Lock Picking Guide To Propane Cage Locks
Howdy folks! This blog post will be a quick explanation of how lock picking can improve your everyday life. I will give a couple practical examples and provide my choice of everyday carry lock picks, as well as some recommendations for training equipment and a more substantial kit that I like to take into the field. In the future, I will be releasing some lock picking content to help the new lock-picking explorer improve their techniques and process for picking locks!
Practical Lock Picking – IRL!
When I started my lock picking journey I never imagined that it would end up being extremely useful in my personal life! In fact, I often doubted that it would be practical in covert entry engagements as usually there are much easier and quicker methods to breach perimeter defenses than lock picking. Last year, two events occurred that changed my perspective on the practicality of lock picking in everyday life.
I had acquired the prudent habit of always carrying a small set of lock picks on my person. When I showed up at a gas station to purchase propane and the manager informed me, they had lost the key I offered to pick the lock for propane. To my surprise they let me try. At that time my everyday carry lock picks were fairly flimsy things, but luckily the lock was a basic master lock and I opened it in about 6 seconds. I kept carrying these flimsy lock picks, but decided it was time to add to the collection and I purchased the really nice Titanium Bogota set from Covert Instruments and added them to my everyday carry kit. The set includes a rake and a single pick, and the handles of the picks double as very sturdy turning tools.
Later that year, my brother purchased a house with a really nice large workshop. The workshop rolling doors were secured with discus padlocks. Unfortunately, the previous owner did not remove them or hand over the key to them. I am pretty sure they were Master Lock 40KADPF or similar four-pin locks. They were badly beat up and rusty which led to the final demise of my flimsy lock pick set. The Titanium Bogota set made short work of the weak locks and saved some considerable annoyance for my brother.
It is worth mentioning that sometimes lock picks can be quite handy on red team physical engagements as well, there have been many server rooms, cabinets containing passwords, office doors that cannot be easily bypassed that allow access to sensitive areas and more that I have encountered during physical engagements.
Practice kits I recommend:
EDC Lock picks I recommend:
My favorite field lock pick set:
How I learned to pick locks:
https://www.youtube.com/@lockpickinglawyer
https://www.youtube.com/@LockNoob
“Practical Lock Picking: A Physical Penetration Tester’s Training Guide” by Deviant Ollam
Lock Picking Conclusion
Thank you for reading this quick little blog about the practical everyday use of lock picking and some recommendations for lock picking toolsets. Stay tuned for more fun content around lock picking basics.
Disclaimer:
In some states it is illegal to own or posses lock picking tools, do research before purchasing them.
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