Lock Picking and Lock Bumping News — Lock Picks

  Good gosh the end of the British summer is a dreary time. Forced into introspection by the predictability of seasons, the end of what we call summer is a few days when we finally accept the annual fact that we don't actually have a summer, rather one long teasing transition between spring and autumn; a myth of a season defined by promising sunny mornings followed by dull, grey afternoons that have you shivering in your summer wear by evening. Put your flip-flops away, it's over again, England is cold and always has been. So, unless global warming sorts itself...

It will probably come as no surprise to you that one of the questions I regularly receive (second of course to 'Where's my order?') is 'How long will it take me to learn to pick locks?' Sometimes it's not so encouraging, just a simple 'How long until I can pick locks?', or occasionally a simple 'How long does it take?' I wouldn't be surprised if one day I got an email coldly asking 'When?', such is the nature of our instantly gratifying, disposable culture, where the journey is considered an obstacle and the destination everything. Sure, we all want to...

Hello all Hey Hey Hey! I managed to get out of going to a wedding today - which is always nice. Personally I didn't think they should get married in the first place, and when I told my friend, he was quick to tell me the wedding had merely been rescheduled, not cancelled. Oh dear. So I've taken my foot out of my mouth and since it looks like monsoon season has hit London I thought I'd write a little post about our new lock picking sets. Namely our Lock Picking Starter Special and our Dangerfield's Premium Lock Pick Set....

I hope this finds you well. The new year is well and truly into gear now and all the great ideas you had over the holiday period have retreated back to where they belong and you're back in your reassuringly familiar groove. We make changes when we have to, not when we want to - it makes more sense that way anyway. I'm obviously back to work. Not that I ever stopped. I went on holiday, but with modern communications it would have almost been rude not to work. There I was on a beach in Thailand, my lady friend...

Hello Lock Pickers

One of the most common emails I receive (apart from the endless 'Thank you for a great service and super-dooper, ultra-discount lock pick' ones, of course) is one of the many variations on the 'Will these picks open this lock?', accompanied by a blurry picture of an old rim-cylinder, padlock, bike lock, or tubular lock on an old safe. This email - if you know anything about lock picking is as simple as it is complicated to answer. For instance, were it a 6 pin cylinder, generic keyway, then yes, sure, a set of rakes, a pick gun, a pick set - even Mica - can open that lock. But it depends on a lot of things out of my control. What condition is the lock? Is it full of sand (locksmiths who live in hot countries by the beach - even cold countries near the beach - will know the amount of trouble sand can cause locks), is it full of bent and/or damaged pins where you (or someone) has tried to force it, snap it, drill it, etc. Without knowing the state of the lock I don't really know what will certainly work on it, and I never could. Assuming the lock is in perfect working order, what are your abilities as a lock picker? You may have bumped a couple of locks, you may have had a few lucky rakes (and as much as I love raking, isn't all raking a little bit lucky? That's the beauty of it, surely?). In many walks of life a small amount of success can give us a false sense of our own abilities, and then, faced with a new lock, you think 'I can do that!', I'll just send a photo to the nice people at UK Bump Keys and they'll send me the CORRECT lock smith tools.