Tip - How to Unlock Padlocks Without a Key Using Cheap DIY Shims

Originally made as portable convenience locks, padlocks are known for their cheap, simplistic and relatively secure design.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