Official Books      Prestige Classes      Feats      Articles      Thieves Cant      Drugs & Poisons      Traps & Tricks      Riddles      Online Generators      Avatars & Symbols      Equipment      Magic Spells      Magic Items      Maps & Charts      Art Gallery      Fantasy Fonts      Downloads Chapter 1: It's Easy The big secret of lock picking is that it's easy. Anyone can learn how to pick locks. The theory of lock picking is the theory of exploiting mechanical defects. There are a few basic concepts and denitions but the bulk of the material consists of tricks for opening locks with particular defects or characteristics. The organization of this manual re ects this structure. The rst few chapters present the vocabulary and basic information about locks and lock picking. There is no way to learn lock picking without practicing, so one chapter presents a set of carefully chosen exercises that will help you learn the skills of lock picking. The document ends with a catalog of the mechanical traits and defects found in locks and the techniques used to recognize and exploit them. The rst appendix describes how to make lock picking tools. The other appendix presents some of the legal issues of lock picking. The exercises are important. The only way to learn how to recognize and exploit the defects in a lock is to practice. This means practicing many times on the same lock as well as practicing on many dierent locks. Anyone can learn how to open desk and ling cabinet locks, but the ability to open most locks in under thirty seconds is a skill that requires practice. Before getting into the details of locks and picking, it is worth pointing out that lock picking is just one way to bypass a lock, though it does cause less damage than brute force techniques. In fact, it may be easier to bypass the bolt mechanism than to bypass the lock. It may also be easier to bypass some other part of the door or even avoid the door entirely. Remember: There is always another way, usually a better one. To return to the table of contents, click here. Home   |   Bibliography   |   Submissions   |   Contact