Lock Bumping- Please Watch for Your Safety

[Jester99]

This is scary and I can't believe the public has not been warned prior to this. Maybe some of you have heard of this, but this is definitely the first time I have ever heard of this and I am quite shocked.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hr23tpWX8lM

 

[ECKSJAY]

Waste of time. If someone wants in they'll just kick the door in or break a window. Typical media hype.

 

[igotanxj]

I like how they say "notice we didn't tell you how to make a bump key". Then you look at the first related video and it's titled "how to make a bump key". haha. The internet is great.

 

[wolfpackjeeper]

there are some great videos on lock picking out there, and I was amazed at how easy it was. We had a small lockbox dad keeps a few hand guns in that we had lost the key to. We were about to go down and lance the lock with the drill press, decided to try to pick it first. Literally, cliche I know, we used bobby pins. Bent them up with some pliers, took him about a minute the first time. Now he jokes that there is no need for the keys at all, he has a whole box of them.

 

[miteclgst]

kinda scary but I agree that if someone wants to get in bad enough they will do it by any means.

 

[5-90]

I first learned this from a locksmith some 20-odd years ago. I simply never told anyone - why be the epicentre of a panic?

Of course, "newsmedia" thrives on panic.

It's fairly easy with most single-cut residential locks, particularly Kwiksets and derivates (Defiant comes readily to mind.)

This is why I always recommend some variety of a "police bar" for overnight - it still won't stop someone who is determined to get in, but it will slow them down and make them make some noise doing it. This gives you time to get something together on your end.

Picking locks? Also easy, if your fingers are good. You need relatively fine motor control and a decent sense of touch (to feel the tumblers drop into place.) It's easy with cheaper locks, less easy with quality locks (a Schlage, for instance, is more difficult to feel than a Kwikset.) And, there are ways around that - Schlage makes some "two-level" keys that are damned near impossible to pick without the proper "base key" inserted to set the lower tumblers while you pick the uppers.

 

[igotanxj]

Yeah, they can get into a house by other means. But this is a good way to do it if someone wants to get in without showing forced entry or other obvious signs of a burglary. How often does your wife inventory her jewelry? Someone could break in, take a thing or two, and nobody would even know they were robbed, they might even think they lost it somewhere.

 

[5-90]

Yeah, they can get into a house by other means. But this is a good way to do it if someone wants to get in without showing forced entry or other obvious signs of a burglary. How often does your wife inventory her jewelry? Someone could break in, take a thing or two, and nobody would even know they were robbed, they might even think they lost it somewhere.

Exactly. The first layer of security is anonymity - recall that the nail that sticks up get hammered down first.

Second rule comes from the jungle - "Look like food and you will be eaten."

Flashy people are usually complacent, and get picked off first. I don't think my wife and I together own $1000 in jewelry, and I know I have considerably less than $500. The only gold I own is my wedding ring, the flashiest thing I own is a 24-hour watch that I bought for $70. I own one suit and one tuxedo (both are worn rarely,) and aren't some stunning designer pieces - they're just a regular grey suit and a regular tuxedo with shawl lapels (probably paid $500 for both of them.) I only paid that much because I took my .45 with me when I got fitted, and had them tailored so they won't print - I may not have a CCW here in CA, but I do in other states, and I could end up going anywhere. I've got family all over.

Bumping may not show any obvious signs of forced entry, but a locksmith who is on his mark can see some small signs (usually misalignment of the strike, caused by impact on the doorknob) if he really looks. How often does that happen? The tumblers will also show "pick marks" (distinctive toolmarks on the tumbler heads) as with picking, but you have to disassemble the lock to see them.

It's also useful with various techniques of forced entry as a distraction - one could gain entry, and make it look as if one has not managed to get in to delay inventorising the contents of the house.

Why have I learned so much about locksmithing and burglary? Simple - I've also helped to secure houses against unauthorised entry, usually for people who are unable to deal with the threat in an expeditious manner on their own (elderly/disabled.) It's a nice skillset to have, and most people don't know how to think like a burglar to do it properly.

 

[Coastie]

I was bumping back in high school when I competed in a lock picking competition. Yea I was that dorky kid that ate lunch alone....

 

[5-90]

I was bumping back in high school when I competed in a lock picking competition. Yea I was that dorky kid that ate lunch alone....

I may have travelled in small groups of one, but I was the guy that you went to when something needed fixing. The rockers loved me because I actually understood the old tube amps that they used. Bikers and motorheads because I understood engines better than they did. Practical jokers? I was a hit with the frat boys in the next town over - I was one Hell of a second-story man.

Don't underestimate that guy who eats lunch alone. You don't know what he's thinking about (and there's a reason he's probably eating better than the jocks - he's made more money!)

 

[bigalpha]

It's easy with cheaper locks, less easy with quality locks (a Schlage, for instance, is more difficult to feel than a Kwikset.)

Good, my locks are Schlage.

I was bumping back in high school when I competed in a lock picking competition. Yea I was that dorky kid that ate lunch alone....

Naw, you were the kind to eat with me.

 

[5-90]

Good, my locks are Schlage.

That's not 100% security. Schlages are "incrementally more difficult" to pick, not "impossible." You just have to have more patience, and better picks (it can be done with a bit of wire, but you need to put more work into it than a simple bend...)

Use a "police bar," and wedge the door shut from the inside. Put a bell or three on the bar, and you can hear when it moves.

 

[bigalpha]

That's not 100% security. Schlages are "incrementally more difficult" to pick, not "impossible." You just have to have more patience, and better picks (it can be done with a bit of wire, but you need to put more work into it than a simple bend...)

Use a "police bar," and wedge the door shut from the inside. Put a bell or three on the bar, and you can hear when it moves.

Well, I know it's not a bank vault; but it's significantly better than Wal-Mart cheapies, Kwik-Set.

 

[5-90]

Well, I know it's not a bank vault; but it's significantly better than Wal-Mart cheapies, Kwik-Set.

True dat. Just bear in mind that the simplest measures usually work the best.

For instance, when we travel, I have a wedge that I use to block the door. Even the hotel passkey won't work past that. But, it's long enough that all I have to do to get rid of it in a hurry is give it a slap on the top or the bottom, and it will fall right out. Easy.

 

[WB9YZU]

Locks are for honest people. Anyone who is determined to get though a door will find a way.

I didn't know it was called "key bumping". All I know is that sometimes, when you have a key which is close, sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't.

 

[5-90]

Locks are for honest people. Anyone who is determined to get though a door will find a way.

I didn't know it was called "key bumping". All I know is that sometimes, when you have a key which is close, sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't.

A "close" key working is different - that relies upon tolerances in the cut and the shape of the tumblers. (And the little fact that there are only so many possible cuts on a straight-tumbler lock. You can add more combinations by adding more tumbler pins, but there's a point of diminishing returns. Who wants to carry keys around that are six inches long? That's where the idea of "wafer keys" and "barrel keys" came from - both to make locks damned near impossible to pick with conventional tools, and to fit more tumblers in less area.)

"Bumping" is more akin to "raking" a lock - instead of using a half diamond or half round pick, you're just using a key cut a certain way. Both work by "bouncing" the tumblers past the shear line of the cylinder - you're putting slight torque on the cylinder, and when a tumbler passes the shear line, it will usually allow the cylinder to slip a touch and that holds the tumbler put.

 

[Steve_Moore]

I have a set of bump keys. I never have gotten them to work though. (I'm a landlord, not a thief)

 

[BIgDaddyChia]

Seeing that I may be the only proffesional locksmith on here, I can tell you key bumping has been around for years. Locksmiths have been doing it with somehting caleld a pick gun. But for safety concerns the only locks it works on is the Kwikset style locks. All the others are are pick gun or bump proof. But as others say. If i want in your house and I was a crook im just gonna bust out ur window.