Home Security Wake Up Call

[Ben]

Got a good reminder about the security of my front door the other day. Went out for my few times a week run, donning a new pair of shorts and sticking my housekey in the pocket. Get back from run, put hand in pocket to retrieve key, finger goes through a *#$%^& hole in the pocket which the key fell through.

So luckily the hole wasn't big enough for my cellphone to fall through    . I called a locksmith who showed up about an hour later. He gets to my front door, puts a key in the deadbolt, taps with hammer, jiggles key. Taps again with hammer, jiggles key. Taps again with hammer....click -- door opens. That was 30 seconds later.

My deadbolt is not a Kmart Blue Light Special. This incident definitely reminded me how important it is to always use other security when I'm home, and how important it is to keep my guns and other valuables locked in the safe when I'm gone. Not that a pro can't get into the safe, but it's at least a time waster and I'm pretty sure harder to open than the galldang front door!

I also might start taking those "joking around" home boobytrap threads at THR a bit more seriously.

[Mabs2]

Ouch.
I've thought about getting into lock picking as a personal hobby...and as often as my family manages to lock ourselves out of our homes it would be quite useful (I've managed to keep track of my own keys rather well.), plus, it's just plain cool.
Anyway, what I'm getting at is, while the locksmith may have made it look easy, it was probably not so easy...
I think you could safely assume that the average crook can't pick locks that well, but then again, I really don't have a clue.
Not that crooks always bother with picking locks anyway.

[cordex]

I've played around with lockpicking since I was in highschool.  Made my first set of picks and everything.  Now I mostly use Southord stuff.  I've never done it for money, but my sister is trying to be a realtor and a couple of times she's gotten to a house where her code wouldn't work to the key box and the owner tells her over the phone that if she can get in without damaging anything, she's welcome to ... so she calls me.  Fun stuff.  Very useful at the office, too.

Anyway, the technique the smith used is called "lock bumping".  See this for an amateur description.  It is quick, but it also can damage the lock if that's a concern.  For that reason, I just do the garden-variety picking which is slower but minimally damaging.

A crook armed with a pellet gun and an ice-pick can get into most homes quicker than bumping the lock.  Just shoot a little hole above a window latch and actuate it with the icepick.  A crowbar works wonders too.  Barring that, just drill, saw or otherwise breach the lock.  Locks keep honest people honest and it is of little criminal value to pick them in most locations where time and visibility are an issue.

[Jamisjockey]

The average crook isn't going to pick your lock, they'd rather just kick the door in.

[Mabs2]

The average crook isn't going to pick your lock, they'd rather just kick the door in.

+1, exactly what I was hinting at.