Hey everyone! Today I'm going to talk to you about locksport!
What's locksport?
Well simply put it's lock picking for fun and education.
Now a lot of people get kind of freaked out "Oh My God you're learning crime!"
But it's absolutely not like that.
In the real world nearly all burglary uses destructive-entry
like a hammer or a crowbar
or bypass techniques- sliding a thin piece of plastic next to the door to move the bolt.
One of my favorite channels- the Lock Picking Lawyer
focuses on all the different ways that locks can be opened- destructive and non-destructive.
But most of the time in locksport we focus on non-destructive entry.
Treating locks like fun little puzzles to be solved with small tools.
When lockport enthusiasts figure out what works best
manufactures make better locks to keep the real bad guys out.
This same principle of "penetration testing"
of good people trying the techniques the bad ones employ, is also used in software.
Many of the same principles that are used in physical locks, are also used in how we secure our data.
For instance, A lock with more pins is more secure
just like how a password with more characters is more secure.
But just because you have a very complex password or key
if is part of a weak system- that complexity does not need to be solved.
You can just go around it.
Locksport is an effective and fun introduction to basic information security concepts.
For me, I also have very, very poor manual dexterity and spatial skills.
I did not grow up playing with Legos or anything
so while I do a lot of DIY, I'm not actually that good with my hands
and I've found that lockport really does a lot to help improve that.
Before we get started there are a few rules that go with lock picking.
Rule 1: Never pick a lock that you don’t own or do not have permission to pick.
Rule 2: Do not pick locks that you rely on or that are in use.
Rule 3: Don't break any local laws.
Now to start with you should understand I'm actually pretty terrible at picking locks.
But it doesn't matter since I just do it for fun
and so long as I get a tiny bit better than I was last time I'm happy.
I only compete against myself.
But compared to all the real lock picking people on YouTube
my skills are a bit of a joke
so I wont go too far trying to teach technique, I'm just giving you a beginners perspective.
So today we are going to start from the very basics.
A small beginners kit from Gearbest, it costs about $11.
Now they call this clear plastic padlock a practice lock- it's not.
It's just a visual aid. This is so you see and understand how the lock works.
Lock picking is about touch
once you know how the lock works you have to do everything by feel.
So you need to practice by feel as soon as you can or you learn bad habits.
Also these locks are made of acrylic which quickly gets destroyed by the picking process.
Also the tolerances are not very good so they are too easy to pick and give bad habits.
But when you first buy it- yes, pick your transparent lock a few times
so you understand what the process is and how the lock picks work.
Here, watch.
Okay. Now I'm going to use a hook pick.
I'll apply medium tension, move the first pin up to the sheer line.
See how they moves too easily.
But as I said, this is meaningless as practice
it's just to get a picture in your mind that you fingers can follow later.
So how to practice properly? Just go out and buy some locks and get to work?
Probably not.
Fortunately they sell practice locks where you can set the number of pins, starting with 1, and going up to 7.
Then you can add more complicated types of pins like mushrooms spools and serrated pins
but we won't get into that today.
There's a technique called raking- that's when you quickly move the pick over the pins.
It's kind of like breaking a password by throwing a bunch of random numbers at it really fast.
The rake bounces the pins around and a lot of the time they bounce into just the right place and the lock opens.
It's a good way to initially try to open a lock but it's really hard on practice locks and I don't want to wear mine out.
Raking is of course a skill you'll need to learn though, I just like to focus on Single Pin Picking most of the time.
Here are two practice locks.
The Ultimate Adversary Practice Lock
and the EZ Rekey practice lock.
Here let me show you.
Cool right? Haha not really, if I slide it open you'll see there are only two pins in there.
This is actually really fun for parties because you can pass the lock around
and almost anybody can open it and get a feel for things.
You can pass it around, and if everyone can do two pins you add a third.
It's a good way to get people interested in security and DIY who might otherwise not care.
But what if you can't get your hands on a practice lock or they are too expensive?
Well you can save a bit by making your own, here's how.
If you don't want to buy a practice lock
you can actually make them for yourself.
You can buy cheap locks like this.
Just make sure there's a sliding thing on the top
so that you can dump out the pins and go for them and maybe change it to different orders.
I already have one pins in this one.
I'm going to dumb out the pins in this one and make sure there's only two pins in here.
Now I am going to put this lock in the vice.
Then I'm going to put my thumb on the top.
This video is sponsored by Creality 3D, makers of the Ender-3, 3D printer.
Check the description box for more info.
So what about, you know *real* lockpicking?
Well, what I do is I focus on cheap wafer locks like this.
These kinds of locks are used to secure file cabinets, desk drawers and small lock boxes.
Being able to open those quickly without damaging them
is something you can learn to do consistently in a few hours
and if you ever really need your lockpicking skills in the real world
those are probably the sort of locks that will be most useful opened.
That's it for today.
If you check the description box
I have links to the Gearbest lock pick set and all the products I talked about today.
If you're interested in locksport and security and would like another video
please let me know in the comments section.
Please subscribe and remember- if I can do it, anyone can do it!