Free Lock Picking Lab, Open to the Public!

[rayman452]

If someone acuses you of stealing it, say you are testing it out. What good is a lock if you can steal it? I suggest you do this when you look older, since if a young lad of 14 like me were to try it, then I would probally be towed away. I could then argue that my type is my worst enemy, and I want to make sure I cant do it, but that wouldnt smooth over too well. Or you could just admit that your stealing it, and then complain to them that its false advertising since it sais Master Lock #3 "High Security". You could also just ask your locksmith for old locks right? Or use the store locks. THey have like dozons upon dozons...

[NKT]

"Use the store locks"? What, on the front door??

Ask your friends to lend you locks.
Go to a lock shop or wholesaler and buy a cylinder!

[David_Parker]

I agree: While a good story, I do not codone this type of activity.

We're getting a lot of heat from the security world, and we're being viewed upon thin ice. And we have to be very very careful of the actions we take, otherwise, it may jepordize the discussion of our hobby.


-Dave.

[media2030]

i like how they actually encouraged you to keep picking their locks. in my eyes, it'd be bad business for HD. Who would want to buy a lock some random person picked in a few minutes? But definately amusing

[digital_blue]

Ah, but this is the retail world. Very rarely do you see somebody working retail who acts the way an owner would. When you do find that rare breed of retail worker, you promote them to manager and micromanage them to inefficacy.

db

[The Wanderer]

I think it's a very funny story. I would be willing to bet a number of patrons would be asking prudent questions about which lock was the easiest and which are the hardest to pick.
I think the Home Depot would sell a lot more expensive, higher end locks if their customers were shown how simple it would be to enter their abodes when a el cheapo lock was on their front door. I can see this actually being good for business. What a kewl job!
"What do you do for a living?" asks your new girlfriends Father. "Oh, I'm a lockpicker." you reply.
Maybe one of you young out of work fellows could apply for it? Minimum wage plus commission on all the high end locks that you sell. If you had some skills at picking I could see you making some serious ching, Bing!

[Beauman]

I manage a storage facility that also rents Uhauls. I've noticed that for some reason people tend to lock their locks on straps and different places on the uhaul trucks and trailers and forget about them. I know the Uhaul dealers don't want them perminatly attached to their trucks and would be happy to have someone remove them for them. We're a small dealer in a small town, and I've found two locks so far that have been left on our equipment, so odds are a larger dealer may have some on his equipment at any given time. It wouldn't hurt to talk to your local dealer and ask if you can perform this service for him and increase your practice lock supply at the same time. Just a passing thought

[digital_blue]

That's a cool idea Beauman, but why wouldn't the owner/staff just cut the shackle off the padlock and move on?

db

[Beauman]

Some might just do that, but the normal answer is time. Some Uhaul dealerships can be very busy and to actually take time out of working on trucks/trailers or taking calls, or even playing cards, to go out and cut off a lock that's not really hurting anything is not really worth it to them. Lord knows how long the locks I got had been on them, (one of them is still on the truck as I ended up renting it out before I could get the lock off) and how many dealerships they had passed through before getting to me. Speaking of which, I think I'll go check over the trucks I have now for new practice locks

[Elijah]

In response to a previous post, it is illegal to simply carry lockpicks in New York City as well, but onto the main topic:

Regardless of where you are, if you happened to make an employee mad and they contacted the police, I am 100% positive that picking the locks on display in a Home Depot would be considered criminal intent. Not only are you damaging the locks, but the employees know not your intentions. For all they know, you are picking locks until you are alone and then taking them.

Not to be hypocritical, but I have done this myself =) I'm all for it, but to call it risky would be an understatement of the greatest caliber. Be careful if you start to attract onlookers!

[vector40]

If it's a board of padlocks or KIKs, though, picking them would hardly be conducive to stealing them.

I wonder what would happen if you asked an employee for permission to pick-test some of the locks to check their quality...

[Elijah]

Picking the Home Depot locks is fun and all, but I prefer to explore their key machine / key blank catalogs. I'm only a beginner locky, and the clerk stationed in the key department is always willing to help me find something I need or just to let me look around while he takes a coffee break. I actually considered working in home depot before I nailed my job up at the University, and I wish I had taken the initiative a number of years ago. I think it could be a great learning experience, not to mention a really fun job.

[vector40]

Home Depot sells key machines and blanks?

[stick]

They probably don't sell the machines, but some Home Depots will cut keys.

[bigbike]

I use to work for the company that sets up the lock displays and downstocks the lock in Home Depot (bet most of you thought Home Depot did that but you would be wrong). The only problem I could see since Home Depot does not own the displays is if the sales rep from the company that does happen to be in the store at the time when you were doing this. Most of the guys/gals I knew (myself included) were far to busy doing the work that our company had us doing to have more than a passing interest. I would have probably said something like-well okay as long as you don't damage the lock. and kept on going about my buisness.

As long as you are not damaging the lock I do not see where it would be a problem unless a company supervisor was in the store at the time when you would be doing this -but then again most of them were too busy to much care either.

The thing is that most retailers do NOT own most of the displays (I don't care if it is a hardware store, or Walmart). Most stores today depend exclusively on sales reps and outside companies to manage their items thruout most of the store. More times than not the store is only responsible to downstock the items and do the re ordering. Outside companies are responsible to maintain the displays and service the items on a set schedule.