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The ethics and moral dilemmas of using lock picking as a survival skill.
A good conversation starter about this topic...
So personally, I didn't get into the lock picking hobby with the view point of it being a survival skill, but if some sort of zombie apocalypse / collapse of society event were to happen, I know I'd be using lock picking as an every day survival tool.
An example of this would be to pick a lock and get inside somewhere to find shelter and lock the door behind me, if someone just blasts a door open with an AR, or smashes it in, then that door may no longer be lockable, with picking at least the door can still be locked up. I've thought of even having basic repinning tools or even a spare deadbolt with keys in my bug out bag, so if you pick a lock to some place that you want to use as a base of operations, you can repin it and make it useable, or swap out the lock. Obviously all of this picking of other people's locks is only in the event where everything is abandoned and most people are either dead or have left the area, and you have to scavenge to survive, or hole up in buildings to hide from armed gangs, aliens, zombies, or whatever end of days scenario you prefer.
In a survival situation i could definitely see this skill being a plus. I would like a set of bump keys also just to speed up the process just in case i wanted to enter a place faster than i could pick my way in. In the event of a zombie Apocalypse, depending on the speed of the perusing zombies, an intact lock would be ideal. The only drawback i could maybe find would be how to make new, or repair pick should you need to. Yes, hand files would be available but there would be no way to quickly manufacture them.
Just a thought. If a door has been smashed in and various items from the property were scattered around outside maybe the next survivor would pass that property by in search for a locked property. Whilst you make a base in the "apparantly looted" one.
Interesting thought experiment . Any skill or set of tools that will get you into and out of places and situations would be extremely helpful - although as you mentioned if a door is broken down, it's much harder to patch up (and needs more tools) than if you can non-destructively open the lock. If there are a good number of other survivors you can guarantee they'll be trying to smash their way into all the local grocery shops, gun shops etc but if people can't get in - or if you get there first, especially somewhere that's pretty well fortified (like a bank), picking and locking yourself in is a smart move as long as you can stock up provisions or have a method to get out, grab supplies and come back without risking other survivors or "enemy" (invading nation, zombies, looters, whatever) getting in to your hideout. Picking would be very helpful for that.
I think that, like LEO entry specialists and red teams etc you'll want to get in as quickly as possible, especially if being perused - so start with the fastest methods (EPG, bumping, raking) before SPP. That said if you're trying to pick your way into a gun shop of bank vault good luck with that, you'll need time to SPP in or tools for a semi-destructive entry depending on the situation. I can totally see the benefit of carrying picks in your bug-out bag, it's another SHTF survival tool especially in urban areas. You probably want to hole up somewhere with either food/water or guns if you have the choice, the former being easier for you to get into but harder to keep the enemy out of, and the latter being the opposite of that. I quite like the idea of getting enough supplies together to hole up in a bank vault, but at that point is it really living, you know? You're making your own prison, and all that. Depends what threat you're facing.
hdp160 - Makes me think of the Cheydinhal Dark Brotherhood sanctuary in TESIV: Oblivion . Secret basement in an abandoned house...
Yes, the ethics of picking open the neighbors front door, but only to steal all or part of his food supply and pre-determining, before picking open his door, that you will not take all of his guns & money!
Perhaps someone should also be leaving that IOU note?
Dear neighbor, I am ethically using my built-in socialist skills to take part of your supplies. Please don't shoot me, I promise to return it as soon as I can find some more to steal from someone who doesn't have a gun. Thanks, Buddy
billdeserthills wrote:Yes, the ethics of picking open the neighbors front door, but only to steal all or part of his food supply and pre-determining, before picking open his door, that you will not take all of his guns & money!
Perhaps someone should also be leaving that IOU note?
Dear neighbor, I am ethically using my built-in socialist skills to take part of your supplies. Please don't shoot me, I promise to return it as soon as I can find some more to steal from someone who doesn't have a gun. Thanks, Buddy
and I think you missed the point.. this is when the neighbors are no longer at the house, everyone is dead, and you come out of your bunker to find nothing but death or zombies and you walk down the street and need supplies and walk up to a locked house or business or warehouse or office building.. this isnt to pick a door on a house where someone is already staying in order to steal their supplies..
can we have one thread without it getting derailed?
I am of the opinion that if we faced some sort of meltdown, crisis or natural disaster where society has jumped ship and we have resorted to being savages then any tool available to maintain life is invaluable.
If it becomes survival of the fittest then this is just a tool to be slightly more fit. We all know treasures are often hidden behind locked doors so this could mean life or death in this scenario. It could allow access to shelter, supply caches, transport or escape from capture assuming the person has the skills and tools to pull it off.
It could also be very useful if there was a slow burn on the meltdown, such as we were invaded by our own or another country and we needed to hide or hide things such as weapons or people. A kicked in door will arouse suspicions, while a locked door may not always.
Ultimately I think the usefulness of it depends on the event and what other people are up to (if there are other people).
If we have a I am Legend scenario, lock picking would be great so you can maintain structures and not have to destroy everything around you leaving hiding places for creatures and critters. You have access to contents without interrupting the container.
If this were a Mad Max scenario, I think it would be most useful for escaping rather than entry which could be equally as valuable if you like not dying.
You could apply this to almost any other scenario depending on what apocalyptic event you subscribe to. I think the only instance where it has no conceivable purpose would be the earth was destroyed and there are no locks left to pick.
As far as ethics are concerned, I am willing to pick a lock in use and that I do not own to not die or evade/escape imprisonment.
Personally I think in a survival scenario where most of the population has died lockpicking would be an important skill. There will be no easier way to obtain food and shelter in such a world for the first couple years after an event that leads to such a world. After the first couple years you'd better be growing your own food if you want to survive long term. Shelter will always be an issue that can be solved by picking the lock to an abandoned building, but at some point you'll need to build, or maintain, a more permanent shelter. A lot depends on what led to the apocalypse, but I can think of no society breakdown scenario wherein lockpicking would not be an important skill to have. Everything from nuclear war (bug in because there will be no bombs anywhere near here, protect myself from fallout via dust masks and goggles, increase my intake of iodized salt to guard against accidental exposure, protect myself from the excessive UV radiation that would result from a nuclear winter, work with the other survivors in the area in the long term to build a local infrastructure so we can all keep surviving) to natural disaster (bug out to a safer area, secure shelter possibly in an abandoned building, return when it's safe - assuming there's anything left to return to - and secure the essentials - and only the essentials - from abandoned - and only abandoned - stores and homes until order is restored) to zombie apocalypse (bug out, short term shelter in whatever building I can get into and lock the door behind me, build a long term shelter as far from civilization as I can get, live off canned food until my garden starts to produce) requires at least minimal lock picking.
. Any skill or set of tools that will get you into and out of places and situations would be extremely helpful - although as you mentioned if a door is broken down, it's much harder to patch up (and needs more tools) than if you can non-destructively open the lock. If there are a good number of other survivors you can guarantee they'll be trying to smash their way into all the local grocery shops, gun shops etc but if people can't get in - or if you get there first, especially somewhere that's pretty well fortified (like a bank), picking and locking yourself in is a smart move as long as you can stock up provisions or have a method to get out, grab supplies and come back without risking other survivors or "enemy" (invading nation, zombies, looters, whatever) getting in to your hideout. Picking would be very helpful for that.
