can you lock pick a door using a paper clip?

[jimb]

yes you can, but will be very dificult, and will teach you bad picking tecniques.

I have never tried picking with anything but a pick and I have a hard time imagining how this would teach you bad technique. Can someone explain how this would teach bad technique?

Everyone on this site has their own goals. Some prefer to make their own tools while others have no desire to do this. Some only want to pick locks. I prefer to open a lock buy using the quickest non-destructive way I can. That could be by bypassing, rapping, bumping, shimming, picking or even the old credit card trick.

Others may just want to be able to do it with improvised tools just to be able to do so; some may not even want real picks.

Rather than saying paper clips will teach you bad technique I'm going to go out on a limb and say, paper clips will teach you another technique, unless someone explains this "bad technique".

[Deathadder]

Yeah, that pretty much sums it up

[jimb]

The problem is that they're inherently inadequate as functioning tools, as well as learning tools. You wouldn't teach someone to play billiards using a baseball bat or a broken-off branch, because not only would it be difficult, it would teach them poor fundamental skills. They would wind up with a skewed idea of what is required to play the game properly.

Not exactly, this is something I have a lot of knowledge about. I'm an avid billiard player. Several years ago I wrote a dozen or so articles that ran in regional billiard magazines and was invited by a board member of The Billiard Congress of America to become a BCA Certified Instructor.

With a baseball bat I could teach someone the proper technique of the game. Will they play good? Probably not but they would have the proper technique even though they would be lacking what would be considered proper tools. I know a player that plays with a broom handle and pretty darn good too. He took the handle to a local cue maker and had him put a joint in it so he could break it down and put it in his case. I guess you could say this was one of his goals.

[conker]

in the book "Improvised Lockpicking" by Stephen Hampton, he explains how simple tools such as paperclips, and safety pins. It is interesting how locks can be defeated with such simple materials. I can send a pdf if anyone want it.

[pradselost]

The problem is that they're inherently inadequate as functioning tools, as well as learning tools. You wouldn't teach someone to play billiards using a baseball bat or a broken-off branch, because not only would it be difficult, it would teach them poor fundamental skills. They would wind up with a skewed idea of what is required to play the game properly.

Not exactly, this is something I have a lot of knowledge about. I'm an avid billiard player. Several years ago I wrote a dozen or so articles that ran in regional billiard magazines and was invited by a board member of The Billiard Congress of America to become a BCA Certified Instructor.

With a baseball bat I could teach someone the proper technique of the game. Will they play good? Probably not but they would have the proper technique even though they would be lacking what would be considered proper tools. I know a player that plays with a broom handle and pretty darn good too. He took the handle to a local cue maker and had him put a joint in it so he could break it down and put it in his case. I guess you could say this was one of his goals.

Oh god of all the people to dissect my billiards metaphor I get the guy who writes for billiard magazines and has connections in the BCA! =D That's my luck. =D As far as bad technique goes, maybe I'm using the wrong terminology. You can still learn some technique from a paperclip. The basic function of picking a lock remains...it's a pin tumbler mechanism, you push up pins, right? You could use a hairpin or such with equal results. Personally though, whenever I've used paperclips I have a difficult time gaining proper feedback through the paperclip. They're very pointy on the end, so you can't get a full feel for the pin...also they dont transmit feeling as well as a normal pick would. So when you learn with them, it's a bit trickier to establish how to feel inside a lock, or at least that's how I see it. Also graduating past paperclips is very quick, eventually a persons' skill will be such that the paperclip will hold you back, and they won't really progress further in their learning without a proper set of tools.

Of course, getting a pickset is the best thing to do, for sure. But as was said earlier in this thread, if they're unavailable and you can't make your own, hey, you use the best materials available. For people who lack access to a proper set of materials and don't want it shipped, there's always windshield wiper blade inserts and a file, so they're not too hard to come by, for people who feel the effort is warranted. =)

[LockNewbie21]

I can't belive this thread is so big! I found paper clips ingenious for holding paper together, realy nothing beats them. Thats as far as i ever took them


andy

[jimb]

Oh god of all the people to dissect my billiards metaphor...

You can still learn some technique from a paperclip. The basic function of picking a lock remains...it's a pin tumbler mechanism, you push up pins, right? You could use a hairpin or such with equal results. Personally though, whenever I've used paperclips I have a difficult time gaining proper feedback through the paperclip.

Sorry about dissecting your billiards metaphor, your posts are actually pretty open mined. I'm not trying to argue about the subject, I'm just trying to understand. Every time picking with paper clips comes up I read about this "bad technique".

I think Sams Choice opened a few eyes with his thread on this subject and he showed that functioning tools could be made with paper clips. I do believe that it would be harder to pick locks with them, but I'm still looking for that bad technique that will be developed. You say the feedback is not as good, will this create bad technique?

[jimb]

your posts are actually pretty open mined.

You probably figured it out, but this should be open-minded.

[Raccoon]

Has anyone figured what brand of paperclip has a better hardness? I've found some that are quite bendable, and others that are not. There are also those with chrome finish that flake off when bent-- which should obviously be avoided.

I've messed with paperclip jewelry a lot as a kid; paperclip pendants and peace signs, etc. I would bend them to shape, smash them flat with a hammer, and temper them over the stove top. I wonder if smashing paperclip lockpicks flat would improve their rigidness.

[pradselost]

Jimb: I know, I'm just teasing about the dissecting part. ;D

As far as the bad technique, as I said, it's likely I am just using the wrong word to explain what I mean. Using a paperclip can still teach technique, because it is still capable of pushing up pins.

The drawbacks are that they don't allow you to feel the pins as well, don't allow you to read the pressure you're exerting, and bend too easily. So outside of a small segment of locks, they're not proper learning tools, because they'll quickly impede your development rather than enhance it.

So let's just forget I used the word technique...blast my vocabulary. What was meant to be explained was that you can use them to explain how lockpicking works and show the technique...but after showing the technique of lockpicking, they become very poor learning tools after that.

[jimb]

Very well said, I couldn’t agree more.

[C4isBad]

I've only recently become interested in serious lock picking, but a few months ago I got locked out of my house coming home. Using a paper clip and a metal sprinkler key I actually managed to open the lock on a back door. I felt pretty good about myself.

[alphastark]

yes you can pick a lock with a paperclip. i did it just about an hour ago.

I locked myself out of my room, to which I do not have a key, and i don't have a proper lockpicking kit, so i bent a paperclip into the shape of a lock rake and used a torque wrench and within five minutes i was in.

[Bahrg]

[quote="EGOOT247"]MacGyver ROCKS!!!

I like MacGyver. "Improvise!"

quote]

Hmmmmm Patty? Selma?

[digital_blue]

yes you can pick a lock with a paperclip. i did it just about an hour ago.

I locked myself out of my room, to which I do not have a key, and i don't have a proper lockpicking kit, so i bent a paperclip into the shape of a lock rake and used a torque wrench and within five minutes i was in.

That's cool, and probably a bit lucky if you've never picked a lock before. For every story like this, there's hundreds more we'll never hear of that don't have the same happy ending. But still, good for you, none the less.

db