Geting my desk open...

[Generally_Nice]

I'll take a look, thanks for that. It doesn't look too hard, the key is (or was) pretty tiny so it can't have many pins.

And yes, good point, it was his deputy so I'd better clear it up with the big man. The head of security is also interested as well, apparently he's got up far to often at 3AM to let students back inside... I smell something good here... but yes, thanks for your advice, you seem like you've had a similar experience

forget the pick set. get a set of jiggler keys for wafer locks. Or borrow someone else's desk key and jiggle it in your desk while raking the key in and out and also trying to turn it at the same time.

Also, just to reiterate what others have said, you said you need help with YOUR desk, and as you already gathered from other replies, it is not really your desk. Just because it is in the room you were assigned to stay in, and given a key to, doesn't mean it is yours to mess with, pick, take apart, reverse engineer, break, etc. We tell other university students this exact same stuff all the time, same goes for people who rent a house or apartment, just because you were given keys to the locks, doesn't mean the land lord also gave you an implied OK to be picking them or taking them apart for fun or during an emergency.

I hope you can appreciate where we are coming from and how we interpret every day situations when it comes to locks and keys and the meaning of "my door, my desk, my padlock, etc"

Best of luck,
Squelchtone

Thank you, yes, I see what you mean and it didn't really cross my mind, 'possession' is completely different in legal terms. I'm collecting my own stuff for practice, for starters I wouldn't want to break anything and have to pay for replacements. And I'll try what you suggested, I can see the logic there Thanks, and look forward to conversing again sometime.

Not so much experience in that but when I worked in the barracks in the navy the temporary people working the front counter would let all sorts of stuff fly that they shouldn't have. Then when the officer in charge came in and found out we would all get yelled at. It's a matter of the guys in charge get held accountable for things the subordinates let go but not much happens to the subordinates. The picking locks you own or have permission to pick means asking the person who you ultimately have to answer to if the lock is picked. If you rent you ask the landlord. At a college ask the people in charge of buildings. If they are just going to have the lock drilled or trashed in some other way they may tell you to give it a shot. But if they have a regular locksmith who opens them without destroying the lock in the process they may have you hold off.

Ah yes, similar experiences, chain of command is annoying but necessary... I know it's much worse in the US than the UK, we used to be given considerable slack when I look back at it compared to what I hear from US service persons. Thanks again for all your advice, this is stuff that never really crossed my mind at all. And I like your site, we share some interests

[TriannaX]

Others have already stated why to not pick the lock, but here is some lock advice from someone who has worked in university housing.

They have a spare key somewhere, otherwise you would not have gotten a key (they have to keep a key in order to access the property since they own it). They either have a full time university-employed lock smith, or they have one on a contract such that they will be able to come help you next-day. You may have to pay a small lock change fee, but since they have a contract with the locksmith, you shouldn't have to pay the full fee.

If for some strange reason none of the above holds true, ask to speak with someone higher up in the housing department (Area director or such) and present your issues.

While you're using this as a learning opportunity, go to the local hardware store and pick up a wafer lock and learn to pick it. You should be able to remove and re-add wafers to learn progressively.