This is Why Combination Locks are Completely Useless

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If a good lock takes five minutes to decode, and you want to protect something for ten hours, all you have to do is put 120 locks on it. The only downside is that you'll have to dial in 120 combinations when you want to use the thing, and you'll have to close and scramble 120 locks when you're done. If you bring two buddies, though, it becomes a more manageable 40 locks each. But a thief can also bring two buddies, and then they can decode 120 locks in 3 hours and 20 minutes.

Lockpicking Lawyer: Well done disciple, you have learned the basics!

Back in college for some reason there were a bunch of abandoned bike locks on a bike rack. I noticed them on several occasions until eventually the school put notes on them stating they would be cut off if not claimed. For some reason I took it upon myself to try to crack the combination locks, realizing now I used the same method the author did. After a few days of practice I was able to crack most of them and claim several free bike locks!

There's a design solution to this, but it makes the lock a lot more cumbersome. You need a switch that runs down the outer groove of the internal rotating gears. This switch needs to lock into the loop of the lock so that you basically it locks the lock's loop in place when it's disengaged from the combination gears. You end up with a lock that lets you either try to open the lock by pulling the loop, or lets you rotate the numbers, but not both at the same time.

This man will eventually learn anything blindfolded

Skilled mike

I used to skip school assemblies a decent amount because I was often late to school and didn’t want to be singled out for being late, so I’d bunk out in the locker rooms where everyone kept their books and bags, with almost everyone locking their lockers with combination padlocks. I decided to pass those empty half hours by attempting to crack their codes, figuring this method out by myself when I noticed some dials were stiffer to turn, and eventually found myself succeeding every single time within 90-120 seconds. I made it into a challenge to myself to see how many locks I could crack by the end of assembly. My personal best was 22 locks in that 30 minute assembly period. I remember waiting for everyone to come back to the locker rooms and slipping into the crowd afterwards so no one suspected me, and everyone walking in and wondering how their lockers were mysteriously open XD

My new bike is amazing. Thanks for the tips!

Next: Getting into a Bank Vault, Unnoticed.

Most locks are designed to deter thieves, not stop them. If somebody really wants to get past a lock, they can and will. However, the longer they are delayed the more chance of them getting caught or simply giving up for an easier job. A nomination lock could still be useful when paired with contemporary locks or further combination locks. Remember, the more of a hassle it is for you, all the more hassle it will be for any perspective thieves.

Fantastic...several other YouTubes didn't help, but after a few tries I got my lock open and reset! The turning of all three dials at the same time and some adjustments got the lock open. Thank you very much.

To be fair, I use a combination lock almost entirely in the gym locker rooms. If a prospective thief is trying to get into my locker, 10min fiddling with the lock at an awkward angle is going to be way too suspicious to be able to pull it off. That’s the point of these locks, not unbreakable security, but to make it difficult enough that getting away with it is unlikely. In 10min there’s not only a good chance other guests or staff will get suspicious but also there’s a good chance I’ll return to the locker in that time

You unlock the character: Mike thief.

Him: These locks took so little time to crack! Me: Chuckles with Bolt cutters

I wasn't able to feel the moving/less moving parts, so I went for a more brute force but about just as long way for the fake gated lock: I checked out where all the gates where for all the wheels. Did a little table of the combination this left me with (a 4 wheel lock, 3 wheels with 5 gates, 1 wheel with 1 gate, 125 possibilities) then I just tested them all. Finding the gates, making the table, and testing took me about seven minutes

This was great! We had a bike combo lock that we had long forgotten the combination to. This video helped me to finally get that thing unlocked and remember the combination. Only problem now is that I have lost all faith in the lock being able to protect my bike anymore. So, thanks....?

2 years later: learning how to hack into the governments nuclear system and launching a bomb to a desert.

imagine the fbi going through his search histtory: how to pick a lock how to pick a bike lock how to pick a high security lock

I had forgotten the code for a combination lock I had … I used your technique and it worked. It was frighteningly too easy.