Thanks guys, glad it's been useful so far! Yorkshire Andy - I agree, a decent snap proof lock will maybe deter someone once it goes, as they're a pain in the ass to get out.
Most of the UPVC burglaries are hit and run style, so the hope is that once it's taken longer than a few seconds and they need some other tools or a drill, they'll bugger off and try somewhere else. (Which is pretty much what home security boils down to lol)
Also a good point about Ford locks, although they're still a bit useless. A Tibble key is a sub £30 pick which gives you a ford skeleton key and a series of tumblers that turn to decode the lock. These also work in the ignition barrel, which means you can be in and away in a few minutes!
3. EDC stuff that may be useful;
Handcuff Keys – Not as kinky as you might expect, but almost all handcuffs use the exact same key, freely available for purchase in a variety of guises. I prefer the Uzi tactical pen, as it’s robust enough to use as an impromptu defense tool, glass breaker, can take a fisher space pen cartridge, and contains a handcuff key screwed in the top. You can also get handcuff keys in clip form, key ring form, or a type that’ll disguise itself as a shoe lace ferrule.
Why would I want one? Well just in case things go horribly wrong and you’re detained by persons unknown. This thing is 35mm long and weighs almost nothing. Why not have one along for the ride just in case?
RADAR Keys – Not anything to do with aircraft, these are again a type of key issued to match a lock that’s in use everywhere in the country. They open public disabled toilets, which can be useful if someone has hurt themselves and are stuck inside, or if you need a quick refuge that only you can open in a pinch. Or if you have two small kids of different genders and are on your own with them in the park, and both need the loo…Again, freely available if you use google.
Fire Brigade Keys – There are a few of these, and can be bought in a bunch. I have a set and another tool called a drop key (mine is combined with a lift opener). The idea being that these open communal doors, fire gates and the like for emergency access. The drop key opens electric vehicle gates to allow the appliance to get in and start hosing things down. Mine doubles as a lift key on the other end, to gain access to the shafts.
There are a number of specialist tools that will be covered in section 4, which you may then consider adding to a BoB, but the above is intended as a list of freely available multi-use keys that require no practice or planning to use.
Keeping things secure
Re: Keeping things secure
Last edited by Holomon on Thu Jul 03, 2014 2:41 pm, edited 2 times in total.
"The problem with internet quotes is that you can't always depend on their accuracy" - Abraham Lincoln, 1864
Re: Keeping things secure
4. How locks and security are bypassed, and the tools used
Also, just for those of you concerned with legalities, everything here is fully lawful and in the public domain already. Lock picking, lock picks, lock bypassing etc etc are all perfectly lawful provided that you are the owner, have legal right or have the owner’s permission to affect entry. This is intended to give you two views, from the outside in, and how to use that to secure from the inside out.
So there are a number of different methods of security, from padlocks to euro-cylinder (the yale type), chains to mortice locks…to the good old fashioned draw bridge.
As you may know if you ever locked yourself out, these things can be bypassed if you get hold of a reputable locksmith, and it’s usually scarily quick.
I’ll try to cover as many types as I can think of, but there will always be something I missed. Feel free to ask any questions that come to mind, or contribute!
Euro Cylinder – The yale lock, euro cylinder, standard front door lock, however you name it, is the usual type found on doors in from the outside. It’s the one with the flat key, and there are a number of ways past it.
Super MICA is a flexible form of plastic that is slipped down the side where the door meets the frame, bends around and retracts the catch (unless the dead lock has been applied). It works a surprising amount of the time, and usually the only hitch is someone that’s added foam strip draught seals to the inside of the frame.
Shovits are similar to Mica, but they’re metal and slightly less flexible. They’re good for latches that you need to be a bit rough with, as Mica is only thin plastic really so can only do so much.
These locks can also be turned from the outside by the use of a letter box or peep hole tool, which is fed in from outside, and swings round to operate the lever, or to turn a UPVC door handle. Again, these are why you should use deadlocks, and remove the key and place out of line of sight of the door.
Lastly, they can also be picked or bumped. Lock picking is not like you see in the movies, it can take a long time to pick a lock you’ve never tackled (we’re talking upwards of half an hour). Bumping is a different kettle of fish, you use a blank key inserted into the lock and lined up with the pins, and then tap this key while applying light turning force. This “bumps” the pins up past the shear line and allows the lock to turn. This is a faster method than picking, but can be relatively noisy, even if you’re using foam dampening rings.
Another noisy approach is the use of a pick gun, which works like bumping but with a gun type tool that does it for you and makes a very loud clicking noise as it does. The electric versions are less noisy but more worryingly, are very, very quick at opening locks.
The easiest ways to deter an intruder are by also using a mortice lock, as these also need to be picked, and will increase the chance they won’t bother (unless they’re determined to get inside for a particular reason.), and also by using a high quality lock, preferably with anti-pick pins. These can still be picked despite the name, but can take so long the potential intruder may die of natural causes attempting it.
Mortice locks – the old fashioned type long key;
These locks take a bit of picking and are a good deterrent if matched with your other regular door lock. It’s that extra thing that’ll need defeating, and they require an entirely different tool to a standard set of lock picks. Even better, is if you fit the curtain type mortice locks which have a retractable plate inside as another barrier to picking. The pick for these types of locks is horrendously expensive which makes it less likely someone will have one on them.
UPVC doors – the aforementioned lock snapper is the fastest way to defeat these. It looks like this, and depending on brand etc costs between £20 to £100;
Padlocks – As mentioned before, padlock shims will defeat most basic locks. Bolt cutters are bigger but arguably easier, so get padlocks that make getting to the shackle with any kind of cutting tool difficult. Padlocks can be picked using either standard picks, bump keys or comb picks, and depending on the quality of the padlock this will take time. Cheap ones more or less spring open for anyone, but a decent closed shackle high security padlock should be what you go for.
That said – once your padlock is the best, you need to make sure either the hasp or the chain you’re using is up to the task too. It’ll need to be robust enough to withstand attack by hammer, crowbar or cutter.
You’re not going to defeat someone with a disc cutter and lots of time to kill, but it may be enough of a deterrent that a walk up attacker doesn’t bother trying for long once they realise it isn’t going to be a quick job.
Shims look like this;
And are used by pushing them down the side of the padlock housing, and turning round to retract the locking mechanism. They won’t work on decent padlocks, but the cheaper ones people seem to go for are very easy to open like this. As there is no damage caused, the padlock can then be relocked once they’ve pilfered everything worth taking.
Tubular locks (shown below) are a waste of time. They’re usually found on things like digital safes (hidden behind the logo as a back-up way of opening if the batteries fail), lockers, letter boxes and the like. They withstand up to 30 seconds of picking with a tubular pick (£25 or so) and should be avoided wherever possible.
I won’t go into all the different types of picks and rakes, jigglers etc that are available, suffice to say that you’re least likely to be the subject of someone using lock picks to get in. That’s mostly a locksmith skill and even then as a last resort due to the amount of time it can take. It can be fun to learn how to pick locks, but in all actuality anything but the most basic kind can take ages to get the hang of. That being said, if you buy a couple of soho or bogota picks, they’ll open lots of common locks very quickly with hardly any practice – desks, window locks, lift overrides and the like. Just don’t expect to breeze through your front door as quickly as good old Magnum P.I.
Also, just for those of you concerned with legalities, everything here is fully lawful and in the public domain already. Lock picking, lock picks, lock bypassing etc etc are all perfectly lawful provided that you are the owner, have legal right or have the owner’s permission to affect entry. This is intended to give you two views, from the outside in, and how to use that to secure from the inside out.
So there are a number of different methods of security, from padlocks to euro-cylinder (the yale type), chains to mortice locks…to the good old fashioned draw bridge.
As you may know if you ever locked yourself out, these things can be bypassed if you get hold of a reputable locksmith, and it’s usually scarily quick.
I’ll try to cover as many types as I can think of, but there will always be something I missed. Feel free to ask any questions that come to mind, or contribute!
Euro Cylinder – The yale lock, euro cylinder, standard front door lock, however you name it, is the usual type found on doors in from the outside. It’s the one with the flat key, and there are a number of ways past it.
Super MICA is a flexible form of plastic that is slipped down the side where the door meets the frame, bends around and retracts the catch (unless the dead lock has been applied). It works a surprising amount of the time, and usually the only hitch is someone that’s added foam strip draught seals to the inside of the frame.
Shovits are similar to Mica, but they’re metal and slightly less flexible. They’re good for latches that you need to be a bit rough with, as Mica is only thin plastic really so can only do so much.
These locks can also be turned from the outside by the use of a letter box or peep hole tool, which is fed in from outside, and swings round to operate the lever, or to turn a UPVC door handle. Again, these are why you should use deadlocks, and remove the key and place out of line of sight of the door.
Lastly, they can also be picked or bumped. Lock picking is not like you see in the movies, it can take a long time to pick a lock you’ve never tackled (we’re talking upwards of half an hour). Bumping is a different kettle of fish, you use a blank key inserted into the lock and lined up with the pins, and then tap this key while applying light turning force. This “bumps” the pins up past the shear line and allows the lock to turn. This is a faster method than picking, but can be relatively noisy, even if you’re using foam dampening rings.
Another noisy approach is the use of a pick gun, which works like bumping but with a gun type tool that does it for you and makes a very loud clicking noise as it does. The electric versions are less noisy but more worryingly, are very, very quick at opening locks.
The easiest ways to deter an intruder are by also using a mortice lock, as these also need to be picked, and will increase the chance they won’t bother (unless they’re determined to get inside for a particular reason.), and also by using a high quality lock, preferably with anti-pick pins. These can still be picked despite the name, but can take so long the potential intruder may die of natural causes attempting it.
Mortice locks – the old fashioned type long key;
These locks take a bit of picking and are a good deterrent if matched with your other regular door lock. It’s that extra thing that’ll need defeating, and they require an entirely different tool to a standard set of lock picks. Even better, is if you fit the curtain type mortice locks which have a retractable plate inside as another barrier to picking. The pick for these types of locks is horrendously expensive which makes it less likely someone will have one on them.
UPVC doors – the aforementioned lock snapper is the fastest way to defeat these. It looks like this, and depending on brand etc costs between £20 to £100;
Padlocks – As mentioned before, padlock shims will defeat most basic locks. Bolt cutters are bigger but arguably easier, so get padlocks that make getting to the shackle with any kind of cutting tool difficult. Padlocks can be picked using either standard picks, bump keys or comb picks, and depending on the quality of the padlock this will take time. Cheap ones more or less spring open for anyone, but a decent closed shackle high security padlock should be what you go for.
That said – once your padlock is the best, you need to make sure either the hasp or the chain you’re using is up to the task too. It’ll need to be robust enough to withstand attack by hammer, crowbar or cutter.
You’re not going to defeat someone with a disc cutter and lots of time to kill, but it may be enough of a deterrent that a walk up attacker doesn’t bother trying for long once they realise it isn’t going to be a quick job.
Shims look like this;
And are used by pushing them down the side of the padlock housing, and turning round to retract the locking mechanism. They won’t work on decent padlocks, but the cheaper ones people seem to go for are very easy to open like this. As there is no damage caused, the padlock can then be relocked once they’ve pilfered everything worth taking.
Tubular locks (shown below) are a waste of time. They’re usually found on things like digital safes (hidden behind the logo as a back-up way of opening if the batteries fail), lockers, letter boxes and the like. They withstand up to 30 seconds of picking with a tubular pick (£25 or so) and should be avoided wherever possible.
I won’t go into all the different types of picks and rakes, jigglers etc that are available, suffice to say that you’re least likely to be the subject of someone using lock picks to get in. That’s mostly a locksmith skill and even then as a last resort due to the amount of time it can take. It can be fun to learn how to pick locks, but in all actuality anything but the most basic kind can take ages to get the hang of. That being said, if you buy a couple of soho or bogota picks, they’ll open lots of common locks very quickly with hardly any practice – desks, window locks, lift overrides and the like. Just don’t expect to breeze through your front door as quickly as good old Magnum P.I.
"The problem with internet quotes is that you can't always depend on their accuracy" - Abraham Lincoln, 1864
-
Yorkshire Andy
- Posts: 9888
- Joined: Thu Oct 03, 2013 4:06 pm
Re: Keeping things secure
One thing to add without getting into a brick which will open 99% of windows on domestic dwellings...is fit a letter box brush strip this stops scrotes looking through it making "fishing" via the letterbox more tricky and makes it harder to stuff something like a burning rag inside
If your roughing it, Your doing it wrong 
Lack of planning on your part doesn't make it an emergency on mine
Lack of planning on your part doesn't make it an emergency on mine
Re: Keeping things secure
Definitely!Holomon wrote:Thanks guys, glad it's been useful so far!
I confess, I adore prep type stuff that goes onto my keyring, and my ResQMe (a glassbreaker) died recently, so this thing would be great. None on Amazon, but I found this one:Handcuff Keys – Not as kinky as you might expect, but almost all handcuffs use the exact same key, freely available for purchase in a variety of guises. I prefer the Uzi tactical pen, as it’s robust enough to use as an impromptu defense tool, glass breaker, can take a fisher space pen cartridge, and contains a handcuff key screwed in the top. You can also get them in clip form, key ring form, or a type that’ll disguise itself as a shoe lace ferrule.
http://www.edcgear.co.uk/ProductDetails ... e=UZITP4GM but thats 6" long, and it doesn't look like key ring material either. Do you have any linkies for the key ring stuff?[/quote]
Re: Keeping things secure
Sure, a standard handcuff key can be bought here;Arzosah wrote: Do you have any linkies for the key ring stuff?
http://www.walkerlocksmiths.co.uk/index ... uct_id=570
"The problem with internet quotes is that you can't always depend on their accuracy" - Abraham Lincoln, 1864
Re: Keeping things secure
Holomon, sorry, I meant the pen itself ... you mention its 15mm long, but the only one I can find is 6" long ... I'd like the 15mm one, that goes on a keyring? Still an UZI pen ...
Re: Keeping things secure
Ah sorry my fault, I've adjusted the post slightly. I meant an actual handcuff key is only 15mm long (and having just measured mine it's more like 35mm lol).Arzosah wrote:Holomon, sorry, I meant the pen itself ... you mention its 15mm long, but the only one I can find is 6" long ... I'd like the 15mm one, that goes on a keyring? Still an UZI pen ...
The Uzi pens are all full sized I'm afraid because they're a tactical type, designed to be used as a weapon held in a fist with a protrusion at either end
"The problem with internet quotes is that you can't always depend on their accuracy" - Abraham Lincoln, 1864
Re: Keeping things secure
Okey dokey - thanks for coming back so quickly - I suppose an actual pen that size might be impractical anyway 
Still, its made me update my keyring stuff - not only did my ResQme break, my little screwdriver that I used for mending glasses fell off somewhere.
Thanks again.
Still, its made me update my keyring stuff - not only did my ResQme break, my little screwdriver that I used for mending glasses fell off somewhere. Thanks again.
-
Yorkshire Andy
- Posts: 9888
- Joined: Thu Oct 03, 2013 4:06 pm
Re: Keeping things secure
Arzosah wrote:Okey dokey - thanks for coming back so quickly - I suppose an actual pen that size might be impractical anyway
Thanks again.
I had the same experience with the resqme falling to bits the black centre punch mechanism fell apart on two of them I had... Reverted to the original life hammer in the car
If your roughing it, Your doing it wrong
Lack of planning on your part doesn't make it an emergency on mine
Lack of planning on your part doesn't make it an emergency on mine
Re: Keeping things secure
Excellent post many thanks for taking the time.
As an aside on door security, I used to travel often and stayed in crap holes thanks to my Ex-employer and one particular incident where the night manager let another guest into my room when I was asleep as he was drunk and said he lost the key to the room, when they left I crushed a can from the room bar into a wedge and jammed the door.
I later made a small serrated wedge that lived in my case, & used itto wedge the door closed before going to sleep, over the next year I was woken on two occasions with people trying to get into the room after a night on the pop, on one occasion it happened 4 times in one night due to a wedding party at the hotel.
regards all
90.
As an aside on door security, I used to travel often and stayed in crap holes thanks to my Ex-employer and one particular incident where the night manager let another guest into my room when I was asleep as he was drunk and said he lost the key to the room, when they left I crushed a can from the room bar into a wedge and jammed the door.
I later made a small serrated wedge that lived in my case, & used itto wedge the door closed before going to sleep, over the next year I was woken on two occasions with people trying to get into the room after a night on the pop, on one occasion it happened 4 times in one night due to a wedding party at the hotel.
regards all
90.