Has anyone heard of this trick for combo locks?

[amc31b]

An associate of mine told me of cool way to open dial type combo locks. You take about 12 inches of rubber tubing or very thick, strait rubber band material, or any flexible material that you can use to wrap around the dial and keep on the dial. You then wrap the material around the dial of the lock using a coiling method. leave an equal amount of material on each side of dial(about 4 inches) and rapidly pull the material wrapped around dial in each direction a few rotations back and forth(while pulling on the bolt) and the lock will open. another assoiciate of mine tried it and said not only the the lock open, the lock then fell apart.
i cant seem to find any rubber material that will wrap tightlly around the dial to try this yet. but i was wondering if anyone knows this trick or even if it is real. also if some fellow picker on this site does know this trick, what type of material is best? i already tried rubber tubing from a fish tank air system and i cant find a rubber band thick enough and strong enough to hold up for this trick.... LET me know what you fellow pickers think.
HAVE GOOD PICKINGS

[freakshow]

Yeah, I've done it with dental floss once or twice. Only works for old locks for me though. Could be wrong of course.

[ThE_MasteR]

What kind of dial locks are you guys talking about ? Like these ? http://www.travel-accessories-products. ... %20pix.jpg

[freakshow]

No, i've done it on an old dudley combo lock, like the ones they use at high schools.

[ThE_MasteR]

No, i've done it on an old dudley combo lock, like the ones they use at high schools.

I don't really understand how amc explained it, you think you can explain it better ?

[freakshow]

Yeah sure... You basically take some twine, and wrap it around the dial, right, and then you leave a few inches on each end, and then just kind of whip each end really fast, tugging them each. So you have this twine wrapped aroung the metal dial (The protrusion that you spin with your fingers to enter the combination) with two ends, and the pull the two strings, and it messes it up... It's only workable on a few locks... I'll try to make a picture when I get a combo lock.[/code]

[devildog]

*ahem* May I make a suggestion for an experiement?

I'm guessing that the effectiveness of this technique has more to do with the spinning of the dial at higher-than-it-was-designed-for RPMs, so perhaps someone would like to clamp or somehow attach the dials of some Dudley, Master, etc. combo locks to a good rotary pick and then kick that sucker up as fast as it can go and see what happens? Then you could post results for each brand, and if it resulted in any type of failure for that brand then how long did it take to get there? Did it result in the lock opening or allow opening of what it secured (was it compromised, IOW)? What specific type of failure was it--obviously forced, covert, surreptitious, etc.? Were the results such that the lock was unusable afterwards, or could it be fixed/reassembled so that no one would notice later? What type of drill? RPM speed if you know it?

Please be sure to include Master combos, as those are the predominant favorite for a combo lock these days, and are practically ubiquitous on highschool lockers throughout the country (it's a good thing I didn't know how shimmable they were back when I was in HS I would've done baaaadd things (pranks, not theft, that is )

I dunno, just sounded like a fun experiement, and I have read about a technique that safecrackers of yore would use where they do the same thing with a high speed drill and the safe dial that would wear down the components and either cause the lock to fail or accentuate the positions of the gates, thereby making the lock much easier to manipulate and thereby allowing the whole process to go much faster. This is why Group 2 locks have to be rated at...800 RPM for 1 hour, I believe it is (just read about that in LSS the other day).

[freakshow]

Hmm, well I just bought a lock, from a dollar store, and it won't even do it... It sucks so bad, not only did it take me 10 minutes to figure out how to close it, but the dial won't turn easily until i enter the first number. I think its made of plastic, so... Whoops

[hzatorsk]

...Ah... another subject comes up around here once every blue moon.

Yes... it sometimes works. Most will say sheer luck on a very cheap lock with sloppy tolerances and no false gates.

If you feel give in the shackle under tension while turning the dial and notice that the dial sort of 'siezes up' once or twice around the dial, chances are you have such a cheap lock in which this may work.

Very old Master locks (30 year old silver dial variety), some Slaymakers and a few of those off brand stamped case combo padlocks are good candidates.

On the other hand... If you have a lock this cheap... it likely could have been opened even faster by manually working the few gates it shows under tension.


z

[redlobster]

Hey,

I joined this site to find out how to get a combo lock off my bike its wrapped around the frame. Could you describe the trick to um say a beginner? Or if you know any other ways to get the lock off it would be helpful.

Red

[serrurier]

First you can do a search on this site and you will find a wealth of info but if you own this lock and want to get rid of it......ever thought of bolt cutters? Otherwise spend the time to search for info and start practicing because you won't learn it that easily.

take care

[redlobster]

No i havnt heard of them, yes it is my lock and if it has to be destroyed fine. But im a teenager and my parents wont let me spend any money on something to get it off. So if possible id like to do it with stuff at home. Thanks i will search the site should i just search Combo locks?


Red

[Pickermeapie]

That search string will probably work.

By the way, in all honestly let your parents know what happened. I am sure they will offer some solution to your problem. Bolt cutters, angle grinder, thermite
-pickermeapie

[redlobster]

My dad just laughed at my stupidity, and my mom says thats not important now and finds something i should do :(. I did search though found something on shimming but i dont get the concept of "shim".


red

[SFGOON]

It's a dance move