Bump keys?

[Neo]

Hey, all.

I haven't been around for a while, but I recently saw a video on bumping keys. I quickly found it amazing, but how possible is it? Don't the springs give a lot of resistance?

[peoplma]

Bump keys do work, but only if you have a bump key that fits the lock! You can't use just any old key, it has to have the right spacing between the pins, and so forth. So basically, you have to buy a bump key for every type of lock you would want to bump. Also, it can damage the lock much more than picking it usually would. I don't know why bumping locks has gotten so popular recently, stick to picking locks, old school.

[Beyond]

Bump keys do work, but only if you have a bump key that fits the lock! You can't use just any old key, it has to have the right spacing between the pins, and so forth. So basically, you have to buy a bump key for every type of lock you would want to bump. Also, it can damage the lock much more than picking it usually would. I don't know why bumping locks has gotten so popular recently, stick to picking locks, old school.

Bump keys are pretty old school man, at least 80-90 years old.

[dboeren]

Bump keys are an old idea, I read an article on their origin but can't find the link now. Apparently the concept fell into obscurity for a long time until a few years ago and now it's a hot thing. People are freaking out about an exploit that has existed for a very long time but was never well known or recognized enough to be an issue.

Personally, I think it's a clever idea but it also takes all the fun out of opening a lock. It's much more interesting to pick a lock than to essentially bypass it, in that sense bumping isn't that much different from punching out a window pane and reaching in to turn the doorknob.

[raimundo]

bumpkeying would have been a little used technique particularily for locksmiths, who had the possibility of making them from depth keys copied. the technique probably had few active users as there were always other ways to get the job done. Now bump keys are sold and even made from old keys, so it has become more widely known, but a bump key has to fit the particular keyway, so having the one for the job is still a bit iffy.
its always good to try the technique and learn a bit about it, but its an evolutionary dead end, the snappers, guns and powertool picks all work on the same principle and don't have to come fitted to the keyway. the question about bumpkeys is will it now be around forever or will the few who still talk about them keep the subject going. In '05 the bic pen pick was a huge popular topic, but its pretty much gone away now, though the locks that were susceptable are still all over the place.

[keyless ntry]

bump keys are a lil oldschool, but if you have the right key, and the right amount of knowledge, you can open almost any lock. i bought a set of them online a while back but cant remember where. i advise getting a bump key hammer also. its ver difficult to hit it with your hand or fist and you dont always have something to use.(unless you buy the hammer haha)

[raimundo]

I was looking at ukbumpkeys to get some ideas about some interesting dimple lock tools to see which locks they were for, and I went on to see a flat spring devise in a photo on pinchitos locksport site. All this gave me an idea for a springback devise that could be simply made to reset a bumpkey after each strike. heres the basic concept,

Take a long piece of coathanger wire, make one end into a ring loop, this end will be the base that sets against the face of the lock, it should be larger in diameter than the plug. perhaps an inch in diameter, from this, the rest of the wire goes out from the loop base and is bent around to return over the loop base, it can have a coil of spring in the bend or it could simply bend back at the key bow, where it has a U shaped pickup to put through the hole in the bow, this thing will automatically reset the bumpkey for repeated rapid strikes. the thing would have to be varied and reset for each different bump key but the adjustments are small and they would not be a large problem, it could also be used to lightly tension the bumpkey in a way that saves the fingers.

I haven't made one yet, but anyone who gets it made and tried out before me feel free to post a photo and take credit. I get a lot of ideas and don't follow through very rapidly, so its all the same to me if someone else does it and then shows whether the concept proved out or not.

[Good4Nothing]

Hi
I love bump keys and have most success with them. For me Non-Destructive entry is about developing a range of tools for the same problem, therefore allowing you multiple options with which one can attack the lock.
From experience, out on jobs, I get the time it take sfor my partner to get out his drill and put the bit in to bump the lock. 6 out of 10 times he's putting it back before it's been turned on.
Like all products, they have their uses and part to play in a repertoire of techniques.
It seems strange that they are being judged on theie age. lock-picks were around centuries before Bump Keys and yet, if you ask about a hook pick, no-one says - it's a bit old school, or 'it's 90 years old etc.
The first patent for something we could call a bump keys was a spring loaded contraption patented by a Mr George Baron, in 1925. It had a 'serrrated like' (his words) protrusion (the bump key_ attached to a body with a sprung section. The idea being you hold the body and whack the back of the tool.




(George Baron 1925)

Interestingly enough, you can now buy a tool, very Similar to George Baron's patent, but for Chinese Dimple locks LOL



I hope this helps
G4N

[ASSA]

Have you tried the tool? If so I would very much want to hear what you think of it.
But considering how good it works with a normal bump key and a bump hammer, this tool seems a bit over-engineered

[Good4Nothing]

Hello
I have these tols (I took the pic) and they are quite poor. I did consider changing the 'dimple rake' ends for a bump keys, but - as you say, it works so wel with a hammer and key - why bother. If you PM me your addy I will send you one of them.
G4N

[raimundo]

interesting, those bump dimple things appear to have plastic heads on them, which could be a problem if the wrong plastic was used.

I recently aquired a set of similiar tools, which are all made with knurled steel fittings, and are very heavy. a photo of the type is in blackbag.com in the menus to the right of the page, click picktools, and its near the bottom of the list. like #14 or so. I have no locks to try them on.

I had a bump hammer made of plastic but the head of the thing would break up into chips, I looked around for quite a while for the right found object bump hammer, and eventually I bought a long shaft small screwdriver with a small plastic handle, not big enough for a whole adult fist hold, I stuffed the screwdriver tip into a wine bottle cork, and its the best plastic headed bump hammer I've ever made.

Note, this screwdriver, Ace hardware brand, has a relatively light small handle which I use as the hammerhead. bumping is not easily done with the wrong hammer, I really beat the heck out of some locks and bump keys with things like stainless table ware, the handle of the butterknife, or the spoon of a large spoon, and I can tell you that while you will occasionally have some success, the light plastic hammers will do it much better, and rubber hammers do not seem to work well, there is a timeing thing that must happen, too much force is not the answer.

[SnowyBoy]

I started picking before bumping.....I literally only just had the itch to have a go myself as personally I see bumping as a destructive entry method which doesn't require 1/1000th of the skill single pin picking or jiggling requires.

So I grabbed my Abus 60/50 (4 spools) butchered one of the keys & had a go.......success! It worked especially well with my rubber handle screwdriver!

Here is a video of probably my 5th attempt.....not textbook, but it worked & that's what counts

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dltRpg1rnI


Also, a picture of my key which i filed in a rush

http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/7171/cimg4865qc0.jpg

[peoplma]

Bump keys are a bane to the art of lock picking. Sure, they work fine, but where's the fun? Locks are like puzzles, picking them is solving the puzzle. If you bump the lock, it's like you're just hitting a table with a jigsaw puzzle on it until the pieces randomly fall into place (except locks typically only have five pieces .

[eurolock fan]

Bump keys do work, but only if you have a bump key that fits the lock! You can't use just any old key, it has to have the right spacing between the pins, and so forth. So basically, you have to buy a bump key for every type of lock you would want to bump. Also, it can damage the lock much more than picking it usually would. I don't know why bumping locks has gotten so popular recently, stick to picking locks, old school.

Bump keys are pretty old school man, at least 80-90 years old.

I thought that the bumping technique was discovered in the 70's?

[Good4Nothing]

You can't use just any old key, it has to have the right spacing between the pins, and so forth. So basically, you have to buy a bump key for every type of lock you would want to bump

The key does not have to have the right spacing as this video illustrates:

url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqbLdnC9PXY]wrong spacing[/url]

And you don't need to buy a bump key for every type of lock you want to bump. You can buy universal profiles which, having had a fair amount removed from the profile to make the bump key - will work on literally millions of locks. Not only that, with most locksmiths carrying a few blanks around with them, there's always this kind of thing:

quick key on the job


With no tool offering 100% successful Non destructive entry, the bump key is just another tool in the smiths/enthusiasts repertoire that he can use when another tool won't work.
best wishes
G4N