HOUDiNi secret Tricks of opening locks?

[Truck]

I am wonder how can a magicial Houdini can open any locks without picks.

From what I have read, I remember that he is able to unlock the strait jacket and escape the jail cell. Then he goes to 2nd floor jail cell and got his clothing back. At last, the police and FBI were suprise that he was in the coffee shop and penetrate all the security in the jail including the strait jacket.

How can that be possible? Is he picking a lock with his nails?

I think he is the best lock picker in the world.

Did anyone knows his secret tricks?

[Dark Angel]

I read somewhere that houdini,would wear a iron type belt that he could strike the padlocks against forcing them to open.
As for the strait jackets there are plenty of people that have mastered the art of escaping from these,one way is tha dislocation of various joints.
I doubt very much that he actually picked any of the locks that were binding him as time was usually against him.I am sure that most of the locks used had some sort of hidden release mechanism on them.

[cormu]

intresting stuff deserves some resech

[Lithwolf]

Another trick with a straight jacket is, if you hold your arms stiffly in the right place, once they tighten it, you'll have a slight amount of slack/movement room to work within, combined with dislocating joints, they are escapable.

[Dark Angel]

I found this site all about escape artists,below is a link to all the padlocks you can buy that have special release mechanisms hidden inside them.The locks look totaly normal at first glance,but each one has a special quick release system built into it.
Very interesting to read about.
http://www.cannonsgreatescapes.net/padlocks.html

[i_want_to_pick]

I saw a show on TV not to long ago. It said Houdini was a magician, not a true escape artist. The difference is a "magician" tricks the eye, and a true"escape artist" actually does what he apears to do(like pick the locks).

A magicians handcuffs for example would have the teeth filed down enough so that it still sounds right by "clicking" shut. but can be pulled back open with minimal force.

As well the straight jacket used by a magician has bigger arm holes and the strap that holds your hands can be released by up to a foot to give room to get out of it. On the show I watched they chose someone from the audiance to come up and try to get out of the magicians straight jacket, she got out in about a minute, no practice.

Another thing I heard about Houdini(i think on a tv documentary about him) is that when he kissed his wife before each so called "escape" she would pass the key into his mouth, though im not sure about this one because I saw the documentary a long time ago.

Matt

[Chucklz]

Some things about Houdini

1.) He learned how to swallow, and regurgitate small objects.. so hiding keys was something he did regularly
2.) He often modified locks before a performance, during "inspection " visits etc.
3.) Houdini was an accomplished picker, but many of his escapes did not require lock manipulation at all.

Somewhere previously I have posted on a book that details Houdini's techniques. It shouldnt be too difficult to find, as the local library in my tiny town had it.

[Houdinez]

Another rumor would be that Harry Houdini would have a pocket of skin in which he held that lock pick, so when they inspected him, they wouldn't feel it (no homo).

[cormu]

I found this site all about escape artists,below is a link to all the padlocks you can buy that have special release mechanisms hidden inside them.The locks look totaly normal at first glance,but each one has a special quick release system built into it.
Very interesting to read about.
http://www.cannonsgreatescapes.net/padlocks.html

hEHE THATS A GREAT SITE
nice toys .... but we dont need those do we

[jax]

As dark angel mentioned it is fairly well knowm that escape artists use locks with a hidden release mechanism on them... i actually met a bench locksmith who modified padlocks for this purpose, clever eh?

[toomush2drink]

Dark Angel i have to agree the site is interesting, the locks look as secure as a tri-circle !

toomush

[stratmando]

I believe he stash lockpicks on hisself(Hair), even had a fake finger that contained Lockpicks.

[hydruh]

[EmCee]

The Necromancer card is amusing but I don't think Stratmando's post was inane or irrelevant.

Newbies to the site - like me - are encouraged to use the search function and read back over past pages of threads, and are criticised if they ask a question that has already been covered extensively.

If newbies do read back, they will inevitably come across threads that they find interesting and want to ask about or contribute to - and I'd guess in most cases their focus is on the subject and they don't even look at the date of the thread.

However, if they do resurrect a thread, they are then criticised for doing so.

I'm not having a pop at Hydruh but making a general point as I've seen several threads where members have played the Necro card.

Either lock all threads older than a certain date, or allow comment on old threads without jumping on the person resurrecting it.

Cheers...

[stratmando]

I didn't realize it was an old post, the question seemed to be a good one, and may have needed additional info. If what I said was already mentioned, I appologize.