The "weirdest lock on earth" has a key like a tiny mechanical snake

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This invention was inspired by duck penises!

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There are some more photos of another lock with the same key over in this thread: http://www.lockpicking101.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=57172

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Beat me by 25 minutes you jerk!

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That GIF is waaaaay too suggestive.

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ā€œsome of you guys might be having this problemā€¦ā€

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The ā€œmultiple teeth strung togetherā€ key design seems like it would be much more susceptible than a conventional key to getting stuck in the lock or, worse, coming apart when one pulls it out of the lock.

True, itā€™s not a practical design.

Whaddaya want, a lock thatā€™s unpickable or a lock that works reliably?

As is so often the case, Mr. Munroe has an excellent solution:

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I wonder how long it will be before some No Secrets Allowed type will chime in declaring that ā€˜unpickableā€™ locks should be outlawed as they will make it more difficult for them to gather evidence of criminal activities

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Clearly it cannot be sold to American civilians, becauseā€¦ some vague, ongoing threat.

And it it is made in the U.S., then it must be classified as a munition to prevent exports to our current enemies. Government agencies and contractors will still be able to export it to our future enemies, of course.

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How about if the key was simply a sheet of super-elastic material such as nitinol? Flexible, but a single piece.

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Indeed. Iā€™ve had solid metal keys snap off in a lock once or twice after much use. This thing not only looks extremely breakable, but if it does break off in the lock it renders it unopenable until dismantled. (And you want a high-security lock to be hard to dismantleā€¦)

The part here that would apply torque, though, is the rigid outer shell. The key itself doesnā€™t apply torque or shouldnā€™t). With that in mind, it doesnā€™t like it would be any more likely to snap than a regular key.

There are other potential points of failure with the design though (and a single attempt to remove the key without first withdrawing it would probably ruin it completely)

duck dick?

still patent encumbered. https://www.google.com/patents/US6666057

Despite the cartoon format, this is something you may not wish to share with children.

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Another padlock version here:

http://www.keypicking.com/viewtopic.php?f=111&t=9080

No lock is unbreakable to the guy with a good supply of angle grinder wheels/plasma torches/time. If the government wants to get in a safe, they can get in a safe. This lock is to protect against someone who is in a time crunch (because someone might randomly walk by any time now).

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And that is why some safes are built with a mechanism for destruction of their content - some based on explosives, some on thermite.

Sometimes they backfire and may even kill their owner, as happened at least once. But thatā€™s the cost/risk side of the countermeasures.