Criminal Intent?

[occulum]

Hey im new to lockpicking, and am seeking to persue it as a hobby. First of all, i live in New Orleans, La. I'm afraid to carry a tension wrench . You know just in case i get locked out of my house or something. My mom said it's not illegal, she is a paralegal. But, you know i have a clean record, and want to keep it clean.

Also... street sweeper bristles..
in N.O. the streets get sweeped every morning becuase of all the drunk idiots around burbon st., ive cruised around the city, and even followed one of the truck things, but i have yet to find any bristles... i mean...these things fall off often right?

[Chucklz]

Bristle hunting is usually best near turns with curbs. However, your sweepers may use plastic bristles, which are worthless for picks.

[Eyes_Only]

Picks shouldn't be illegal in your state as far as I understand but it is a general agreement among most of us that carrying them is a bad idea unless you have a very good reason (and there isn't too many of them). As long as you keep it at home and don't pick locks in the wild when you don't have the owners permission and presence with you, you should be ok.

[occulum]

Chucklz: im pretty sure they are metal(steel?)

Eyes_only: yeah i shouldnt carry around picks, but it wouldnt hurt to carry two hairpins or paperclips that i might be able to ghetto into a makeshift pick if something comes up?
"don't pick locks you rely on." yeah i know, but if you get locked out? might as well have some fun right?

oh and thanks for the suggestion to look near curbs, ill check it out tomorrow

[Nasydave]

I'm afraid to carry a tension wrench .

Walgreens carrys a line of tweezers that make good emergency Tension wrenches (and look like tweezers). THey're brass or something, but the tips are square, and thin enough to fit most locks. When you need them, simply pull the two pieces apart.

Look for the gold ones at any walgreens. $4.95, IIRC.

[Eyes_Only]

Yeah, whenever you get the chance during your regular stops to the drug store or whatever, keep an eye out for items that might be right for makeshift pick tools for emergency use. Everytime I go to Home Depot or even Sears my eyes are darting around for things that might fit such needs.

[bumber]

also if you can carry a poket knife in your state get a swiis army, and use the twiser for tension and make a pick out of one of the things it has.

[Eyes_Only]

Can you maybe fasten one of the SO jackknife picks into the swiss army knife perhaps?

[Mutzy]

or just but the SO jackknife... Pass it off as a random keyring

[Jaakko]

"don't pick locks you rely on." yeah i know, but if you get locked out?

In that case you call a locksmith. Really, you have a good chance in ruing your lock so that it won't function as it used to be functioning. As already suggested, I wouldn't carry picks with me unless I'm going to a meeting

[UWSDWF]

was there a question?

[Charodei]

I (personally) interpret that rule as: Never practice on locks you rely on. Pick them if necessary and you really know what you're doing/as good as the locksmith. I don't met those criteria for much more than a wafer lock yet, so I won't be considering it for a while.

[occulum]

yeah im not too worried about breaking my kwikset deadbolt, if someone wanted to get into my house, they are going to find a way in one way or another, in my mind locks are meant to keep honest people honest

just thought of an idea, this has probably been done before, but i think it would be pretty cool:
what if you got one of those pens that have 3-4 tips, where you twist them to change between colors, or functions,imagine there not being pens in there, but small picks, it would take some messing with but im sure someone could work it out

[CVScam]

I have successfully taken a basic lockpick set into my local courthouse, emergency room, and this afternoon I went into the downtown federal building. I just put my picks into the plastic bin and each time the security guards/police at the metal detector checkpoint just asked me what was in the leather case I said my lockpicks. I just explained I use them at the car lot where I work. The funny part is I had to check a pocket knife at the courthouse but they let me keep my picks.

[Charodei]

Interesting idea. The pens only move about a centimeter, though, and you'll want the pick to extend four or five centimeters. I don't think the pen could be modified to do this, but a similar mechanism could be devised. Store the picks parallel, rather than in a circle, to make it more compact. Unfortunately, this is starting to sound like the switchblade picks – there won't be much feedback. It would be a novelty - a concealed set of picks that work on simple locks, but rarely anything more secure. Adequate for an office that uses Kwiksets and wafer locks, perhaps.

Picks are (apparently) less dangerous than knives. I'll give good odds on being allowed to take them on a plane in the US. TSA rules don't specifically mention them, and "tools" up to seven inches long are permitted.