Pin tumbler locks offer the most security for their price.
They have close machine tolerances and approximately
1,000,000 different key combinations for a five-pin lock.
Considering the thousands of different companies mak-
ing pin tumblers (different shaped keyways for each com-
pany or design line), the chances of someone having a key
that will work in your front door lock are one in many
billions.

Pin tumbler locks can easily be identified by peering
down the keyway and locating the first round pin.

Sometimes you can see the pin's dividing point, where it
breaks with the cylinder wall (shear point).

To successfully pick a pin tumbler lock, your sense of
touch sould be honed so that both hands feel the tools.
Once the hand holding the pick has located a slight relief
in tension while picking a particular tumbler, the other
hand holding the tension wrench will feel a relief or break-
ing point. Both hands should be involved with the sense
of touch, the sensing of the inner workings of the lock.

We are now ready to begin the first lesson. First open
your front door and check for a pin tumbler lock on it.
It should have one on it. If there is one, leave the door
open to decrease suspicion. Do not lock yourself out of
your apartment or house by being overconfident; not only
will you raise suspicion, but window glass is not cheap.

HOW TO PICK A TUMBLER LOCK

STEP ONE

Without using the tension wrench, slip the pick into
the lock. The "hook" of the pick should be toward the
tumblers (up in most cases, depending on whether or not
the lock was mounted upside down-you can tell by look-
ing down the keyway and locating the first pin with your
pick). Try to feel the last tumbler of the lock. It should
be 7/8 inches into the lock for a five-pin tumbler lock
(most common pin tumbler lock used).

Make certain that you have no tension on the wrench
when inserting the pick as this will encumber the frontal
tumblers. When you feel the back tumbler, slowly raise
it with a slight prying motion of the pick. Release it, but
keep the pick in the lock on the rear tumbler.

Now insert the tension wrench, allowing room for the
pick to manipulate all of the pins. It should be placed at
the bottom of the cylinder if the lock was mounted
upright, tumblers toward the top of the cylinder. Apply
firm and yet gentle clockwise pressure to the tension
wrench.

Slowly raise the back tumbler with a slight prying mo-
tion of the pick. A minute click will be felt and heard when
it breaks. It will lose its springiness when this occurs, so
do not go any further with it. Any further movement with
the pick will cause binding by going past the pins' shear
line. Continue an even pressure with the tension wrench.

Keeping an even tension pressure, proceed to Step Two.

STEP TWO

The fourth tumbler should be easily felt since it is the
next one in line. Raise it until it breaks, keeping the ten-
sion wrench steady. It too will give a sound and sensa-
tion when it breaks or aligns.

STEP THREE

The third or middle tumbler is next. Again, it too will
click. Maintain a constant, even pressure on the wrench-
about the same pressure that you would use to replace
a cap on a catsup bottle. You may feel the "clicks" in your
tension wrench as well as hear them.


                       (See fig-05.GIF)


STEPS FOUR AND FIVE

Continue on to the next tumbler out, working toward
you. When it breaks, raise the last (front) tumbler to its
braking point and the cylinder should be free to rotate
and unlock the door. Sometimes you may have to play
with the wrench to open the lock because you may have
raised a tumbler too high, past its breaking point. If this
is the case, very slowly and gradually release the tension
wrench pressure and the overly extended tumbler will drop
into its breaking point before the other tumblers have a
chance to fall. The cylinder should pop open at that point.
I have found that this technique is responsible for over
30 percent of my successes in opening all tumbler locks.

If the lock still refuses to open after all that treatment,
release the tension wrench pressure, allowing all of the
tumblers to drop and start over. You may have more than
one tumbler too high and would be better off to repeat
the picking process.


WAFER TUMBLER LOCKS


Wafer tumbler locks make up over one-fourth of the
locks in use in the world. Since they are generally easier
to pick than most pin tumbler locks, you will be 75 per-
cent master after fooling around with these mechanisms.
That is why I wrote about pin tumbler locks first-they
are more difficult and make up over one-half of the locks
used today.


                       (See fig-06.GIF)

The term wafer refers to the general shape of the
tumblers. The wafers are flat, spring-loaded tumblers that
are much thinner than pins and the distance between them
is less. Wafer locks are picked in the same way as pin
tumbler locks, but you must compensate for the smaller
dimensions. You can identify wafer locks simply by look-
ing down the keyway and locating the first flat tumbler.
The last tumbler on most wafer locks is located about one-
half inch into the lock.

Wafer locks are used on filing cabinets, lockers, most
cars, garage doors, desks, and wherever medium security
is required. The only wafer tumbler lock in common use
that is difficult to pick is the side-bar wafer lock. It is the
most popular type of auto lock. This lock is of different
design than most other locks and offers much more secur-
ity than a regular wafer tumbler lock, or even a pin
tumbler lock.

The side bar lock is used mostly on General Motors
cars and trucks since 1935. It is used on ignitions, door,
and trunk locks. Side bar locks are hard to pick because
you cannot feel or hear the tumblers align with the
cylinders breaking point. A spring-loaded bar falls into
place to allow the cylinder to turn when all of the tumblers
are aligned. There is no way to tell when that happens.
One learns to sense the bar while picking so that it seems
to fall into place by itself. But for beginners, I recommend
this technique for emergency openings: Peer down the
keyway and locate the side groove of any of the tumblers
using a pick as a searching tool. Drill a small hole in the
shell of the lock above the bar which is above the grooves
on the tumblers. Since side bar locks have off-centered
keyways, the usual place to drill is opposite of the keyway.
Using an L-shaped steel wire, put pressure on the sidebar
and rake the tumblers using a tension wrench for cylinder
rotation and the lock will open.

Fortunately, most GMC autos have inferior window
seals; with a coat hanger, one can lasso the locking door
knob to open the door. If you are going to be successful
at opening side bars, you will do it within two minutes;
otherwise, you are causing unnecessary wear on your picks
not to mention wasting your time.

Ford auto locks are relatively simple to pick. They have
pin tumblers and you have to remember that the door
locks turn counterclockwise. Most other auto locks turn
clockwise. If you are not sure, remember this: If the
tumblers will not catch at their breaking points, you are
going in the wrong direction with the tension wrench.

Wafer locks are a cinch to pick if you have learned how
to pick pin tumblers. Just remember that wafers are thin-
ner than pins and there is less distance between them.

Generally you need less tension-wrench pressure with these
locks, yet car locks can be quite stubborn and require a
great deal of tension. Any heavily spring-loaded cylinder
needs a substantial amount of tension.

As a rule, though, wafer locks need less play with the
tension wrench than with pin tumbler locks. But if you
find yourself having difficulty in opening these, you may
try a little tension-wrench play. Usually they won't pop
open like pin tumbler locks, they just slide open; you don't
get the warning that a pin tumbler gives before it opens
because there is less contact area on the wafer's edge than
on a pin, so the sense of climax is reduced with these types
of locks. Still, they open quite easily.


DOUBLE WAFER LOCKS


Double-wafer locks are picked in the same way as single-
wafer locks, but there are two sides to the story. Not only
do you have to align the top wafers, but you have ones
in the bottom of the cylinder to align as well.

The Chicago Lock Company was the first to come up
with this type of lock. It is a classic example of the race
toward better security. Certain tension wrenches allow
uninterrupted picking using ball picks. You can also use
a standard tension wrench or small screwdriver and place
it at the center of the keyway. To eliminate unnecessary
baggage, use a diamond pick, reversing it to encounter
both top and bottom wafers.


                       (See Fig-07.GIF)


The last tumbler in this type of lock is located less than
one-half of an inch in. The picking procedure may have
to be repeated more than one time-top wafers, then bot-
tom wafers, top, bottom-back and forth. Yet these locks
are easier to pick than most pin tumblers.

Locate the last wafer on the top side and move it to
its breaking point. Do the same with the other top wafers.
Keep the tension wrench firm, remove the pick, turn it
upside down (if you are using a diamond or homemade
pick), and reinsert it to work the bottom wafers. You may
have to repeat this process a few times, but double-wafer
locks can and will open with such treatment. Schlage has
a doorknob lock that opens this way, but the last tumbler
is about one and one-half inches in.

Double-wafer locks are easy to master if you have
learned to pick pin and wafer tumbler locks. Since double-
wafer locks are more compact, you have to compensate
for the fact-slightly closer tolerances. These type of locks
are used on old pop and candy machines, gas caps,
cabinets, etc.


PIN AND WAFER TUMBLER PADLOCKS


Cylinder padlocks require a technique of holding them
with the same hand with which you are using the tension
wrench. This technique allows one to pick the padlock
without going into contortions over a dangling padlock.
Assuming that you are right-handed, hold the padlock
in your left hand by gripping the body of the padlock with
your thumb and forefinger. Insert the tension wrench at
the bottom of the keyway and hold it in a clockwise turn
with your ring and little finger, causing a slight binding
pressure on the cylinder. Now your right hand is free to
pick, and your left hand does the job of holding both the
lock and tension wrench. The overhand method works
well, too, but the thumb controls the tension wrench
instead. Switch around to find which is most comfortable
for you.

When tumbler padlocks pop open, it is quite a sensa-
tion because the shackle is spring-loaded and gives one
quite a jolt. It's a feeling of accomplishment. You may
need a little more tension on padlocks than on door locks
because the cylinder cam has to operate a spring-loaded
bolt. Overall, padlocks are the most fun to open. Prac-
tice using old or discarded padlocks that you have found.
I've worn out hundreds of them.



TUBULAR CYLINDER LOCKS

(Note: Diagrams of tubular lock were omitted due to the fact that picking
them with conventional methods is a complete waste of time.  There are picks
available that are specifically designed to pick this kind of lock in a
matter of seconds)


We will gradually proceed to more sophisticated locks
from here. I would like to remind you that success is not
based on personality. If one is arrogant about one's lock-
picking skills, one could easily be made a fool of by a
lock. And no matter how many times you bash a cylinder,
you will still be locked out. The only thing you accomplish
is attracting an audience-so be cool.

If at this point you have had much difficulty under-
standing the principles of pin and wafer locks, please
restudy this book from the beginning. Read it several times
so as to absorb it. The information that you now have
has taken me almost two decades to gather, so please be
mindful of that.

Now you are about to learn how to open the more dif-
ficult locking mechanisms-some of the other 25 percent
of the locks used today. You should feel confident with
pin, wafer and double-wafer tumbler locks before you
attempt rim cylinder locks.

Tubular cylinder locks stand out as the most generally
accepted lock in all important industries using high-quality
locks for protection of property, merchandise, and cash.
They are recognized as giving the maximum amount of
security for their price range.

Tubular cylinder locks are pin tumbler locks arranged
on a circular plane. Unlike conventional pin tumbler locks,
all of the pins are exposed to the eye. The central section
of the lock rotates to operate the cam when all of the seven
pins have reached their breaking points. When the pro-
per key is entered into the lock, the tumblers are pressed
into position so that the central section (plug) can be
turned. This manual operation of inserting the key places
the tumblers in position so that the lock can be operated
and ensures that frost, dust, salt, or unfavorable climatic
conditions will not affect the smooth operation of the