Acclaimed Lock Picker Explains the Art of Competitive Locksport

If anybody knows how to pick a lock, it's Schuyler Towne.

Towne is a competitive lockpicker, professional security researcher, founder of Non-Destructive Entry Magazine, and the genius behind Open Locksport. He's also a frequent presenter at DEFCON, talking in the past about influencing lock manufacturers, using keys to your advantage, and most recently, DIY non-destructive entry. There's also a thorough post on the DEFCON website where he explains what rakes, hooks and profile lockpicks are and what they do.

Overall, he's an amiable geek who wants to share his knowledge, and in the videos below, he gives us all an introduction to his basic locks and lockpicking course, telling us all about his passion for locks. He even shows the basics of lockpicking and master keys, gives a rundown of competitive locksport and tells us a story from his bouts in the Dutch Open (LockCon) back in 2006, where he faced (and beat) the #2 lockpicker in the world, Arthurmeister, and lost against the #1, Dr. Manfred Bölker, who is not just a lock cracker, but a dentist as well.

Step 1: Introduction to the Course

Step 2: What We'll Cover

Step 3: What You'll Need

Step 4: How Pin Tumbler Locks Work

Step 5: Disassembling Your Lock

Step 6: Reassembling Your Lock

Step 7: How Masterkeying Works

Step 8: Metal Options

Step 9: Making a Basic Hook

Step 10: Tension Wrenches

Step 11: Finishing Your Picks

Step 12: Lockpicking – the Basic Idea

Step 13: Tension Options

Step 14: Picking with Hooks

Step 15: Picking with Rakes

Step 16: Picking with Half-Diamonds

Step 17: Failure Modes of Locks

Step 18: Advanced Features of Locks

Step 19: Picking Security Pins

Step 20: Sidebars – How Medeco Locks Works

Step 21: Evaluating Your Own Security

Step 22: Competitive Picking

Step 23: Mixed Method Speed Picking

Step 24: Final Thoughts

Towne, referring to his loss against Bölker:

"He was so calculating and ... taught me a very good lesson about paying attention to your opponent. You don't need to look at what you're doing when you pick, except when you set tension. From there, you can pick relatively absent-eyed, but if you're watching what your opponent's doing and able to get to a point where you can process what you're feeling and what you're observing at the same time, you can gain so much information by watching your opponent pick the lock that you are about to have to pick.

"When I opened my lock, after having to go through quite a cascade, swapping the direction that I was applying tension, and so on and so forth, I said 'open,' I looked at him, he was looking me in the eyes and said 'Ah, and now I know how to open it, too.'"

Some think of Bölker's method as cheating, but it's a technique used in most competitive sports, including poker... even Scrabble.

For more on lockpicking, check out this how-to which eliminates the use of standard lock picks.