Standard Yale style locks are so simple to pick it is scary, even with a pocket knife and a bent paper clip. I know this because as a student I lost the key to

Standard Yale style locks are so simple to pick it is scary, even with a pocket knife and a bent paper clip. I know this because as a student I lost the key to my room. I couldn't afford to replace the lock, nor afford a locksmith, so I figured out how to open it with these simple tools. I continued this way for many months, picking my own door lock to get in, until I at last found my key buried under a pile off papers. However, by that point I had honed my skills to the point that I could open that lock almost as fast as I could open it with a key. I now value good locks, and the more the better. When inside my house, I always use a dead bolt.