Pick Guns vs. Pick Set, Shorcuts vs Real Art of pick locking

[sushisushisush]

I have done a research paper on the purpose why thievary occurs in the United Staes, but i have had a problem that i cannot get answered.

People who break into citizens homes do so in different ways. Breaking a window, climbing through a window, or the main one discretely picking the front door.

After looking up techniques people use, the easist one by far is the pick gun. Both the automatic and manual pick gun seem to do the trick. And since there are many people who do not wish to learn the real art of picking a lock, they use a quick and easy way.

My question is simply this, how well do the automatic/manual pick lock guns work? Does it do the job 20%, 100% or whatever pecent, how well do people rely on this. Also, if lets say it is succesfull 80%, why does it not work the other 20% of the time?

I understand the mechanism of this product but i do not know how well it works




In Adittion to this: What are some techniques an average citizen should do to protect the front door?



THANK YOU FOR YOU HELP

[MacGyver101]

People who break into citizens homes do so in different ways. Breaking a window, climbing through a window, or the main one discretely picking the front door.

I find that statistic highly suspect (i.e., that most burglaries in the United States are committed by someone who picks a lock to gain entry). Could you provide us with the source of that from your research?

Does it do the job 20%, 100% or whatever pecent, how well do people rely on this. Also, if lets say it is succesfull 80%, why does it not work the other 20% of the time?

Judging by the questions you raise in your other threads, you seem to have the mistaken belief that a pick gun is a magic tool: that you can simply point at a lock, pull the trigger, and the lock springs open. It simply doesn't work that way.

Pick guns, if you're practiced in using one, can help you to open a large number of the most common locks in the States. However, it requires a degree of practice, and it certainly won't work every time on every lock. There was an interesting article that appeared a few years ago in Locksmith Ledger (by T.C. Mickley), entited Factors which affect the picking of pin-tumbler lock cylinders that provides an interesting overview of some of the features that can make locks harder/easier to pick. I can't reproduce the article here, for obvious copyright reasons, but a lot of what he identifies applies equally to picking, including the basic tolerances of the lock (cheaper locks are easier to open), the amount of wear on the lock, whether it's corroded/contaminated, and the design of the pins (i.e., whether the lock contains pins that are specially designed to hamper picking, etc.).

A number of lock manufacturers have started introducing changes to their product lines to combat the problem of "bump keys". Pick guns work on exactly the same principle, and their use would be equally hampered by those changes.

In Adittion to this: What are some techniques an average citizen should do to protect the front door?

I think a number of the suggestions you've received in your other threads on this topic had some good ideas, including a good list of the locks that aren't able to be opened by a normal pick gun. Again, though, I'd return to the question of how common lock picking really is when it comes to burglaries. I honestly think that your money would be better spent on improving your lighting, reinforcing your door frames and considering how easily someone could break a window near your door.

I'm not an expert on home security, but there are a lot of good "securing your home" checklists put out by various police departments and insurance companies that you can find through Google. (Notably, not one of them that I've seen mentions lockpicking.)

[unlisted]

Obvious Troll.

Please do not feed the troll. I have deleted some of his other posts.

[Banjoguyyy]

As they say.... locks only keep good people out. If a robber wants in, he's most likely to break a window or bust the door down. Best just to get a good security system, or even better, just get a good dog.

[Squelchtone]

As they say.... locks only keep good people out. If a robber wants in, he's most likely to break a window or bust the door down. Best just to get a good security system, or even better, just get a good dog.

We've had that debate here already in several threads and I always disagree with that old adage that if a bad guy wants in they'll get in. Not if I can help it. I bet you could not break into my house right now in a reasonable amount of time and noise that a burglar is willing to make. And it didn't cost that much or take that much effort either to increase my security and make it a hundred times better than the neighbors house. Could someone bring a cordless Sawzall with them or just drive a pick up truck through my living room wall? yeah probably, but that's not very common of an entry method.

also you replied to a thread from 5 years ago
Squelchtone

[Kheops]

Absolutely right Squelchtone, about it being possible to make break and enter less likely. Seeing as how the subject comes up often, I'll elaborate from experience.

I am a police officer in a somewhat poorer area of a large metropolitan police force. I've been a patrol officer there for the past 10 years. I have seen a tremendous amount of break and enters.

You can definitely, easily, make your house/appartement burglar "resistant".

The majority of B&Es are done using really simple tools to force an entry. The most likely, by far, is forcing a back door, back window, or basement window (or the window on the back door) (I'd estimate around 55%). Most people have a mediocre deadbolt (or even, key in knob) lock on there back door. This lock is usually about 6 inches from a window, a window protected by two 3/8 of an inch plastic tabs. The other back door entry is forcing open a window, once again protected by ONE small plastic tab. Usually a large flat screw driver is all that is needed to force these little tabs.

Another 35% of B&Es are done by forcing the front door (usually only condos or appartments). Usually with a small crow bar, large screw driver, or even a well placed, solid kick. This is usually all it takes to open the front door.

Now, another 3-4% of B&Es are done using more obscure, yet still, destructive methods of entry. I've heard of one burglar who would use a small car jack to force the frame of the door, leaving enough room for the bolt to slip past. Or, example, there are a fair amount of B&Es done by simply throwing a rock through a patio door...

Around 5% of B&Es are done by simply opening the unlocked door or window.

That leaves us with 1-2 % of B&Es committed in an unknown manner (owner swears the door was locked, but wasn't) or the lock was opened non-desctructively.

Neither I, nor any other officers I've worked with have ever apprehended a burglar with lock picks on his person. The only tools I have seen, or heard of, have been snapper picks, gun picks, and bump keys.

All that being said, 95% of B&Es can be avoided by hardening the target (your house). The burglar, usually lazy, not very skilled at much of anything, will simply move along to your neighbors' house.

Target hardening: Grills on back door windows, usually less than 50$ at hardware store. Piece of wood in window track to prevent window from being forced open (costs pretty much nothing, yet makes huge difference). Fortified door frame (either at initial building of frame or added afterwards), think, large and lengthy door plates with many very, very long screws. Grills on basement windows (especially in the backyard). Lights with motion detectors. That's it. These simple techniques leave no choice for the burglar other than make lots of noise, and/or work very hard. These are burglars we're talking about. If they were willing to work hard at something, they wouldn't be burglars....

These target hardening techniques will render any house 95% resistant to B&Es.

If you want to get even closer to 100%, do like me. Along with the above mentioned techniques, get good high-security locks, and a 130 lbs rottweiler (all my security measures are to protect burglars from my dog).

[billdeserthills]

One thing I would like to expound upon is the wood in the window trick. Most folks don't realize that a trip to the local auto parts store will get a slim jim-type automotive unlocking tool. This can be easily inserted between almost any window and use to flip a loose piece of wood out of the track, so folks need to be sure that the wood is tightly held in place. Also I find many people who don't realize this but many times if you are able to open a window even a inch, a lot of windows can be just lifted out of the track, which will allow easy entry in the case where that stick is shorter than the window frame is.
One sad thing I have seen over and over is just how weak a standard solid-core door from a home improvement store really is. It doesn't take much of a push for the door itself to just squish out around the latch and open right up.

Far as a pick gun being a short-cut, using a pick gun with any degree of success requires practice, the same way that using lock picking tools require practice, there is no shortcut that I can see and I generally use a pick gun because I have become accustomed to, over the last 20+ years

[dll932]

Absolutely right Squelchtone, about it being possible to make break and enter less likely. Seeing as how the subject comes up often, I'll elaborate from experience.

I am a police officer in a somewhat poorer area of a large metropolitan police force. I've been a patrol officer there for the past 10 years. I have seen a tremendous amount of break and enters.

You can definitely, easily, make your house/appartement burglar "resistant".

The majority of B&Es are done using really simple tools to force an entry. The most likely, by far, is forcing a back door, back window, or basement window (or the window on the back door) (I'd estimate around 55%). Most people have a mediocre deadbolt (or even, key in knob) lock on there back door. This lock is usually about 6 inches from a window, a window protected by two 3/8 of an inch plastic tabs. The other back door entry is forcing open a window, once again protected by ONE small plastic tab. Usually a large flat screw driver is all that is needed to force these little tabs.

Another 35% of B&Es are done by forcing the front door (usually only condos or appartments). Usually with a small crow bar, large screw driver, or even a well placed, solid kick. This is usually all it takes to open the front door.

Now, another 3-4% of B&Es are done using more obscure, yet still, destructive methods of entry. I've heard of one burglar who would use a small car jack to force the frame of the door, leaving enough room for the bolt to slip past. Or, example, there are a fair amount of B&Es done by simply throwing a rock through a patio door...

Around 5% of B&Es are done by simply opening the unlocked door or window.

That leaves us with 1-2 % of B&Es committed in an unknown manner (owner swears the door was locked, but wasn't) or the lock was opened non-desctructively.

Neither I, nor any other officers I've worked with have ever apprehended a burglar with lock picks on his person. The only tools I have seen, or heard of, have been snapper picks, gun picks, and bump keys.

All that being said, 95% of B&Es can be avoided by hardening the target (your house). The burglar, usually lazy, not very skilled at much of anything, will simply move along to your neighbors' house.

Target hardening: Grills on back door windows, usually less than 50$ at hardware store. Piece of wood in window track to prevent window from being forced open (costs pretty much nothing, yet makes huge difference). Fortified door frame (either at initial building of frame or added afterwards), think, large and lengthy door plates with many very, very long screws. Grills on basement windows (especially in the backyard). Lights with motion detectors. That's it. These simple techniques leave no choice for the burglar other than make lots of noise, and/or work very hard. These are burglars we're talking about. If they were willing to work hard at something, they wouldn't be burglars....

These target hardening techniques will render any house 95% resistant to B&Es.

If you want to get even closer to 100%, do like me. Along with the above mentioned techniques, get good high-security locks, and a 130 lbs rottweiler (all my security measures are to protect burglars from my dog).

Seconded! A burglar using anything but trying doors to see if they're locked or simple force is very, very rare (in my decades of experience).