How to Pick a Master Lock Padlock When Your Key Gets Lost

Locked out of your house in the middle of the night? Have you lost the key to the padlock on your shed? Before you pay a locksmith to let you in or kick to open something up, consider picking the lock yourself. Most locks around the home...
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Make a wrench and pick with one paper clip, with no tools, for opening cheap padlocks. Materials: 1 paper clip

Originally made as portable convenience locks, padlocks are known for their cheap, simplistic and relatively secure design. Their construction is made up of a body, shackle and locking mechanism, with the shackle typically assuming a "U" shape to be easily linked to things like fences and chains. Most padlock shackles use a swinging mechanism (older ones) or a sliding mechanism (newer), where the shackles slides out of the body when unlocked. This is a pretty typical design: In this Null Byte, we are going to make a DIY shim, which is a tool that can open most padlocks without need of a key

Let's say you forgot the code to your Master Lock combination padlock. What can you do besides buy another one? Well, there's a surprising abundance of ways to open a combination lock other than with just the combination, some of which will even let you reset the code. Of course, these hacks aren't limited to folks just looking to open their own locks, but let's just assume that's what you're here for. The Beer Can Shimmy The easiest method is probably to use a thin piece of metal called a "shim" to unlatch the locking mechanism on the shackle. A beer can cut up with scissors will suffice

We've shown you how to crack a master combination padlock, but what about the padlocks with keys? Apparently all you need to break one of those open is a paperclip. Crack a Master Combination Padlock Redux Crack a Master Combination Padlock Redux Crack a Master Combination Padlock Redux Two years ago we highlighted how to crack a Master combination padlock for those of you who may… Read more Read more You can follow Adam Dachis, the author of this post, on , , and . Twitter's the best way to contact him, too.
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Lock picking will open your eyes to a very alarming fact. Security in terms of the lock is an illusion. That feeling of safety that we all get when we lock our homes at night very quickly dissipates as we realize that the lock we use to protect ourselves and our possessions means nothing to someone with a few minutes and set of picks. Ignorance may be bliss, but knowledge is power. Through lock picking you will gain a truer perspective on both what security is and how you may better that security.