Picking a padlock underwater

[Teddy Picker]

That being said, I can't imagine any part of any lock rusting during the short time they'd be underwater during an escape attempt.
The internal springs will be the most susceptible part.

That's not really the concern.

Quick chemistry lesson: rust occurs when a metal reacts with oxygen to create an oxide of that metal. This is referred to as oxidation. In dry air, metal will oxidize by reacting with the oxygen in the air. However, this process is very slow.

Underwater, things rust a little faster because water is a slightly polar molecule. This means that at a molecular level, water molecules have a magnetic field, and that magnetic field pulls on the bonds between the metal molecules, making them more likely to react when an oxygen molecule comes along. However, there's a limitation here: the air we breathe is just over 20% oxygen, but water simply can't dissolve that much oxygen. So metal reacts more quickly with oxygen underwater, but there simply isn't much oxygen for it to react with underwater, so it still takes a long time to rust.

The real concern here, is not when the lock is underwater or when it's in the air, but switching between the two. When you take metal out of water and into the air, there's still a little bit of water on the metal making it want to react, and suddenly there's all this oxygen in the air ready to react with. More rusting happens in the short time while a lock is drying off than in days of being in the air or underwater.

[averagejoe]

I think the only thing that needs to be worried about is Darwinism.

[bembel]

If you don't want to spend money for a "real magic lock", then why don't remove all pins but one?

[tyler_stevo]

bembel- i was thinking about doing that, but i was told there would be grind marks on the lock? so it could easily be seen as a tampered with.

[zeepia]

There are padlocks you can take apart and leave only one pin if you like. Like American 5200 for example. I wonder how many of your audience knows they can be tampered without leaving marks. And you can replace those serrated pins with normal ones to provide even easier opening.

[GWiens2001]

Blub blub blurp blub.

*** gasping for breath ***

I mean, bet it seems easier than it really is with real picking.

Gordon

[tyler_stevo]

zeepia- i like that idea..

thanks.

[MBI]

That being said, I can't imagine any part of any lock rusting during the short time they'd be underwater during an escape attempt.
The internal springs will be the most susceptible part.

That's not really the concern.

Quick chemistry lesson: rust occurs when a metal reacts with oxygen to create an oxide of that metal. This is referred to as oxidation. In dry air, metal will oxidize by reacting with the oxygen in the air. However, this process is very slow...

The real concern here, is not when the lock is underwater or when it's in the air, but switching between the two... More rusting happens in the short time while a lock is drying off than in days of being in the air or underwater.

Yep, hit the nail on the head there.

Which is why I also suggested flushing his locks with WD-40 or something after each moist picking session to get all the water out of them.

[tyler_stevo]

Thanks for that!

[Evan]

Blub blub blurp blub.

*** gasping for breath ***

I mean, bet it seems easier than it really is with real picking.

Gordon

I agree with Gordon,

The larger concern would be the diving equipment...

Then you would use salvage techniques rather than lock picks...

~~ Evan

[jos weyers]

under water impressioning anyone?

(and i'm not even kidding)

[GWiens2001]

***Chuckles over underwater impressioning***

As long as the water temperature was suitable, it should be do-able. The hardest part would be getting lighting and optics that are compatible with water immersion. It might be funny watching how people's bouyancy affects the torsion they apply to the key. The magnifying strength of being in water would likely cause more snapped blanks, too. There's another challenge game, to be held right after undwater impressioning... Underwater broken key extraction.

There we are, Jos. Three games for your next convention: underwater lockpicking, underwater impressioning, and underwater broken key extraction. Sorry, Schuyler, I think underwater lock field stripping would be a disaster. Hold a convention in Phoenix or Tucson, especially one with those games, and I'll show.

Gordon

[yono]

expect the unexpected..that was a question i never thought in my whole locksmithing. better try that in the bathtub sometimes, with heads up and head down. (i will choose an easy padlock) that is curiousity.

[Teddy Picker]

It seems like the extra friction and pressure of water as compared to air might render bumping ineffective.

[GWiens2001]

But for impressioning, would the water act slightly as a lubricant? Once I get the padlocks from AtticRR (thanks, by the way!), I may go ahead and risk one and try impressioning it in a deep sink. I will just heavily WD-40 the lock afterwards, blow it out, then WD-40 it again to get rid of all the water.

Ooh, just realized that once that game was over, Jos, it would be a good idea for people to spray down their files heavily with WD-40. Rusted files don't file too well!

I won't file it in the sink, just see how it changes/does not change the impressions.

Wondering if I would have to use more locking tension than usual to bind the pins, and if they would slip more while moving the key to make impressions. If it does require more locking tension (rotational torsion), of course that will increase risk of key breakage. I'll keep you informed, unless one of you want to beat me to it.

Gordon