Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/10/05/two-pound-lock-picked-in-two-seconds.html
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I love this guy.
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Specifically with respect to bike locks, around here the people doing the stealing don’t seem to have even the most rudimentary of picking skills - presumably if they were up for acquiring skills, they’d be in some other line of work than bike theft.
It doesn’t seem to matter how hefty the shackle or how crappy the lock mechanism, they always go for brute force - cutting, grinding, or breaking with a jack - often managing only to damage the bike.
So, for defence against the actual thieves one needs to deter, that two pound behemoth that’s pickable in 2 seconds by a highly skilled locksmith, so probably under a minute by someone with a mediocre level of skill and carrying around a basic set of picking tools, might just be perfectly balanced with respect to the attacks it’s likely to face.
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I can’t find a picture but bike thieves have an interesting method to break cable bike locks, they twist the cable, using the bike or a crowbar as a lever, until it break.
“This is The LockPicking Lawyer and today I’m going to show you how anybody can open this lock with the packaging it came in …”
“This is The LockPicking Lawyer and today I’m going to show you the worst lock I have ever run into, and I have traveled along all of Britain’s locks in a discount rental narrow boat.”
““This is The LockPicking Lawyer and today I’m going to show you how anybody can open this lock with a can, and in fact I’ll use this can of Redbull that happens to be sitting next to me.”
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One of my favorite movie quotes.
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I realize that this would be dangerous an illegal; but seeing how often that doesn’t stop some people I’m always more than a bit surprised at the absence of bike locks that are designed to do something dangerous and alarming when subjected to brute force; rather than just attempt to endure it. One of the ultra-cheapo steel tube based U-locks, say, would be a lot more exciting to angle-grind if the filling were magnesium rods and thermite rather than air; while a design that encourages prying or twisting could have a frame that holds it together; and also keeps a few tightly compressed coils of spring steel from jumping out like razor edged comedy snakes.
Are the penalties just too high? Do bike riders as a demographic not overlap much with the well armed and ill-hinged sorts?
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If they left the locks in the clamshell plastic packaging they came in, it would be significantly more difficult.
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For my own self, there’s also an aspect of self-preservation - any boobytrap I set is more likely to strike me than anyone else, because at some point I’m going to lose my keys, or the lock will freeze or otherwise seize up, and I’ll be left cutting my own lock.
I’ve a scar on my hand due to just that - biking in the cold with a new lock in my bag, then using my pocket knife to cut the packaging off with clumsy cold hands. 8 or 9 stitches I think it was.
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