In movies, characters open doors by picking locks with a piece of steel wire. We call it ‘Lock picking’. Many people enjoy lock picking in some foreign countries. This article introduces lock picking. -Ed.

What is lock picking?
  Lock picking is an activity that involves learning the theory of locks, analyzing the devices and figuring out ways to quickly defeat the systems without destroying them. These days, lock picking is a sort of hobby. Lock picking wasn’t received well in Korea, but it is very famous in foreign countries.

The origin of lock picking
  Lock picking began in England around the 16th century. An inventor named Joseph Bramah tried to make an unpickable lock and held a contest. Someone opened the lock with a piece of steel wire. This was the first record of lock picking.
  After that, the skills of lock picking were developed by locksmiths. They tried to make locks that could not be unlocked but tasted the bitterness of failures.
  After those failures, lock picking became popular in the U.S., and it became a hobby. Recently, there are a lot of lock picking gatherings. In New York, it especially spread around universities and the local community. More than 60,000 members belong to the online club ‘Lock Picking 101’, and another club, Lock Sport International, had 14 chapters in the U.S. and Canada in 2009. However, lock picking is pretty unknown in Korea.

Unlocking procedure
  How do you pick a lock? If you are a starter, you need to prepare a picking tool. Before picking a lock, you have to understand the inside of a lock. There are key pins and a rotating cylinder in a lock. 

① Put a tension wrench into the keyhole
  The tension wrench needs to be inserted into the bottom of the keyhole and it should apply pressure on the bottom.  Then, apply torque to the right. The plug will rotate slightly, but if you apply force and the tension wrench rotates, it might get bent.
② Put the picking tool in the top of the keyhole
  There are many different tools, so you should choose a suitable one. It is not easy to choose one at first because picking a suitable pick needs a lot of experience. I recommend you to pick the ‘Bogota rake’ at first, which has three ridges. It can be used in almost all locks to unlock a lock easily.
③ Lift up pins with the picking tool
  It is not simple to lift the pins because you cannot see inside the lock. You only pick a lock with your feeling. When you lift up a pin, you can rotate the cylinder slightly more. It is an inherent error about the cylinder. Also, many experts recommend using the left hand for that because it is more comfortable to rotate the cylinder.
④ Repeat and repeat it
  Keep applying torque on your wrench and scrubbing the pins until they all set. You may need to apply more torque and pressure on the pins with your pick as you get near the last one or two pins that need to be set. If you’re not making any progress, you probably applied too much torque with the wrench.
⑤ Develop a feel
  The best way to learn how to pick a lock quickly is to develop a feel for it. Also, use different picking tools. Using other picking tools might be difficult but I am sure that it is really helpful to become proficient.

How to excel at lock picking
  You need to understand the inside structure of each lock. Lee Jun-kyo(35, Worker) who manages a lock picking club, said, “You have to develop a ‘feel’ for it. Each lock is different, but the same basic principles apply and if you want to get more in-depth in the lock picking, check two sources: (1) The CIA lock picking field operative training manual (2) The MIT guide to lock picking. Those are 2 tips for you.”

By Lee Min-kyo
mk36@cbnu.ac.kr