#LearnLockpickingWithAlice lesson 11 (part two): DIY padlock shims!

Who wants to spend a $5 on fancy padlock shims, when you can make shitty ones for the price of a soda can (and maybe a finger or two)?

Today, I'm going to teach y'all how to turn a soda can into like 6 disposable padlock shims.

⚠️ Soda cans are razor sharp on the cut edges, please be careful; your fingers will thank you 🫶

1. To start, get yourself an empty can of soda, beer, energy drink, etc.

2. Using some scissors you don't care about, cut the top and bottom off along the bevel. You should now have a tube that is open at both ends.

3. Cut the tube down one side and flatten it out into a rectangle, then cut it into 2.5" x 1" strips.

4. Take a strip and (with a marker) divide it into a 4x4 grid.

5. Then cut an "M" shape out of the bottom half of the 2.5" x 1" rectangle.

6. Fold the top ¼ of the rectangle down.

7. Fold the legs of the "M" up and over the top on each side.

8. Shape the shim around a lock shackle.

9. Shim something.

#AlicePics #DIY #Locksport #BypassTechniques #AltText

Came across a really cool tubular lock today.

At first I thought it was some model of Fichet, but it's a tubular lock with the bitting on the inside of the key.

https://share.lpubelts.com/?id=f048719a&image=3961

(⚫ used to cover identifying stamp)

#AlicePics #Locksport #Locks

#LearnLockpickingWithAlice lesson 11: Shimming shit ('cause ain't nobody got time for dial locks).

Plenty of old or cheap locks can be shimmed, but the place this technique shines most is with those front-dial combination locks. Sure, you can look up the model number, find some arcane YouTube video, and spend 30 minutes decoding it (both the video *and* the lock)...

...or you can do a little shimming fuckery and have it open in seconds.

To shim a lock, you'll need two things: a shimmable lock, and something to shim it with.

So how do I tell if a lock is able to be shimmed? Well, there are three main types of locking mechanisms on padlocks: ballbearing, spring-loaded, and warded (which you can see an example of in lesson 10). We want the spring-loaded kind.

The easy way to tell the spring-loaded ones from the ballbearing is that the cutouts in the shackle will look like either an upside-down "7" or a "]" for the pawl, instead of a ")" which indicates a ball-bearing lock. This matters because if the only thing keeping the locking pawl (that little metal bit that grabs the shackle's cutout) in place is a stiff spring, then the only thing between us and opening the lock is reaching it.

How do we reach that pawl? With a little piece of metal called a padlock shim. They look like a little mouth with a blep 👅 at the bottom—and like A Christmas Story, we want to get it right up against that pole.

How to shim a padlock:
- Insert the shim with the tongue facing away from the mechanism (toward the outside).
- Pinch the wings so it hugs the shackle.
- Push it down as far as it will go.
- Rotate/work it toward the inside of the lock while keeping pressure on it.
- Wiggle and press down on the shackle a bit to help it slide in.

Once it’s in:
- Hold the shim in place.
- Give the shackle a firm yank—and probably send your shim flying.

"Wtf, Alice, it didn't work?! How could you lie to me?"

Okay, slow down. There are a few reasons for that.

First, the mechanism might be on the other side of the shackle—or even on both sides.

If it's still not working, the shim either isn’t deep enough, isn’t long enough, or the lock isn’t spring-loaded.

Additionally, some locks are *technically* shimmable, but the clearance around the shackle is too narrow to fit a shim in. In this case, a thinner shim, or a narrow pokey piece of metal might still work.

Finally, this lesson wouldn't be complete without mentioning that padlock shims are a disposable resource. They *will* break—sometimes after only a couple uses. If you're lucky, they'll last for dozens of attempts though.

Which leads me to my friend, @deviantollam, who is well-known for making shims out of soda or beer cans. These shims are fragile, but they'll work in a pinch and only take a moment to make. If you're good, you can even tear a can into a close enough shape for the job—just be careful, those fuckers are *sharp*.

#Locksport #Bypass #Shimming

Here are two prototypes for the "Kid Sister" aka "Brat" set.

The first image is one of the "Little Jigglers¹". The big pile is all the tiny locks it opened within a few seconds, and the small pile is the ones it didn't. The 2nd little jiggler in the set will have a different bitting and probably be about 0.5mm taller, because the locks the first one didn't work on were the ones with slightly bigger keyways, and some of the TSA007 locks.

The second image is the "Petite Hooker¹" and turning tool. Both slender enough to work in almost any small lock, but still capable of opening anything a full-sized pick can.

The final designs will have cute cutouts in the handles to make them lighter, easier to grip, and to guide new pickers as to where to hold them.

¹ I don't know if I can bring myself to name them like this, but I thought Fedi would get a laugh out of it.

https://lgbtqia.space/@alice/116243053443078188

#AlicePics #Locksport #AlicesKidSister

Padlock says ACAB

#locksport #ACAB

Well, my ten-year-old just picked their first lock

#locksport

#LearnLockpickingWithAlice lesson 10: Decoding combination locks by "Pull-Picking".

There are a lot of types of combination locks out there, but one of the most common is also one of the easiest to open—no tools necessary.

So, today I'm going to talk about popping locks with nothing but some fingers and a little feeling around.

Almost every example of this style of combination lock uses a series of 3-4 wheels, with 10 numbers or letters arranged around each one (though a rare few have fewer positions per wheel, or a fifth wheel).

From the exploded diagram, you might already be able to see the design flaw. When you pull on the shackle, it pulls on the wheels, and—much like with traditional picking—we can exploit manufacturing defects to give ourselves more information about the solution to our puzzle. To get a feel for this, try interlacing the tips of your fingers, then lift one hand so the sides of your fingers press into each other. The pressure is distributed between all your fingers, but some take more than others. Now fold your middle finger in, so it's no longer in contact with its counterpart; the pressure is distributed between the remaining fingers. This is like the wards on the shackle pressing against the wheels. Once a wheel is set correctly, the remaining tension on the shackle is redistributed to the remaining incorrectly set wheels.

But there's a catch.

Lockmakers add smaller "false gates" along the wheel to trick you into thinking you've got the right combo when you don't.

This means each wheel can be in one of three states: not in a gate, in a false gate, or in a true gate. Our goal is to get all of them set to their true gates.

Remember earlier when I mentioned manufacturing defects and design flaws? Well, in a perfect world (for the locks) all the wheels would be perfectly cut and uniformly shaped, and the false gates would be indistinguishable from the true one. That's not the case.

False gates will always be narrower or shallower than the one true gate on each wheel, and wheels will always be slightly irregular. This means that the pressure won't distribute perfectly between each wheel, and that the false and true gates "feel" different.

Okay, enough origin story—how do you decode one of these?

Step zero: try all zeroes...no really, it's like "password123", you don't think anyone is that bad at security, but they are. Like really bad. If it's a love lock, try the current or previous year too.

Step one: pull the shackle like you're trying to open the lock. If you find you can't turn a wheel, release a little tension until you can.

Step two: find the wheel that is hardest to turn—it'll feel like it's scraping a little, or it'll lock into place and have a small amount of wiggle to it, but won't go past the next number.

Step three: cycle through wheels, repeating step two until all of them feel like they're in *a* gate. If a wheel is in a gate, it'll have a small amount of play before it bumps into the ward on the shackle—with a false gate, this *may* be almost no wiggle, with the true gate, it may move by a good half-a-position in either direction before it bumps the edge.

Step four: if it feels like all the wheels are in *a* gate, but the lock isn't open, find the wheel with the least play in it, remember the number, and try rotating it until you find another gate. Once you either come back around to that number, or find a more wiggly one, check the next least wiggly wheel.

Each wheel may have up to N-1 false gates, but will only have 1 true gate, so learning to tell the difference is the key to decoding.

When you watch a professional do this, you'll usually notice them rapidly cycling wheels, wiggling each wheel frequently. It's not a matter of trying a ton of combos quickly, but more about calibrating your feel for the gates. Every lock is a little different, but they all have tells if you listen.

#Locksport #Decoding #CombinationLocks

I want these to be the cases for my new "Kid Sister" lockpick sets, which means I either need to design smaller picks, or find slightly longer cases.

Maybe Fedi can help!

If anyone knows of something I can order in bulk that would fit several 115 or 122mm by 10mm picks, please send the info my way.

The cases pictured are for lip gloss and are only 90mm tall 😞

In the meantime, I'm going to go cut a couple picks down to see if I can make them more compact and still easy to work with.

#AskFedi #Locksport

Hey, I'm planning to make some lockpicking kits for redteamtools.com that have an Alice-like aesthetic.

The goal is to make something that will be appealing to folx who like 💕 emoji, and perform well enough to be part of security peeps' everyday carry.

My design priorities are:
1. effective
2. cute
3. smol & lightweight
4. well made & reasonably priced

Kit #1: "Bear Necessities" — This kit is designed to open just about any pin-tumbler or warded lock you're likely come across (especially in the US).

> Two hooks, one rake, two turning tools, two warded picks, and a latch tool.

Kit #2: "Kid Sister / Brat" — This kit is designed to open basically any diary, luggage, desk, cabinet, or other tiny lock—all while being small enough to hide in a lip gloss case. I wanted to make this one because not only do I love tiny locks, but also because they're everywhere and most lockpicking tools are too big to fit in their smol keyways.

> One slender short hook, one small turning tool, two little jigglers¹, one TSA007 key, and one handcuff¹ key.

¹ get yer mind out of the gutter

#Locksport #EDC