  • #38
Picking locks is something you learn. Not learn like, how to ride a bike learn. Like how to do calculus learn. Its not easy and most of the time its horribly time inefficient. I've spent far too much of my life attempting to learn this skill. Most house locks (read: Kwikset brand or equivilent) suck. Anyone with five hours of practice and a $15 set of picks is going through. But public building locks are a different story. When I lived in the dorms my school had a policy that stated that anytime you had to be let into your dorm room you were charged $25. Well, my roomate left for the weekend while I was in a friends room and I didn't have my keys, however I did happen to have my lockpicks as my friend had asked to see them. Well 45min of jiggling later I got back into my room avoiding either a $25 fee or a weekend on my friends couch. This is the about the most positive outcome you can get out of spending many many hours honing your skills (unless you're planning on burlarizing something, which most times results very bad consequences). Also, don't get caught carrying your lockpicks, its not really cool. When I was going home with a friend once, he was pulled over for speeding and because we're college kids he wanted to search the car. He did, and patted us down. I had my lockpicks on me. He tried to tell me that he could take me in for having them and gave me a hard time about it, but I had read the appropriate laws for my state and knew that unless he could prove intent I was perfectly safe. However, it still wasn't an experience I wanted to repeat. Check your local law.
 
  • #39
If you chronically lock yourself out, just hide another set of keys somewhere where no one would find it. For example, with the car, i just duct taped another set to the back of the car (underneath and behind the rear bumper). Around the house, there should be a dozen good places where you can hide extra keys, you just have to find them.
 
  • #40
Picking locks does take practice, but can be a lot of fun, if you can get the hang of it. Most people don't and give up, but some people just have a knack for it. If you want to learn how, the best way is to see if a friend knows, it's less confusing than many of the net resources. If none of your friends know how, then go to google or another search site and type "lock picking" in. A lot of great sites pop up! Have fun, and don't do anything illegal!
 
  • #41
As for "Picking locks with paperclips", it really can't be done, unless your house or car is REALLY old and has a crummy, cheap lock. But that probably won't happen. If you want to use paperclips to do your lock picking, might as well stick to opening the cheap lock on a sister's diary, because that's about as far as you can get. Unless you bend the paperclips (yes, you'll need more than one) just so, and that takes more practice than actually picking locks!
 
  • #42
I knew a locksmith guy.
He hit the door in a particular place and it opened.
I don't know if it was coincidence though...
 
  • #43
russ_watters said:
I've locked my keyes in my car a number of times. Now I keep an extra key in my wallet: problem solved.

me too.

stash a house key somewhere on the property where no one will find it.

The best thing to do is prevent yourself from locking you keys in your car/house
 

Similar threads

  • Mechanical Engineering
Replies
3
Views
1K
Replies
6
Views
4K
  • Electrical Engineering
Replies
20
Views
577
Replies
3
Views
2K
Replies
4
Views
146
  • Electrical Engineering
Replies
3
Views
1K
Replies
5
Views
1K
  • Set Theory, Logic, Probability, Statistics
7
Replies
212
Views
11K
Replies
17
Views
1K
Replies
9
Views
977
Back
Top