Locksport: A Hackers Guide to Lockpicking, Impressioning, and Safe Cracking

PRAISE FOR

LOCKSPORT

A comprehensive overview of everything there is to know about the emerging hobby known as locksport. . . . Highly recommended!

—

ANTHONY THOMPSON

,

THE LOCK SPORTSCAST

Locksport is a shared passion; a community of knowledge, collaboration, and celebration of achievement. This fantastic book embodies that spirit, with some of the most influential and respected people in the locksport community.

—

LOCK NOOB, YOUTUBE.COM/LOCKNOOB

How to succeed in Locksport 101.

—

LOCKPICKINGDEV

LOCKSPORT

A Hacker’s Guide to Lockpicking, Impressioning, and Safe Cracking

Jos Weyers, Matt Burrough, Walter Belgers, BandEAtoZ, and Nigel K. Tolley

San Francisco

LOCKSPORT. Copyright © 2024 by Jos Weyers, Matt Burrough, Walter Belgers, BandEAtoZ, and Nigel K. Tolley.

All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner and the publisher.

First printing

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ISBN-13: 978-1-7185-0224-6 (print)

ISBN-13: 978-1-7185-0225-3 (ebook)

Publisher: William Pollock

Managing Editor: Jill Franklin

Production Manager: Sabrina Plomitallo-González

Production Editor: Jennifer Kepler

Developmental Editor: Rachel Monaghan

Cover Illustrator: Gina Redman

Interior Design: Octopod Studios; SPG

Technical Reviewer: Peter South

Copyeditor: Sharon Wilkey

Proofreader: Liz Wheeler

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023030099

For customer service inquiries, please contact [email protected]. For information on distribution, bulk sales, corporate sales, or translations: [email protected]. For permission to translate this work: [email protected]. To report counterfeit copies or piracy: [email protected].

No Starch Press and the No Starch Press logo are registered trademarks of No Starch Press, Inc. Other product and company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners. Rather than use a trademark symbol with every occurrence of a trademarked name, we are using the names only in an editorial fashion and to the benefit of the trademark owner, with no intention of infringement of the trademark.

The information in this book is distributed on an As Is basis, without warranty. While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this work, neither the authors nor No Starch Press, Inc. shall have any liability to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the information contained in it.

Dedicated to all lockpickers past, present, and future.

You are our hacker family.

About the Authors

Jos Weyers is a world-record holder in the field of lock impressioning and a mainstay participant at locksport events around the world. Jos is president of TOOOL (The Open Organisation of Lockpickers) in the Netherlands, a key figure at the Hack42 hackerspace in Arnhem, and the mastermind behind the beehive42.org initiative. Sometimes known as the Dutch kilt guy, he’s been featured in the New York Times and was voted #2 in the Hackers and Security category of the Vrij Nederland Nerd 101 list in June 2015.

Matt Burrough is a devoted locksport hobbyist who has competed multiple times at TOOOL NL’s LockCon, TOOOL US’s LockFest, and the ShmooCon Lockpick Village. He also co-leads the Seattle Locksport group. During the day, Matt manages a professional red team. He holds a bachelor’s degree in networking, security, and system administration; a master’s degree in computer science; and a variety of industry certifications from GIAC (SANS), Microsoft, and Offensive Security. He is the author of Pentesting Azure Applications (No Starch Press, 2018).

Walter Belgers is a former president and honorary member of TOOOL. He got involved in locksport over 25 years ago. He has held many physical security lectures and workshops over the decades and has won competitions in several countries in several disciplines. Walter holds a master’s degree in computing science and is a professional hacker, testing computers, humans, and physical devices. In his free time, he enjoys drifting and rally driving, sailing, reading, traveling, and photography.

BandEAtoZ is a GSA-certified safe technician with years of experience opening safes around the world. He regularly publishes articles of interest in the locksmithing magazines Keynotes and Safe & Vault Technology. He is an active member in the Safe and Vault Technicians Association, the National Safeman’s Organization, and numerous professional forums.

Nigel K. Tolley was picking locks and subverting security as a schoolboy, long before he had ever heard of locksmiths or locksport. As a locksmith for over 17 years, he has taught thousands to pick locks, including many other locksmiths. Nigel has presented at corporate icebreaker events, lock meetups, and everything in between. He has also consulted with lock manufacturers and designers and found many exploits for physical security devices. He is a dedicated maker of many things, especially tools.

About the Technical Reviewer

Peter South (aka yakMedic) began his journey into the world of lockpicking at an early age, shortly after downloading an ASCII-illustrated lockpicking guide from a BBS (bulletin board system). He was able to pick his first lock with homemade tools. After a career in public service, he moved to the Seattle area, became involved with Seattle Locksport, and began working as a locksmith specializing in high-security locks. He has been a speaker at BSides Seattle, DEF CON LPV (Lockpick Village), and the Infosec Campout. In addition, he has done virtual locksport presentations on safe manipulation and lock impressioning for ShellCon and LayerOne. Historically, he’s been spotted working the LPVs at HushCon, DEF CON, ShellCon, BlueHat, Disobey, and BSides Seattle. He’s currently the co-leader of Seattle Locksport.

BRIEF CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Introduction

PART I: THE BASICS

Chapter 1: The World of Locksport

Chapter 2: Types of Locks and Cylinders

Chapter 3: Lock Mechanics

Chapter 4: High-Security Lock Elements

Chapter 5: Lock Maintenance for Locksporters

PART II: PIN TUMBLER LOCKPICKING

Chapter 6: Pin Tumbler Lockpicking Tools

Chapter 7: Pin Tumbler Lockpicking Step-by-Step

Chapter 8: Pin Tumbler Lockpicking Competitions

PART III: IMPRESSIONING

Chapter 9: Impressioning Tools

Chapter 10: Impressioning Step-by-Step

Chapter 11: Impressioning Competitions

PART IV: SAFE-LOCK MANIPULATION

Chapter 12: Safe-Lock Manipulation Tools

Chapter 13: Safe-Lock Manipulation Step-by-Step

Chapter 14: Safe-Lock Manipulation Competitions

PART V: LEVER LOCKPICKING

Chapter 15: Lever Lockpicking Tools

Chapter 16: Lever Lockpicking Step-by-Step

Chapter 17: Lever Lockpicking Competitions

Appendix A: Other Locksport Games

Appendix B: Where to Get Equipment

Index

CONTENTS IN DETAIL

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

INTRODUCTION

Locksport Origin Stories

How This Book Is Organized

Who This Book Is For

PART I: THE BASICS

1

THE WORLD OF LOCKSPORT

The History of Locksport

Lockpicking Groups and Hackers

Competitions

Rules

Legality

US Laws

Dutch Laws

UK Laws

German Laws

Australian Laws

Groups and How to Find Them

US Groups

Dutch Groups

UK Groups

German Groups

Australian Groups

Summary

2

TYPES OF LOCKS AND CYLINDERS

Padlocks

Cylinder Locks

Euro Profile Cylinders

Key-in-Knob Cylinders

Interchangeable Core Cylinders

Rim and Mortise Cylinders

Mortise Locksets

Summary

3

LOCK MECHANICS

Elements of a Lock

The Housing or Cylinder

The Shackle or Bolt

The Plug

The Core

The Keyway

Pins, Wafers, Discs, and Levers

Springs

The Bible

The Wheel Pack and Drive Cam

Cams, Tails, Latches, and Ball Bearings

Locking Mechanisms

Pin-Based Locks

Wafer Locks

Combination Locks

Lever Locks

Warded Locks

Disc Detainer Locks

Summary

4

HIGH-SECURITY LOCK ELEMENTS

Off-Axis Pins

Side Pins

Trap Pins

Security Pins

Spool Pins

Serrated Pins

Chisel-Tipped Pins

Pin-in-Pins

Other Pin Shapes

Sidebars

Wards and Paracentric Keyways

Interactive Key Elements

Magnets

Summary

5

LOCK MAINTENANCE FOR LOCKSPORTERS

Disassembling Locks

Useful Tools

Step 1: Unlock and Remove the Lock

Step 2: Orient the Plug

Step 3: Remove the Plug’s Retaining Mechanism

Step 4: Install the Pinning Shoe (Euro Profile Cylinder Only)

Step 5: Remove the Plug

Step 6: Dump the Key Pins

Step 7: Release the Driver Pins and Springs

Repinning Locks

Reassembling Locks

Step 1: Insert the Springs and Driver Pins

Step 2: Populate the Plug

Step 3: Check the Key

Step 4: Insert the Plug

Step 5: Lock the Lock

Step 6: Install the Plug-Retaining Mechanism

Step 7: Test It Out

Applying Lubrication

Summary

PART II: PIN TUMBLER LOCKPICKING

6

PIN TUMBLER LOCKPICKING TOOLS

Tension Wrenches

Raking Tools

Picking Tools

Dimple Picks

Pick Guns

Comb Picks

Tool-Buying Advice

Summary

7

PIN TUMBLER LOCKPICKING STEP-BY-STEP

Tensioning

Using the Tension Wrench

Tensioning the Cam

Using a Vise

Raking

Using a Rake

Determining When to Rake

Single-Pin Picking

Picking Standard Pins

Picking Security Pins

Overcoming Single-Pin-Picking Challenges

Combining Raking and Single-Pin Picking

Using the Waltering Technique

Using Pick Guns

Picking Other Types of Locks

Dimple Locks

Locks with Multiple Rows of Pins

Locks with Passive Key Control

Locks with Sliders

Locks with Rotating Pins

Disc Detainer Locks

Locks with Unusual Keyways

Specialty Locks

Creating or Adapting Tools

Getting Experience

Summary

8

PIN TUMBLER LOCKPICKING COMPETITIONS

Competition Basics

At the Competition

Inspecting Your Locks

Feeling the Lock

Doing Lock Recon

Organizing Your Knowledge

Observing Your Competitors

Being a Good Sport

Keeping Your Cool

The Competitions

TOOOL US

TOOOL Netherlands

SSDeV, SPASS, and the ACZ

TOOOL Australia

ACF France

Summary

PART III: IMPRESSIONING

9

IMPRESSIONING TOOLS

Key Handles

Purpose-Built Handles

Custom Handles

Improvised Handles

Files

Cuts

Shapes

Sizes

Key-Cutting Machines

Magnification

Lights

Power

Vises

Workbenches

Depth-Measuring Tools

Calipers

Key Gauges

Space-Measuring Tools

Locks and Blanks

Other Accessories

Summary

10

IMPRESSIONING STEP-BY-STEP

Setting Up Your Gear

Mount the Lock

Mount the Key in the Handle

Prepare the Key

Impressioning Road Map

Impressioning an ABUS C83

Secure Your Key

Make the Initial Marks

File the First Cut

Repeat the Process

Impressioning a Schlage

Using Other Tips and Tricks

Spacing and Depth Guidelines

Filing Tips

Mark-Reading Techniques

Summary

11

IMPRESSIONING COMPETITIONS

Honing Your Contest-Level Skills

Do One Thing Well

Calibrate Your Technique

Keep Up Momentum

Break Keys

Listen to Your Body

Optimizing Training

Packing

Understanding the Competition Environment

Arriving at the Venue

Registering to Compete

Choosing Competition Tactics

Going Through a Competition

Round One

Finals

Organizing an Impressioning Competition

Summary

PART IV: SAFE-LOCK MANIPULATION

12

SAFE-LOCK MANIPULATION TOOLS

Choosing a Lock

Lock Classifications

Lock Recommendations

Lock Sources

Gathering Other Safe-Lock Manipulation Supplies

Lock Mounts

Graphing Charts

Index-Line Stickers

Performing Lock Disassembly and Assembly

Making Your Own Cutaway Lock

Setting the Combination

Using Other Resources

Summary

13

SAFE-LOCK MANIPULATION STEP-BY-STEP

Dialing with Precision

Design Tolerances

Wheel Rotation

Finding Contact Points

Graphing to Find Your First Number

Moving All Three Wheels

Running Only Wheel 3

Finding True Center

Running High Low Tests

Finding Your Second Number

Brute-Forcing to Find the Last Number

Summary

14

SAFE-LOCK MANIPULATION COMPETITIONS

Considerations for Organizers

Registration and Divisions

Timing and Combination Setting

Lock and Personnel Distribution

The Competition Environment

Considerations for Competitors

Consistency and Speed

Graphing Charts

Simplified Dial Reading

Pregame Decisions

Game-Time Tips

Competition Rules

Example 1: The Czech Lockpicking Championship

Example 2: The Safe & Vault Technicians Association Competition

Summary

PART V: LEVER LOCKPICKING

15

LEVER LOCKPICKING TOOLS

Single-Acting Warded Locks

Types of Wards

Double-Acting Lever Locks

Lever Lock Keys

Lever Lock Precision and Tolerances

Hobbs Picks

Lever Lockpicks and J Wires

Practice Locks

Lever Lock Disassembly and Reassembly

Summary

16

LEVER LOCKPICKING STEP-BY-STEP

Lever Lockpicking Overview

Tension the Lock Bolt

Locate the Lever Pack

Probe the Levers to Determine Their State

Move the Binding Lever

Repeat the Process to Open the Lock

Troubleshooting

Pack Compression

Antipicks

Decoding the Lock

Summary

17

LEVER LOCKPICKING COMPETITIONS

The Competition Setup

Competition Tools

Competition Locks

European Competition Locks

UK Competition Locks

Improving Your Odds of an Open

Controlling Your Nerves

Getting Intel on the Lock

Competition Dos and Don’ts

Running Your Own Lever Lockpicking Competition

2014 LockCon

2019 LockCon

2022 LockCon

Other Hosting Considerations

Summary

A

OTHER LOCKSPORT GAMES

Timed Head-to-Head Challenge

Timed Challenge Tips

DIY Set Instructions

PicTacToe

PicTacToe Tips

Escape Challenges

Escape Challenge Tips

Direct-Entry Chain and Cable Locks

The Room

The Belt System

B

WHERE TO GET EQUIPMENT

Picking Tools and Tensioners

Impressioning Tools

Safe Locks and Accessories

Lever Locks

Lock Maintenance Tools

Miscellaneous Items

Other Books and Papers

INDEX

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We would like to thank our families for their support, patience, and love as we worked through writing and editing this work. We’d also like to thank all our friends in the locksport community who have competed with us, advised us, or shared stories with us over a beer or Club-Mate. There are too many of you to name, but we appreciate each and every one of you, and we look forward to seeing you at the next competition!

INTRODUCTION

Back in 2011 at the No Starch booth at DEF CON, Bill Pollock asked me if I would be interested in writing a book about lockpicking. Knowing full well my ego would agree wholeheartedly to having my name on a bookshelf, I still respectfully declined. What could I possibly bring to the table that hasn’t been said already? Several books on lockpicking already exist, and other publications can be found online.

Fast-forward to the world in quarantine mode. In a virtual lockpick meetup spanning three continents (and even more time zones) that Matt organized, we began discussing books. Matt had recently published a wonderful book with No Starch, Pentesting Azure Applications, and they would be happy to have him write another—maybe on lockpicking this time? While we were discussing this informally, we quickly noticed that our group included several experts in various lockpicking fields, and suggestions for chapters kept pouring in.

But still, why a new book? When BandEAtoZ suggested it should be a group effort on locksport specifically, something clicked. Yes, lockpicking and impressioning information is out there, but nothing has really focused on the sport aspect. Books on lockpicking or covert entry often overlook information that is critical to competing in locksport competitions. Locksmithing references tend to concentrate on minutiae that is irrelevant to hobbyists.

That’s where this book comes in. We’ve gathered a group of rock stars from the world of locksport, each with our own area of expertise.

—Jos Weyers

Locksport Origin Stories

Every locksporter has a different reason why they became interested in this rather unique hobby. Your reason might be that you saw lockpicking on YouTube and thought it looked fun. Maybe you are a locksmith and decided to see if you were the fastest person in your shop to open a lock, or maybe you ran into one of us at a conference and spent some time learning to open locks. Lockpicking is a superpower, and just like comic book heroes, your reason for joining this community is your origin story. We wanted to share ours with you.

Jos Weyers

Since a very young age, I have been curious about all things mechanical. I ruined a multitude of alarm clocks in the process of figuring out their inner workings. Recently, I progressed to doing the very same with way more expensive wristwatches. (Apparently, some kids never learn.)

Jos taking care of someone’s browser history. Photo by Dennis van Zuijlekom (CC BY-SA 2.0).

Being technically schooled in IT, I gravitated toward learning how to secure all the cyberz. With that interest in mind, I visited several of the Dutch, open-air hacker camps, where I was first introduced to the concept of locksport. This, of course, reignited my interest in physical things that shouldn’t be tinkered with and therefore shall be tinkered with. Buying gear on the internet wasn’t really a thing in those days, so being able to buy an actual lockpick set at these events was a very welcome concept.

After opening a serious number of locks, I came across a simple padlock that just wouldn’t budge (I hadn’t yet heard about the wonders of security pins). Rather intrigued with this little puzzle, I decided to visit a TOOOL meeting to get some tips and tricks. They can’t get rid of me . . . and that was almost 20 years ago.

During that time frame, I was elected board member and president of TOOOL, won more than a dozen championships impressioning keys, organized several LockCons, tried to buy an actual panopticon prison, lectured rather frequently about physical security and how it relates to the cyber domain, and figured out a new and novel way to easily circumvent most master-key systems by using just one key.

When I am not hosting impressioning workshops somewhere on this globe, I can frequently be found in Arnhem, Netherlands, at Hack42, generally considered to be the most awesome hackerspace in existence.

And yes, I’m devilishly handsome.

Matt Burrough

When I was growing up, Ian Fleming’s novels were my guilty pleasure. After completing the assigned reading for English class, I’d often grab whatever James Bond novel I had borrowed from the library out of the bottom of my backpack and escape into a world of espionage. While a cool-under-pressure spy who makes women swoon is an obvious and perhaps cliché choice for a hero as a teenage boy, I appreciated Fleming’s work for two other reasons: the tradecraft and the gadgets.

I loved finding bits of tradecraft—spy tricks and methods—in the books. These details elevated the books for me from mere pulp fiction to a new way of thinking about how things in the world are not always what they first appear. Of course, I was also fascinated by the gadgets on which 007 relied and was amused seeing which of these fictionized implements had made it into real, everyday devices some four or five decades after they appeared in print. This curiosity dovetailed nicely with my interest in all things tech related.

Despite my love of these books, alas I was not cut from the right cloth to be a spy. Instead, I focused on my infatuation with technology and pursued a career in information technology.

A few years after college, I was invited to attend my first ShmooCon by a friend who lived in Washington, DC, where I encountered my first real-life lockpicks at the TOOOL lockpick village. As fun as it was popping open my first Master Lock without a key and feeling a bit Bond-like, I left the lockpicks at the conference and returned to my typical tech-worker life.

It wasn’t until I pivoted my career into cybersecurity several years later that I dove headfirst into the world of locksport. Shortly after I joined a red team, a fellow penetration tester invited me to a small lunchtime demonstration he had arranged in the office. Visiting Seattle from the Netherlands was Jos Weyers, who was accompanied by locksmith and locksporter Holly Poer. The two taught several of us how to pick locks, and it was then that I bought my first set of picks from Jos. That week, I attended a lock impressioning class taught by Jos and Holly at a local hackerspace and was hooked.

This was fantastic—as a penetration tester, I had a career that not only allowed but also encouraged me to use these newfound skills to gain access to rooms or computers that were locked away. I finally got to use the Bond skills I most admired.

Matt impressioning a lock during competition at LockCon. Photo by Dennis van Zuijlekom (CC BY-SA 2.0).

From that point on, I attended every locksport meetup and conference I could. I enjoyed placing in contests and learning new opening techniques and about different locks I had never seen before. But even better, I got to befriend some of the most talented, most interesting, and friendliest people I’ve ever met. I hope our hobby brings you as much joy as it has me.

Walter Belgers

I believe hackers are born that way. I certainly was. I wanted to know how everything worked from as far back as I can remember. Technology has always had my interest, and keys too. After visiting my grandparents, we would get a call asking if I’d taken some keys. I did take them. I was four.

Walter competing in an impressioning championship. Photo by Dennis van Zuijlekom (CC BY-SA 2.0).

In 1980, I spent a vacation with an Exidy Sorcerer computer my dad had taken home from work, writing programs in BASIC with my older brother. The first English words I learned were BASIC commands. The computer was magical to me and a great opportunity to learn. Three years later, I had convinced my parents to buy me a home computer.

I learned a ton just by reading and trying out stuff. Things got really interesting when I went to college, where I was introduced to UNIX and got access to the internet when just 100,000 academic computers were connected. The internet opened up a whole new world to explore. I became a computer hacker. No computer crime laws existed yet.

Several hacker groups were around that were abiding by the hacker ethos. I felt at home in these groups and read everything I could. Phrack magazine was the leading hacker e-zine, and in the Netherlands, we had Hack-Tic magazine. In it, I read about lockpicking (which is just hacking locks, if you ask me) for the first time. Online shops or the World Wide Web did not yet exist, so I couldn’t buy tools. I tried to make my own but failed to open anything. I got so frustrated that I stopped trying.

I have been going to real-life hacker conventions since that time, the first ones being Hacking at the End of the Universe in the Netherlands in 1993 and Access All Areas in London in 1995. Many would follow. In 1997, I did my first real lockpicking at the Hacking in Progress event, also in the Netherlands. Finally, I had success, and I was hooked! I became a member of the newly founded Dutch lockpicking group and later started a chapter in my hometown, which I still lead 15 years later.

Meanwhile, I got a few jobs in IT security. I eventually joined friends to run our own penetration testing company. I could finally hack again, to improve the security posture of our clients. I also did social engineering and physical penetration testing assignments in which I picked locks guarding critical infrastructure. In the true hacker ethos, I gave back to the community by sharing knowledge at conferences, and I have spoken at a few hundred over the years.

I have stayed a member of the Dutch lockpicking group ever since its conception, eventually becoming president. I have been involved in organizing LockCons and am very proud of getting Tim Jenkin, who picked his way out of a South African jail, to speak at one a few years back. During these events, I’ve learned impressioning, lever lockpicking, and safe cracking. It is with pride that I now share, together with my friends, my knowledge of lockpicking with you in this book. I hope that you, in turn, will pass on the knowledge you gather in your journey.

BandEAtoZ

I’ve been a longtime professional breaker of things, and locks have always been paramount in that mix. Sometimes finesse is best applied instead of brute force, and locks often provide the opportunity to apply that finesse. Automotive and heavy machinery is where I cut my teeth with picking, but it didn’t take long to add other locks to my skill set. My initial foray into opening a safe deserves a story in itself, but that is for another time.

After more than 20 years in the safe-technician field, I was attending some required professional development classes when I first listened to a few of the instructors bad-mouthing lockpickers on the internet. All the typical complaints, including revealing industry insider secrets, teaching criminals, and using only fake locks, were brandished about.

The thing was, I had long been watching very competent locksporters crush difficult locks and knew these curmudgeons’ arguments were full of hot air. I sensed that the idea of non-locksmiths wanting to fuss with locks absolutely didn’t compute in their minds. They didn’t see locks as the wonderfully engineered puzzles that they are. Their loss.

BandEAtoZ manipulating a safe lock in the wild. Small indications made this a slow and deliberate opening.

While I would love to expound on my numerous locksport interactions over the years, I am authoring this under a pseudonym in an attempt to keep me from losing access to the safe-technician cool kids club, which is still populated with many who believe that even an unauthorized gaze at a safe lock is tantamount to heresy and worth a burning at the stake. This kerfuffle over technicians’ concerns about security is still in full force despite 80 years of these common safe-manipulation techniques being prolific in print, the hundreds of videos available online, and more importantly, the continued improvements to locks that make these techniques virtually impossible.

So, after a handful of years skulking in the back of locksport meetings, I am now tiptoeing out. A bit.

Nigel K. Tolley

What was the first lock I picked? I’m not completely sure, but I have at least three memories of picking locks from my childhood.

There was an old vending machine for hot drinks at my dad’s workshop. One day I watched an employee pull out some tools, jiggle something in the lock, and open the machine. He took out one of the 10-pence coins and inserted it into the coin slot to buy himself a drink. Intrigued partly by his alarm at realizing I had seen what he’d done, I investigated the lock and soon found I could do the same by using the plastic coffee stirrers.

I like to think that was the first lock that I picked, but there are other possibilities from around the same time. I had a younger brother, so I put a bolt on my bedroom door and a padlock on my shed. (Yes, I had my own shed! It probably explains a lot.) It was a cheap padlock, and I was lazy, so I quickly got into the habit of picking the lock rather than walking all the way into the house to get the key. I recall picking it open many, many times. With what tool, I have no idea—probably something I made in my dad’s workshop.

Nigel in his workshop. Photo by Morgan Tolley, 2021.

Around that same time, my school got new computer equipment, which was stored inside our school desk drawers. One day I watched a handyman installing the little locks I now know to be nothing more than a star key driving a bolt, designed for windows. After he had finished installing the lock on my desk, I asked what he was doing, and he told me he was adding locks so we couldn’t play with the equipment. I picked up his Phillips screwdriver and unlocked the drawer. His jaw dropped. I can only hope, looking back, that he was a handyman and not a locksmith.

I continued playing with locks over the next couple of decades, through university and a short career in aerospace, eventually starting up a locksmithing business in 2005, the same year that I first went to a TOOOL event—the Dutch national lockpicking championships at a hacker camp. I’ve never looked back.

The tiny niche of physical security (PhySec) is still, once you look closely, a vast, vast arena with a thousand genuine niche disciplines. Rarely do I see the same thing twice. In addition to locks, I cover alarms and CCTV, plus some aspects of information security (InfoSec)—primarily testing Internet of Things (IoT) devices for physical attack vectors. I have advised on books and film and have appeared on TV. I’ve created new CAD methods for copying the largest antique keys, and I’ve worked on photogrammetry methods for copying modern restricted keys. I’ve designed and sold several locksmith tools, one of which I bothered to patent and a few of which I’ve managed to sell to other companies. I have seen much more than just lever locks in my day-to-day work: everything people have made and fitted over hundreds of years on everything from cars to vaults, castles to mobile homes, including more than a few custom creations by aspiring lock designers, well-known manufacturers, and even drug dealers!

I’ve recently relocated; it will be interesting to see what challenges the doors of my new home, Edinburgh, Scotland, bring.

How This Book Is Organized

The book is divided into parts that focus on various types of competitions found in locksport championships. In each part, we describe how to get started, what tools you’ll need, how to progress from beginner to advanced, and what to expect in a competition setting. If you’re new to picking locks, we suggest reading the parts in order, but more advanced locksporters should feel free to jump to a part that most interests them.

Part I: The Basics (Chapters 1–5) This part introduces you to the world of locksport, starting with the history of lockpicking and a thorough description of various competitions around the globe, the groups that host them, and the laws that govern the sport. Then you’ll learn about types of locks; their inner mechanisms and high-security elements; and how to disassemble, troubleshoot, and maintain your practice locks.

Part II: Pin Tumbler Lockpicking (Chapters 6–8) This first hands-on part of the book focuses on pin tumbler locks, the most common and budget-friendly type and thus a good introduction to locksport. You’ll see several models and learn how to work around various security elements. We’ll take a brief look in Chapter 7 at a few locks other than the standard pin tumbler, but the principles of picking them remain largely the same.

Part III: Impressioning (Chapters 9–11) In this part, we’ll turn to impressioning, the art of fashioning a working key from a blank by reading marks made by the lock. Once a common skill among locksmiths, impressioning is now rarely used in the field, but it has gained in popularity since its arrival on the locksport scene in the early 2000s.

Part IV: Safe-Lock Manipulation (Chapters 12–14) The focus of this part is manipulating safe locks, a much more detailed and nuanced process than spy movies would have you believe. You’ll learn all about how to get feedback from safe locks, chart the clues you find, and zero in on the lock’s combination.

Part V: Lever Lockpicking (Chapters 15–17) In this final hands-on part, we’ll explore the lever lock, an old but sophisticated lock style found primarily in the UK and mainland Europe. You’ll see many examples of intricate key and lock designs and then apply much of the knowledge you acquired in previous chapters to manipulate levers instead of pins in order to open these locks.

Appendixes Two appendixes close out the book. The first covers locksport games and events not included in their respective sections, and the second tells where to source lockpicking supplies in your area.

Who This Book Is For

This book is intended for anyone with an interest in locksport. Those who are just starting will learn the basics, such as tools and techniques to use. Seasoned lockpickers who are not yet competing will get information about how competitions are organized, where they are held, and how to perform well at them. Experienced locksporters will probably also learn something new, as this book covers the four main fields in locksport: picking cylinders, impressioning cylinders, opening combination safe locks, and opening lever locks.

Regardless of your level of experience, the tools and techniques described in this book are intended solely for the purposes of locksport. We’ll detail the rules and laws surrounding lockpicking in Chapter 1, but it’s worth stating now that you should pick only locks that you own and only according to the laws of your particular area.

Now, without further ado, let’s get started!

PART I

THE BASICS

Welcome to the world of locksport! We’re excited to have you join the global family of people who see locks as a puzzle to be solved. It is our sincere hope that you find our hobby as entertaining as we do, and that one day you might join us at a local meetup or even an international competition!

This section will provide you with a strong foundation on which to build your lock-opening skills. We’ll start with a look at where locksport began, as well as current groups you can join and the locksport rules and local laws you should be aware of as you get started. From there, we’ll cover what makes a lock click, components of locks that make them harder or easier to pick, and finally, how to disassemble, reassemble, and care for the locks in your collection. It’s going to be a fun ride; let’s get going!

1

THE WORLD OF LOCKSPORT

When was the first time you saw someone pick a lock? Perhaps it was in a spy movie. Maybe you stumbled upon a YouTuber talking through the process. Or maybe you happened upon a lockpick village at a hacker conference. Regardless of where it was, you probably felt some mix of excitement, intrigue, and perhaps skepticism. For some of us, these feelings led to pursuing lockpicking for fun, which turned into a hobby, and that hobby became a sport.

Locksport is the nondestructive opening of locks in ways the manufacturer never intended. We use this term to describe both the hobby of opening locks and the competitions to see who can do so the fastest. While lockpicking is the best-known form of locksport, the sport includes other types of lock opening, such as impressioning (creating a working key for a lock without access to or knowledge of the original) and safe-lock manipulation, or safe cracking (determining a safe’s combination based on feedback from the safe’s dial).

The goal of this book is to teach you the basics of these techniques and then ramp up your skills until you’re ready to participate in locksport competitions.

The History of Locksport

Lockpicking has a long history, but in the days before the World Wide Web, it was hard to get information about it, much less find the tools. Lockpicking was known in the world of locksmiths, but they preferred not to talk about it to outsiders.

When I started lockpicking, I talked about it with my local locksmith, Mr. de Kok. He was very reluctant to discuss the subject. Mr. de Kok sold Mul-T-Lock cylinders that he assembled himself. Sometimes he would make a mistake, leaving him with unusable cylinders. Only after I started picking them open for him so he could reuse the parts did he start slowly opening up to me, revealing that he knew about lockpicking and had tried it himself. Still, he’d only talk about it when no other customers were in his shop.

—

WALTER

In the 1980s and 1990s, you could find a few resources on lockpicking if you knew where to look. One early example was Ted the Tool’s 1991 paper The MIT Guide to Lockpicking, a nicely illustrated guide that was many people’s introduction to lockpicking and that has now been translated into many languages. A few lockpicking books were available, such as those written by Eddie the Wire (it seems you need a pseudonym to write about lockpicking) and published by Loompanics Unlimited, a US book seller specializing in other controversial topics such as weapons, anarchism, and sex. Eddie’s introduction to The Complete Guide to Lock Picking (1981) reads, When Eddie the Wire was twelve, his dad gave him three padlocks and no keys. The resulting frustration of a twelve-year-old led to Eddie’s early interest in escape artists, locks, and picks. Eddie must have been that age sometime in the 1960s. One can only guess where he got his information, if he didn’t figure it all out himself.

Even earlier, lockpicking was studied by the Tech Model Railroad Club (TMRC),