I am normally not overly interested in the details of physical security. Oh it’s important I know but not something that thrills me – camera placement, guards, fences, doors, alarms, etc. But locks. I am interested in locks. From a young age I’ve been fascinated with the mechanism of locks – keys, tumblers, pins. Also lock picking and associated tools. I built a lot of DIY lock picking kits when I was younger (no criminal intent – just interested in seeing how it all worked) and even built a lock picking gun when I read about them.

Now I’ve heard about a new (well old but new to me) method of opening locks called lock bumping. A lot of traditional lock picking tools rely on Newton’s Third Law – every action has an equal and opposite reaction. A lock pick gun for example uses this principal to pass impulse energy from one pin to the next in a lock. The technique of lock bumping operates in a similar manner. It requires the use of a 999 key – a key with all the cuts at a maximum (9) depth. The key is inserted into the lock and struck with something, a soft headed hammer for example, the key moves and the pins are bumped allowing the lock to be opened.

So why is the technique interesting? Well, if it works, then it is far easier than lock picking, either manually or with tools. Both of these require a lot of skill and practice. This technique seems to require some skill but a lot less than some other methods. Now how to get my local locksmith to cut me some 999 keys?

P.S. I’ve just been told that lock bumping is used in the movie Heat – must dig out my DVD and watch that…

P.P.S. If anyone is actually interested apparently eBay sells 999 keys – as depth keys. A little mod on the shoulder and instant bump key. Hmmm not sure what Customs would say if I bought some and them shipped here…

P.P.P.S… If you actually want to see what a bump key looks like then the people at Bumpkey.US sell them here.

P.P.P.P.S… (this is getting out of hand – stop now) Or even cooler you can actually watch the technique in action here.

• Previous Entry: West Brunswick
• Next Entry: On writing a technical book…