Padlock Shims

[Chucklz]

Palming or hiding a shim is nothing. Especially if its behind the back, show clean hands and "nothing up the sleeve" than just take the shim out of your belt etc.

If you wish, you probably could take a lock, and with a spot of glue/clear tape, keep the dial from turning, at least temporarily. If your friend can still open the lock, as him where he buys his shims.

[denz]

I dont think he's using a shim. I flat out asked him if he used any tools, and he said no. Maybe he is lying but I dont think he would take this that far. Ive watched him do it in the open a few times, including about an hour ago, and he would have had to have learned this very quickly and be an expert at it (he's not a locksmith and just started picking locks for the hell of it about 2 weeks ago). He has also done it with the lock in his shirt while his hands were outside of the shirt. Im not sure, but it seems very unlikely he would be able to manipulate any tool, especially a small shim, quickly through his shirt in a matter of seconds. These are not planned demonstrations or anything of the sorts, he has no prep time to get ready so he would also have to be carrying a shim all the time. I have once or twice, when he wasnt intent on hiding the secret from me, asked him to open a lock and handed it to him and a few seconds later its open. His hands have, according to my recollection, never gone to his belt or anywhere else. He has also told me that he spent quite a bit of time on the internet looking for his technique and has been unable to find it. This whole thing is very perplexing to me.

[Red]

HOUDINI lives!!!

[plot]

he's using a shim, otherwise he'd open it in front of your face.

a shim is just a small peice of metal you stick down the shackle of the lock, and it pushes the little ball thing back... doesn't work well on most padlocks, but works extremely well on master combination locks such as those found in schools. i had a roommate that did magic... you'd be surprised how much a little slight of hand can hide anything.

[technik]

i dunno if this helps, and i know denz's mate has done it to many locks (may be just one and maybe tricking you) but guys at school used to open up there combo locks for their lockers, take out 2 of the three disks in the back, and then all they had to do was turn to one number (the last in their three digit combo) and the lock would open. It reduced the security of the lock dramitically of course, but they just wanted to save time dialing (slack...) I think they drilled a hole in the back to do this, or maybe opened them. Cant remember.

[denz]

I dont think you guys quite understand. Hes NOT using a shim. I dont care how much you guys are convinced he is, but he is not. Ive asked if he used any tools, he said no, Ive asked if he was using a shim, he said whats a shim, he is not using anything other than his hands. He would not be willing to lie about the shim just to keep the fact that he was using one a secret. You may think me gullible but you dont know him and i do. There is no shim usage here. He has also done it to multiple locks that he had no access to beforehand so he could not have tampered with the locks in any way. But I dont even know why I keep posting on here because so far no one has come up with any solutions other than shims, which he is not using. He is not a magician, he has not been practicing for months to hide a shim, he just started doing this a few weeks ago and there is NO way he could have become an expert on hiding shims in a few weeks with minimal practice. So please try and figure out some other logical explanation other than shim or him conning me, because that is not the case.

[Chucklz]

You still have not given any information about the specific brand and model of locks your friend opens.

This is definately an Occam's razor situation, just don't cut your own throat in haste.

[CitySpider]

A second logical explanation is that he's managed to find a pressure point on a lock that the entire lock company, which I'm sure does extensive testing, couldn't find.

A third, and probably the MOST logical, is that you're making the whole thing up.

[Red]

I have spent far too much time reading this thread. Obviously, we've all got better things to do...or not Our members have got very little information to go on to give you a reasonable explanation. If your friend would stop yanking your chain for a minute and tell you what the secret was we'd all appreciate it. It's clear he enjoys the fact that he's got you on the ropes.
Perhaps next time he wants to amuse himself with his magic trick you should shrug your shoulders and leave the room. Once you've taken the wind out of his sails he's apt to stop taunting you and may actually WANT to let you in on the big secret.
When you feign disinterest it usually works...you'll find out soon enough!
You may want to barter with him for it if that doesn't work. The guys in this forum are very knowledgable and can teach you some pretty cool tricks that he doesn't know.
It sounds like this is driving you crazy...hope you find out!

[Pheniox]

hit him with a shovel, then shove his foot up his nose. that always makes them tell


doesn't it red

[denz]

Well he obviously has found some sort of new technique, as unbelievable as it is maybe he did find a new pressure point. Im not sure but whenever he does it, thats what it seems like he is doing, although I never really believed that he could have possibly came up with this on his own. As to my making the story up, Spider you have no reason to get on and accuse me of that. Perhaps there are people out there who enjoy doing something like that, but I personally do not enjoy wasting my time on a thread by posting random lies. I will most likely not be posting very often anymore because I have no further information to give (sorry I cant be more specific) and it is apparent that the information I am receiving is not going to be incredibly helpful. Thanks for trying guys but it looks like my friend won this round. I will continue to try to learn his secret but I do not see that as being likely anytime in the near future.

[Varjeal]

denz: A few tips to help make your experience here in LP101 a little more enjoyable.

1. Details. One thing that is repetitive throughout the site is that if you wish to have information, we need information. As much as possible. This includes things like brand and type of lock, number of wheels/pins/wafers/levers, etc., condition of said lock, pics (not always necessary but extremely useful).

2. Read without emotion. It's easy to get excited about something "new", and then come here and read about people slicing up your "theory". We don't do this to be mean, rude, or anything else. Each of us comes from a bit different slant on things, and we like to throw our ideas/knowledge into a pot for discussion and analysis. That's the mark of professionalism. The comments you took offense to from Spider and others were merely observations (possibly incorrect ones, but whatever) I don't believe he was accusing you, he was merely presenting options. That is allowable in these forums. Your accusing him of "posting random lies" is an outright attack, and technically should have had your post deleted, except that I wanted it to be viewed to excuse my little rant here.

3. We appreciate input from everyone whether newbie or pro, but we will NOT accept something as fact without some sort of proof, evidence, or information to back it up. Thus far, your original posting reads like a story, no more, no less. The queries presented are valid ones, and you cannot expect us to be able to believe what you've said without answers to those queries.

[denz]

And here is my response

1) I did not accuse him of posting random lies. The context of that line is not directed towards him, but towards myself. I was saying that I do not enjoy posting random lies, therefore I would not waste my time checking this thread and posting numerous times when my story was absolutely nothing. Whether or not you guys believe me is your perogative.

2) Yes, I know you need details, thats why Im sorry that I cannot get anymore of them. This thing is driving me absolutely insane and if I had more details I would have posted them, but there is really not a ton to go on.

3) Yes, Spider was just listing some possibilities. He then cited the possibility of me having made it up as the most likely, which is very accusatory. I was not emotional about it in the last post when I addressed it, I just wanted to address the fact that he had essentially accused me of lying on the forum.

Well I think that bout covers it.

I also know two brands that my friend has done it to: Casehard and MasterLock but he seems to be able to do it to just about any combo padlock so I dont think that will help a whole lot.

[Varjeal]

Even the brand names would have helped...now we have something to go one. Casehard and MasterLock...

Now I can ask a couple more (intelligent, I hope) questions.

1. How old is your friend?
2. Is he very strong?

[CitySpider]

Aww, all this talk about lil old me?

I was -not- directly accusing you of lying, Denz. I was pointing out that, from our perspective, it's the most logical explanation. Do you disagree?

Option A is that your friend has managed to do what two multimillion dollar companies and hundreds of thousands of high school kids could not do, and option B is that you're a troll, and you're lying. Which is more likely?

Your friend obviously enjoys jerking your chain for kicks, and THAT'S ALL I KNOW ABOUT HIM, so I find it hard to believe he wouldn't lie about using a tool. I don't think you're lying, but I do think you're wrong. If he's really only using "pressure points" -- and why do you think he's doing that, again? -- then he should be able to non-combination locks, too. Can he?