[masraum]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

It is a bit of knowledge that seems to have a level of secret society secret handshake mystique about it. Knowing TV and Hollywood I feel certain that 99.99% of lock-picking as shown is as accurate as guns and especially silencers. And every single knife just waved around does not make the schwing noise, and guns don't usually rattle just waving them around.

You'd be surprised, I think it is about like they usually show it on TV (although I think most folks unless they've had lots of practice would be slower than some of the folks on TV that do it in a few secs).

Originally Posted by dad911

I don't think anyone really picks locks anymore.

If I need a keyed lock opened, 1/4" drill bit in a cordless drill takes seconds.

Once a bank left a lockbox on a property we bought. Rather than toss it, I challenged my son to open it and change it to our combo. Took him a few minutes, with the help of a YouTube video.

Locks are to keep honest people honest.

Yeah, I doubt that any/many thieves or even most locksmiths use it these days. I'd assume that most of the time, there are much, much faster destructive ways and even some that aren't destructive (bump key) to get the job done, and speed is the name of the game.

Originally Posted by Jolly Amaranto

I learned to pic simple locks back in high school. I had a set of picks that I had fabricated myself. I was quite popular in the science labs when kids forgot the keys to their assigned drawers. I would discreetly open them for the forgetful students. Then the biology teacher caught me and confiscated my picks. "Let them suffer the consequences." He gave them back to me when I graduated but I had already made some more.
Now I guess I am more of a lock smith. I have quite a collection of hardware that I use to re-key locks for friends just for fun. There are some pretty sophisticated locks out there now but there is always someone determined to defeat them and they usually do.

Yeah, it's pretty amazing what people manage. Kudos to your teacher for returning them when you graduated. Most teachers are not that on the ball.

Originally Posted by id10t

Yup, learned how from a "real" locksmith. Have taught someone in Europe how to do it to unlock the glove box of their new-to-them 356 via email conversation.

Have used the skill to get a bar tab paid by a vendor sales rep on a bet too

Cool.