A few weeks ago I wrote an article discussing the nomenclature of a key. Today I am going to discuss some basic lock nomenclature, and look at various lock form-factors. In future posts discussing protection measures for your locks (and possibly some defeats) it is important to have a reference for various nomenclatures used.
How To Build a Lock Library
There is a ton of material out there about lockpicking and how to get good at it. There isn’t a whole lot of material about actually building a collection of locks with which to practice. As someone who has been very good at lockpicking and taught it for a living for five years I can tell you: having access to a large number of locks is essential. Today I’m going to talk about how to build a lock library that supports learning and progress.
Common Lock Nomenclature: Key Anatomy
Today I’m going to post on some common key anatomy and nomenclature. I understand that this isn’t incredibly riveting information to most of you. For those of you with an interest in locks and lock defeat, however, this is very important groundwork. This post should serve as a useful reference for some of those future posts, as well as posts on securing your locks from various defeats.
Don’t Post Photos of Your Keys!
Few among us would knowingly hand out copies of our keys to strangers. Many of us do, however, provide strangers with all the necessary information to generate a working copy of our key(s). Within two minutes of scanning this site I found at least half a dozen unredacted photos of common, residential keys – bad business. A few weeks ago I told you I would explain why posting pictures of your keys is a bad idea. Here it is.
Lock Safari: Seattle
I recently spent a few days in Seattle on business and ended up with a free day. I hoped to see (among other things) a few interesting locks on Lock Safari: Seattle and I wasn’t disappointed.
Lock Safari: NYC
I recently had the chance to spend a few days in New York, New York. This was a personal trip, and I covered a lot of ground. This time, I actually managed to focus on the locks I saw, and I saw some good ones on Lock Safari NYC. I noticed some interesting things about New York’s locks.
Lock Safari: Salt Lake City
I recently had the opportunity to explore another city in my search for rare and interesting locks. Lock Safari Salt Lake City took me through quite a few neighborhoods over a long weekend. Over three days a friend and I covered the Marmalade, 9th and 9th, Temple Square/Downtown, and Sugar House areas of SLC. I found quite a few interesting locks, but not as many as I expected from a city of this size.
Lock Safari: Vancouver, B.C.
I recently had the opportunity to spend an extended weekend in Vancouver, BC. While there, I indulged my desire to run around the city and its seedier parts to look for interesting locks. “Lock Safari Vancouver” was a success – I found some very interesting stuff! This post will be divided into two parts. This first half will cover the more “pedestrian” Abloy, ASSA, and Medeco products. Part II will cover the more odd and interesting.