Card lock breakdown.

[parapilot]

i need a new bike lock. im gettin one of these really soon.

Err i wouldn't bother. They are easily bypassed, and more importantly for criminals, very weak.

[xxgonzoxx]

Perfect! Thanks!

[raimundo]

I assume the bypass is just the shackle shim I am wondering if a card could be cut that would work like a jiggler, it would appear that a constant tension needs to be applied, so that may be a different piece, probably a steel piece, but some thing like a matador pick may be of some use, I would be interested to see if the lock can be manipulated through the keyway. I don't have one of these locks, so I am just suggesting that those who do could try the various experiments in skeletonizing this card (cut away all the parts that are not necessary to move the pins) and making a series of holes that would trick the mechanism. The reason for this is because this mechanism may some day appear in a higher end lock and it would be good to know some techniques.

[unjust]

if in understand these correctly, then all one needs to to do bypass this sort of lock is slip in a bit of metal that will go around the pins w/o depressing them, or cut/drill out a valid keycard to the maximum openings on all pins for a particular set and you're in.

it would seem that a dramatically more secure version of these would consist of pins that cover the entire width of the card accessway (so you cna' tuse the edge) and overlap each other in depth so as to prevent a one bend wire from bypassing 1-2 pins, but still be sucptible to a bent bit of metal that's strong enough to depress the release spring.....

[unjust]

use conical pins and have them lock both above and below the keyway similar to a lever lock so that a void key wouldnt' work...

[lokkju]

Something a bit more secure (and a pick/decoder for it) is described in US patent #005355701 (http://www.lokkju.com/physec/pdf/us005355701.pdf)

I like the idea of using pressure sensors to determine the hole mapping, but the major flaw in all of that style of decoder is what if all the pins are the same length (using a standard overall length of pin - it is just split in different places), and then using different strength springs under each pin...

[n2oah]

Yes, that's Marc Weber Tobias's patent to decode Miwa card locks. I believe they can have up to 47 pins. (I'm not sure, I may have just pulled that number out of the air.)

[greyman]

I think Tobias's patent is for decoding Vingcard (mechanical). That has 32 pins but only up/down heights. It's a pressure sensitive film that measures the force on the pin to decode it.

[rlckustomkars]

http://www.talondevelopment.com/cardlock/

[caitsith2]

I just picked my cardlock for the first time, and know now, using a standard hook pick + tension wrench. I would have to say no lock is unpickable, its just design can dictate how easy or hard a given lock will be to pick. Still learning how to pick locks, but I have now picked a couple of tumbler locks, and a couple of different wafer locks.