Originally Posted By: Paul810
As someone that was trained to pick locks I can say right now.....it's not as easy as it looks. Anyone that thinks it works like it does in the movies would be in for a rude awakening.

It takes a lot of practice and even then it borders on an art form. Some locks are easy, others can be picked but it takes a significant amount of time (hours in some cases), finally others are nearly impossible to defeat with normal lock-picks....more often than not you won't know which lock you have until you attempt it.

For the average person, a set of picks would border on useless. One would really be better off carrying a set of bolt cutters, a power drill, or a sledge hammer, rather than a set of lock-picks, if you really need to get into a locked door.


I agree. My SO's brother is a professional locksmith. After 26 years experience at this very specialized trade, he can attest that the skill required to pick a lock is not something that you are going to all of sudden, learn in the middle of an urban disaster, especially considering the differences in lock mechanism designs out there.

In an urban disaster situation, I can't think of anyone having to imagine picking a lock. Most locks can be opened much easier using the tools Paul mentioned.

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Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books.

John Lubbock