ARCHIVE 2003-2013 Introduce yourself HERE if you are new. :)

[level99wizard]

Hello all,

I joined this site on the recommendation of those who were running the Lockpick Village at Defcon this year. Suffice it to say that I had a blast at the Village, and wound up spending an unexpectedly large amount of time and money there. I probably bored many people with my saying "Master Locks -- bulletproof, but not pickproof!", and I had to explain quite a few times what a spool pin is (that is, as I opened the #3 Master Lock for the 5th time).

All this started as a result of my company wanting me to perform software security testing, in addition to QA software testing. Even though my company refused to reimburse any of the training (required for CPE's as well as learning the skills), I paid the $5K+ to go to BlackHat, Security Bsides, and DEFCON. When all is said and done, I'll be able to claim 40+ hours of CPEs in total for all three cons. I have my Certified Software Test Engineer Certification, and cleared my Security+ certification on June 29.

I'd like to thank Jack Daniel of Security Bsides for letting me volunteer at his con; I attended Legion's lockpick session there. In addition, I let the Bsides convention use my projector, and I got to volunteer for them too. I have been volunteering for various organizations for 25 years.

I live in Phoenix AZ, and have worked 15 years in QA. I have also just started in both InfoSec (as it relates to software) and lockpicking as a personal interest, and there is a possibility that I may get moved into the InfoSec field. If this occurs, then I'll have to become proficient with physical security as well as software security.

I am looking into the possibility of joining HeatSync Labs in Mesa. Austin A. (organizer of the Lockpick Village at Defcon) suggested I might want to visit HeatSync. Perhaps as I get better at lockpicking, I might be able to help start a regular lockpicking group at HeatSync. Certainly, if Kwikset and Schlage locksets need to be re-keyed as pins wear out, I can help with this (thanks to hardware stores selling me their keying kits for $5 each before they went out of business).

In any case, I am extremely happy that I went to BlackHat, Bsides, and Defcon in Vegas this year, and I look forward to these same events next year. I hope that I can also volunteer at all three conventions. :-) I understand that I have to prove myself before volunteering at either BlackHat or Defcon; perhaps I can get some pointers on how to do this.

Cheers,

Alan @Alucard

[brinard]

Hello all,

im new here, but not to lockpicking. ive been hobby practicing for about ten years now. this year i decided to get more involved and perhaps a new career will unfold.

ive been making many of my own tools, and would like to take any advice on more tools to make or purchase.

i own a few slimjims. i broke all my picks. i made my long reach tool, and a few door buster tools.

thanks for all the info here already and whats to come!

[Panserv]

Hello everyone !
Locks are not my trade; Electronics is, but I love tinkering with them and enjoy the challenge some present.
And this is how I got here: A friend of mine who buys surplus stuff in quantity occasionally asks me to solve some technical problem. A few weeks ago he showed me several safes and boxes and did some research.

[Asbadasiwant]

Hello all. Im new and glad to be here.

[Ozlocks]

Hi all,

New to the forum but a hobby lock picker since '94. Now I get to do it as part of my job so I'm here to improve my skills and perhaps pass some knowledge on to others since I can't be at work all the time.

Thanks in advance for all your help.

[flynhy1]

Hey all, my ex-wife lost her key to her steering wheel lock (The Club), and one of my other good friends lost the key to her storage unit lock. All within a week of each other. Cost them a small fortune to call a locksmith. So I figured what the heck, if they can do it, so can I. So here I am.

[judak]

Greetings!
A colleague of mine opened up the world of locksport to me the other day and here I am! This looks more fun than Rubik's cube and way more practical!

[YouLuckyFox]

Hello all,
I'm "LuckyFox" or "Lucky." I am very impressed by the site rules as I have read them. I am interested in helping others, and being helped. I am specifically interested in learning more with regard to becoming a self-employed locksmith. I am familiar with SPP and many non-destructive lock bypass methods but have joined this forum in interest of learning more of skills that I am not acquainted with for residential, business, and automotive locks. I look forward to getting to know you all, and again the site rules impress me very much. Please send me a PM if you have any questions, I will answer any posts I receive.
Cordially yours,
YouLuckyFox

[Makura]

Hi, everybody!

I'm a guy from Spain who is really interested in lockpicking. I started in this hobby because I work (usually only weekends) as security guard. Playing with my handcuffs and a paper clip I feel shocked as soon as I realized how easy they were to pick. So I started reading on this topic. I have been practicing for a couple of moths or so, but my skills are still really poor. I usually open a nice percentage of locks (from here, Spain), but only randomly (raking). I'm member on another Spanish lockpicking forum, but they don't enjoy theorizing as much as I do, so I have decided to register on this forums, hoping to find and share information on a lot of topics.

I guess, I'll take a few days reading before I start posting, but I didn't want to wait a lot of time before I introduced myself. As I say on my signature, sorry for my lame English, and awkward expressions. English is not my mother tongue, and I'm sure a lot of times, I will say "crazy" things without meaning it :D

Great site, I'm really happy to be a part of it now! :)

[RedEarth]

Hey folks, I guess this is my formal introduction.
I'm completely new to lock picking, brought here via reference from ITS Tactical's website.
I have a padlock whose key has gone missing. I decided, instead of just cutting it off, I'd learn a new skill. Only I don't have proper tools yet, just some modified paperclips - which after about an hour of noodling around I've determined are NOT the right implement's for learning.

I'll be buying a set of Bogota's next weekend. In the meantime I'll try and gather as much intel on the art as I can.

See ya!

[Conmigr]

Hello everyone. I've spent the majority of my life collecting keys. I built myself a lock pick set off street cleaner wires about 8 years ago to no success. I finally made the investment in a set of picks and spent almost an entire day at a lock pick village learning everything I could. I recently ran into a challege with a supra punch block and decided to get more involved in the site as a result to continue enhancing my skills.

[fcoy2]

New member here in Cincinnati. Thanks for the site, very good stuff. A friend of mine has been running a little locksmithing side job down in Florida for years, and has been on me to start as well. He knows I love tinkering, puzzles, and figuring out how things work. And the way my employer is letting people go these days, I figure it's good to have a "plan B" just in case. So I'll be a hobbyist for now and plan to take one of the at-home courses (this friend recommended F-B) as soon as I can decide on one. I currently have a kwikset deadbolt and doorknob mounted on a board for picking practice, and a Sears Ez-Set deadbolt disassembled on the table in front of me. Havent started messing with the Schlages on my home door yet! Gotta say, it's pretty much fun so far!

[Zircon]

Hello All,

I'm Zircon, I'm from Melbourne, Australia.
I got the idea to learn the art of lock picking from watching the TV show White Collar, when I was watching Neil Caffrey picking locks I thought 'How does that work?', 'How hard could that be?'.

I started by going on the Google Play store and buying 'Practical Lock Picking' by Deviant Ollam (Great Book), from there I bought a couple of cheap pin tumbler locks from the hardware store (a Lodestar and a Romak) and field stripped them to make a set of progressive training locks. For the first week or so I started picking with paper clips and Bobbie Pins as I was still working out where to buy a set of lock picks, I managed to pick up to a progressive #3 with these makeshift tools until I ordered and received my MPXS-32 lock pick set from Southord. Soon I was able to pick these cheap locks with 5 pin stacks so I went to Bunnings and grabbed the cheapest Lockwood deadlock I could buy (I could not justify spending $85+ on a lock that probably doesn't even have pick resistant pins). The Lockwood proved to be a greater challenge as with a key biting of 1 a pin stack sits below the shear line (I found this out the hard way when the spring got jammed in-between the Plug and the Housing!) I modified 1 of these locks with an extra pin it this stack to prevent this issue. I can now pick the modified one but im still working on the other.

Anyway i am enjoying the hobby and hope to learn more from this forum, and perhaps even be able to assist others when I get more proficient.

Thanks all.
Zircon.

[RigaMortice]

Hello LP101,

Been lurking this forum on and off since early this year figured I would finally join =)

[eidissenberg]

Hello everyone in here!

I am eidissenberg from keypicking.com but I got banned from there, because I was too young... My ban will last for 2 years lol. There rules was that you needed to be 18 years old, my birthday is tomorrow and then I will turn 16 years old. It's great that this forum allows people under an age of 18.

My real name is Martin and my location is Norway. I pick a bounce of locks. Padlocks, house door locks and so on.

Is it a chat on this site like keypicking.com?

Cheers

-Martin