Books regarding lock picking?

[Moon President]

Greetings,

I am in need of some books regarding the topic of lock picking. I do not wish to bother any of you on this forum with questions regarding the practice.. Yet. I need a book which is practical and up to date with today's locks. I have obtained a pick set, it seems a bit shoddy but for the time being it will do, and I have purchased a Weiser Elements single cylinder deadbolt lock which I will practice on after mounting it on a sheet of nylon. I am a writer, and I am researching the subject of lock picking to include it in my book; no, it will not be about lock picking itself because I am not an expert at it, I am simply learning the practice to sound more proficient in my telling of a story. Perhaps learning to pick locks will stimulate a more thorough understanding of life itself, as well.. But I digress. I am looking for a good set of books to learn from, and I have not found any seem legitimate. One book will have grand reviews on one site, and on a next site it will be trashed by apparent experts of the art. I need a book with solid illustrations and step-by-step instructions; perhaps on more than pin and tumbler locks and maybe auto locks as well. I need as much information as possible and I need as much practice as possible, so if anyone knows of any books that they personally consider to be top-notch learning material, and that they personally learned from, I would love to see your suggestions. I am not willing to learn this art for malicious purposes--just merely to be more convincing and gain understanding, perspective, and reasoning through the eyes of an amateur lock picker.

Thanks for reading, looking forward to replies

[edsmiley]

Highly recommend Deviant Ollam's Practical Lock Picking. Not only does he cover the aspects of picking, he covers some physical security topics as well. Just as important, he covers the correct terminology to use when you are talking about locks and picking. I carry it in my pick bag and refer to it every once and a while. Also comes with a DVD with some great info.

Apparently he is coming out with a color edition of Practical Lock Picking and then another book very soon, so keep an eye out for that.

Cheers,
Ed

[MortimerDuke]

What Ed said, plus the "MIT Guide to Lockpicking" available free online. It is not nearly as in-depth as Ollam's book, but it does a good job of covering the basics and it is only a Google search away.

[Moon President]

Hello,

Thank you for replying to my thread, and thank you for the suggestion. I found the book, and I have put in an order for it. Hopefully, it will answer all of my questions and address my curiosities accordingly. In case it doesn't, would you be able to recommend more material? Though my years of researching subjects, I have found it a highly unlikely occurrence for a single book to cover all of the bases. No fault on the author's side--even the most miniscule of subjects are nearly impossible to address from a single point of view.

I have read the MIT guide, but I don't think it was meant to provide the in-depth knowledge which I am looking for. It was a great read, without a doubt.

Thank you

[Legion303]

You don't need knowledge, you need practice. Well, you do need knowledge, but not the type you're thinking of. Look into books which break down locks so that you know the internals, and then you'll know how to pick them. Greyman's book is a great example of this (speaking of which, aren't we ready for a 2nd edition by now?).

-steve

[Bob Jim Bob]

It really sounds like Ollam's book is what you want.

[dauce]

Yeah the MIT guide was quite practical but DANG I wish Deviant Ollam's book wasn't so pricey. I dunno if I should spring for it or not.

[Squelchtone]

Yeah the MIT guide was quite practical but DANG I wish Deviant Ollam's book wasn't so pricey. I dunno if I should spring for it or not.

$22 dollars for a book is pricey to you?

http://www.amazon.com/Practical-Lock-Pi ... iant+ollam

cmon now..
Squelchtone

[dauce]

Yeah the MIT guide was quite practical but DANG I wish Deviant Ollam's book wasn't so pricey. I dunno if I should spring for it or not.

$22 dollars for a book is pricey to you?

http://www.amazon.com/Practical-Lock-Pi ... iant+ollam

cmon now..
Squelchtone

I only found it for $29. Yeah it is a bit pricey for me considering this is just a hobby for me. Considering 1. graduate student salary 2. I have other hobbies so yeah.

[dauce]

My apologies for making this a second post but I feel I should further justify the 'too pricey' bit:

I have to weigh what information is potentially in the book that

1. I don't already have access to from this and another forum; as well as various free online info (such as the MIT PDF)

2. I will actually use being that this is just a hobby for me (and in all reality who knows how long it will last... Maybe a year, maybe a decade idk)

Its not that $22 or 29 or whatever is overpriced, its just not something (IMHO) that every newbie should purchase. At least until they have exhausted all other resources. Ya feel me?

[Squelchtone]

My apologies for making this a second post but I feel I should further justify the 'too pricey' bit:

I have to weigh what information is potentially in the book that

1. I don't already have access to from this and another forum; as well as various free online info (such as the MIT PDF)

2. I will actually use being that this is just a hobby for me (and in all reality who knows how long it will last... Maybe a year, maybe a decade idk)

Its not that $22 or 29 or whatever is overpriced, its just not something (IMHO) that every newbie should purchase. At least until they have exhausted all other resources. Ya feel me?

If you like books, and sitting at a desk or table or in bed reading then get the book, but there's nothing in it that you couldn't learn from reading a thousand posts here. Consider lp101 forums your free book. I spend something like $3000 a year on this hobby so for me a $22 dollar book is a great price.

For your hobbies though, do you just no spend any money at all? I mean, heck, hiking in the woods is free, but when it comes to a hobby that has equipment such as RC planes, or wood working, or lock picking and lock collecting, you have to expect to spend more than $20 to be part of the hobby. 2 paper clips and a Master No.3 padlock someone found in their junk drawer isn't really being part of this hobby in my opinion.

Don't be cheap when it comes to investing in yourself, this is a tremendous skill set to have. If you're a graduate student you should already know this since you're investing in your future through education. A $20 dollar book or pick set isn't going to break anyone's bank, and we've had folks here before who I straight up tell that if you cant afford a $20 starter pick set, then you shouldn't be starting a new hobby. Then they say, oh if I don't like this hobby in a month I don't want to spend any money on it. I think that's a poor outlook to have.

Enjoy the forum, skip the book for now,

Squelchtone

[dauce]

Don't be cheap when it comes to investing in yourself, this is a tremendous skill set to have. If you're a graduate student you should already know this since you're investing in your future through education. A $20 dollar book or pick set isn't going to break anyone's bank, and we've had folks here before who I straight up tell that if you cant afford a $20 starter pick set, then you shouldn't be starting a new hobby. Then they say, oh if I don't like this hobby in a month I don't want to spend any money on it. I think that's a poor outlook to have.



I think in general your comments are a bit harsh. I also believe you are failing to see a spectrum of involvement; there is an entire area between buy-everything-you-can and spend-nothing. I make informed purchases based on personal worth. It was also a bit off-topic; that group of people you judge having a 'poor outlook' obviously does not include me. You've seen my posts and know that I have invested a few bucks in the hobby. Just know that your involvement and opinion is not universally shared. Peace.

[Squelchtone]

Don't be cheap when it comes to investing in yourself, this is a tremendous skill set to have. If you're a graduate student you should already know this since you're investing in your future through education. A $20 dollar book or pick set isn't going to break anyone's bank, and we've had folks here before who I straight up tell that if you cant afford a $20 starter pick set, then you shouldn't be starting a new hobby. When they say, oh if I don't like this hobby in a month I don't want to spend any money on it. I think that's a poor outlook to have.

I think in general your comments are a bit harsh. I also believe you are failing to see a spectrum of involvement; there is an entire area between buy-everything-you-can and spend-nothing. I make informed purchases based on personal worth. It was also a bit off-topic; that group of people you judge having a 'poor outlook' obviously does not include me. You've seen my posts and know that I have invested a few bucks in the hobby. Just know that your involvement and opinion is not universally shared. Peace.

oh boy, this touchy feely stuff again.. Relax and please don't take it personally, every time I say something serious or offer my opinion, people get their feelings hurt and think I'm a jerk. Trust me I was not being harsh, I was being realistic. I'm also not here to hold hands or sugar coat things or be everyone's pal. Sometimes I will say things that may not be popular with everyone, they're not meant to scorn or hurt or be harsh, but to inform in a clear cut no bulls*t way. This is the internet, step back and don't take it personally. I am very passionate about this hobby and when someone says they wanna get into picking but not put in something small like $20 bucks for a book or pick set, it makes me roll my eyes and shake my head and facepalm and I have no problem telling them that they'll never learn it if they don't actually get into it. And no, you weren't in that group I was mentioning because clearly the book is just a nice companion to what you can already learn on the internet, but some folks love books and the feel sitting down and learn more than from surfing site, so I guess the take away is different folks, different strokes.

Have a good day,
Squelchtone

[MortimerDuke]

I spend something like $3000 a year on this hobby

Squelchtone- I'm assuming that figure includes travel and lodging for conferences? I blow a lot of money on picks that I could make myself, as well as locks that I am nowhere near ready to pick. But I'll still spend way less than a thousand over the course of a year (probably-I don't really want to know).

[Josh66]

Lock picking is still kind of new to me, so I don't have much invested in it - I did add that book to my cart on Amazon though (along with an American 5200). Pretty much my whole investment up till now is in locks.

I agree that hobbies, in general, are expensive though. My main hobby is photography, and I dump tons of money into that.

Have any of you guys read this book?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/039807 ... PDKIKX0DER

Expensive for a book ($220), but according to the reviews it seems to be the definitive book on locks. I'm debating whether or not that would be a worthy investment for a hobbyist (my birthday is in a few weeks, that might make a great gift to myself, lol).

One thing that I think is overlooked a lot (in many subjects) is that you will generally find better information in a book than you will online. You know, copyrights and all that. Authors that take the time to do their research tend to not like their hard work being made free online.