not that much. While researching this, we managed to open an old padlock – and that was one of the most satisfying moments of a lifetime.
Before we get to picks, look at all the illustrations in this chapter, preferably with a padlock in hand. A standard padlock is identical in function to the cylinder lock on a front door. A cylinder – usually of brass – has to turn to release the lock. It cannot turn while a number of pins pass through it, blocking it from moving. Those pins come in two parts: a driver pin and a differ pin, with a spring pressing them down and the shape of the lock holding them in place. The different lengths of the differ pins match the key to the lock.
Cylinder lock
Standard tools
Pin set-up
When the correct key is pushed in, it raises those pins, one by one, to a shear point. When the differ pins are raised to the shear point, the cylinder turns. The trick, then, is to copy the action of that key.
LOCK PICKS
Slightly to our surprise, two pieces of wire might work. However, we discovered that only after purchasing four different sets of lock picks. The cheapest was £3 and fitted inside a fake credit card. The most expensive came with two Perspex locks and about twenty different lock picks. We don’t usually recommend internet purchases. In this case, though, search for ‘lock picks’ and consider buying a Perspex lock or asking for one as a present. They’re interesting things.
Although this chapter is not intended to make you into a professional locksmith, it is our hope that, with a bit of practice, you’ll be able to open a padlock of your very own. Or your front door.
The first tool is called a tension tool or tension wrench. It keeps a slight turning force on the lock as you attempt to raise the pins. You’ll need a stiff piece of metal – an ordinary paperclip would bend too easily. Examples can be seen below. Note that they all have a sharp bend in common.
Types of tension tool
Some hooks and rakes
The idea is to insert the tension tool into the lock and maintain a constant clockwise turning pressure as you insert the lock pick. That pressure strains the pins slightly so they remain in place as you adjust them. It also means that if something goes right and the lock is freed, it turns immediately. In practice, we got used to keeping gentle pressure on – beginners usually press too hard – until it suddenly turned, sometimes quite unexpectedly.
The second tool is the actual lock pick – a hook or a rake. The rakes might look a little like a key, while a hook is designed to raise pins to the shear line one by one. That is why a stiff hairpin with a bent end can be used by a skilful locksmith.
Practise on a cheap padlock – as large as you can find, so that the pins are obvious. Begin by looking into the lock and seeing where the first pin sits.
When you are ready, insert the tension tool, moving it as far out of the way as you can. Put a little pressure in the direction the key would turn the lock. Then insert your lock pick. If it is the rake style, you’ll have to fiddle it back and forth, getting a feel for the pins within. That action can result in lifting the pins into place, so try that first – just move the pick back and forth like a key a dozen times, while keeping that gentle turning pressure on. Alternatively, if your pick has a bend at the end – the one known as a hook – you’ll want to reach right to the back and feel the ends of the pins, one by one, raising them up to the shear line.
The first time we tried this on a proper padlock, it took about two minutes. We decided there and then that we were lock-picking geniuses. Unfortunately, that overconfidence led to the lock being snapped shut again. The second attempt took well over half an hour of constant fiddling with both a hook and a rake. It was harder than we’d realised, but the wonder of it was that it worked at all. For those of you, like us, who have never understood how lock picks, or indeed cylinder locks, worked, this was a thing of awe.
In our research, we also came across the idea of a ‘bump’ key. These are keys for cylinder locks that do the job of a rake and tension tool in one go. They are inserted into a lock and either wiggled back and forth like a rake or tapped. We’ve included an example to show what they look like, but we had no luck in using ours at all. Lock picks are clearly better.
The most satisfying combination was the padlock pictured, opened with a hook and a broad wire tension wrench.
Finally – enjoy the knowledge and the skill. One day, it might even come in useful.
EXTRAORDINARY STORIES – PART ONE: ERNEST SHACKLETON
PA/PA Archive/PA Images
‘For scientific discovery, give me Scott; for speed and efficiency of travel, give me Amundsen; but when you are in a hopeless situation, when you are seeing no way out, get down on your knees and pray for Shackleton.’
Raymond Priestley, part of Shackleton’s Nimrod polar expedition team as well as Scott’s Terra Nova expedition
Born in Ireland to an Anglo-Irish family on 15 February 1874, Ernest Shackleton came to England at the age of ten and was educated at Dulwich College in London, of which more later. Along with a small group of elite explorers at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries, Shackleton chose to pit himself against the last truly unknown continent: Antarctica. When things went wrong, he called on depths of character and courage that still inspire today. Wherever leadership is taught around the western world, the name of Shackleton is spoken with quiet reverence.
Shackleton learned his seacraft in the Merchant Navy, joining at the age of sixteen. In 1898, aged just twenty-four, he passed as Master: a qualification to command a British ship anywhere in the world. When he was twenty-seven, he joined the 1901 Discovery expedition under Robert Falcon Scott, mapping the first part of the Antarctic continent. There, Shackleton fell ill and had to be sent to New Zealand to recover. He was bitterly disappointed.
Three years later, Shackleton returned as leader of his own Nimrod expedition – named after the ship. Shackleton and
