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I've watched a ton of LPL videos, but I think they have had the opposite of the intended effect on me. I've now been convinced that if someone wants to pick a

I've watched a ton of LPL videos, but I think they have had the opposite of the intended effect on me. I've now been convinced that if someone wants to pick a lock, they pretty much can. So I just buy the cheapest lock with the strongest shackle.

whartung 5y ago
I personally feel that his channel over represents the risk to picking. Not intentionally, just simply as a byproduct of watching locks getting picked quickly by an expert in laboratory conditions. A most recent example was a contractor working on my house had his van compromised and his tools stolen. No lock picking here, the thief punched a hole in the door, just below the lock with, probably, a large screwdriver, and he was in within seconds. However, as a counterpoint, it should be noted that while everywhere else I saw a soda machine they had those typical, ubiquitous cylinder key locks, the machines in the engineering building in college were all Abloy. So, you know, there's that anecdata. Not that it helped much, turned out if you put money in the machine, held down the soda selection, and power cycled the machine, it would happily dispense a fresh soda. Rinse repeat, Pepsis for everyone!
- halfmatthalfcat 5y ago
  LPL does more than just picking including destructive attacks to the lock shackle, body, etc. He’s also reviewed bags and such where he simply cuts through to show ineffectiveness.
- rootusrootus 5y ago
  That reminds me of the time, way back when I was a teenager and hung out with the wrong crowd, I learned (and saw demonstrated!) that soda vending machines of the time were trivial to steal from. It probably did a fair amount of damage. Take a soda bottle filled with salt water, blast it into the coin slot, start pushing the buttons and watch all the cans get dispensed. Not necessary to muck about with the lock.
cogman10 5y ago
The takeaway I've consistently gotten is "Don't buy MasterLock" A lot of the other examples of locks do show that a skilled picker can get through in almost no time. There are a few designs that are better than others, but not by a whole lot.
- colechristensen 5y ago
  There are many locks that a toddler with a simple tool can open in two seconds and others which would take an expert a half hour with power tools. There is a lot of reasonable space in between for choosing a lock which isn’t trivial to defeat.
- Gigachad 5y ago
  I'm not sure the quality of lock core really matters all that much. Every single thing I have seen stolen that was locked was the result of physical damage like cutting or smashing through. Most bicycle locks sold can be cut with a small pair of diag cutters. They stop people just walking off with your bike but if they are at all prepared its trivial to cut.
tomatocracy 5y ago
I do similarly, although for a different reason - for bicycle locks, my impression is that thieves almost never try to pick them - it's just much easier to break them with wire/bolt cutters, portable angle grinders or jacks.
- Finnucane 5y ago
  I figure with bike locks, the best you get is relative security--somebody else's bike is going to be an easier target.
  - LorenPechtel 5y ago
    This is generally what physical security comes down to--making it impossible is simply not feasible. All you can reasonably do is make your stuff harder to get than somebody else's.
    - Gigachad 5y ago
      Location is more important than lock choice IMO. I have my bike stored inside my apartment. Its virtually impossible to steal. If you always keep your bike inside, its pretty safe. But even a good lock is pretty pointless if you leave it accessible to the street overnight.
- legitster 5y ago
  It's pretty telling that he regularly eviscerates bike locks, but then he once showed his own bike lock was rather cheap. And his reasoning was that he doesn't take his nice bike out, and he would rather they destroy a cheap lock than an expensive one.
  - allo37 5y ago
    The video I saw from him recommended the Kryptonite Evolution 4 chain lock (was there a different one?). It's still quite a beast of a lock with a 10mm chain and weighs over 6lbs (standard size, the mini is lighter). Maybe not the strongest bicycle lock in existence, but still leaps and bounds ahead of many of the lower-end ones...
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
dharmab 5y ago
It should be noted that LPL is an exceptionally skilled picker using custom tools and makes quite difficult feats look easy. Most pickers with that level of sophistication can find gainful employment. I don't think he showcases locks he cannot pick in a few minutes on his channel either. From talking to locksmith friends there are a number of locks targeted for commercial use cases where picking/safecracking is considered infeasible (8 hours or longer)
- legitster 5y ago
  I was being somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but I really do wish he cared more about explaining the cost/benefit. Flexing how a lock can easily be defeated by a custom-made tool after hours of analysing it is not actually a good proxy for the security situations I use a padlock for.
  - andreareina 5y ago
    He frequently mentions when skill and specialist tools would be a material factor for the particular lock.
  - pdpi 5y ago
    He used to, when it was more of a hobby. Now almost all the videos have the line “these tools are part of the genesis set I sell over at…” somewhere in there.
    - kadoban 5y ago
      Don't think the content changed in general, just which brand of tools he uses did IMO. He ~rarely but consistently mentions some locks that are things he'd use or are worth the money for some use-case. It's just most locks get dunked on because most are terrible.
      - halfmatthalfcat 5y ago
        I wish he gutted them still. Now it’s usually just a pick and it’s over.
acomjean 5y ago
I was on a construction site and the construction trailer was brought in. Its door was padlocked. No Key. With a rotary saw (gas powered) and a metal cutting disk it took about 4 minutes to open. 3 minutes and 50 seconds was trying to get the saw started. Locks are generally a mild deterrent and "proof it was broken into". reducing access to the shackle seems to be more popular. Those big metal construction boxes put the lock inside the box with only access to the bottom of the lock. Doesn't help against pickers, but you'll have to cut through the steel box to get inside. https://images.homedepot-static.com/catalog/pdfImages/f1/f19a2bd1-41c4-4efd-849d-09bfb172dc88.pdf https://images.homedepot-static.com/catalog/pdfImages/f1/f19...
- colechristensen 5y ago
  There are different materials for locks, some of which are considerably more resistant to cutting tools. Security devices like that are not about absolute prevention but about the time, effort, and expertise required to open them.
  - throwaway0a5e 5y ago
    Abrasives always win[1]. Always. The best you can hope for is to make the abrasive less efficient. [1] https://www.tripsavvy.com/thmb/TUF10GAAaTV8l7NkWB5bXkZTQe8=/2121x1414/filters:fill(auto,1)/GettyImages-530302856-58f122605f9b582c4dc4c245.jpg https://www.tripsavvy.com/thmb/TUF10GAAaTV8l7NkWB5bXkZTQe8=/...
    - colechristensen 5y ago
      Abrasives always win if you have a lock in your garage and a week to open it. If you're a thief with a battery powered angle grinder and a cheap one at that, it is quite possible that a high quality lock will defeat you. There are alloys that will just eat cutoff wheels and jam up low powered battery powertools. It's always the case that there exists a way to defeat a lock, it is not always the case that a particular person in a particular situation can defeat a lock.
  - 5y ago
LegitShady 5y ago
"Oh that's a fancy lock you have over there. I could take 4 minutes to cut it, 2 minutes to pick it, or about 15 seconds to force it open with a pair of wrenches. An actual criminal is just going to break that window over there."

whartung 5y ago

I personally feel that his channel over represents the risk to picking. Not intentionally, just simply as a byproduct of watching locks getting picked quickly by an expert in laboratory conditions. A most recent example was a contractor working on my house had his van compromised and his tools stolen. No lock picking here, the thief punched a hole in the door, just below the lock with, probably, a large screwdriver, and he was in within seconds. However, as a counterpoint, it should be noted that while everywhere else I saw a soda machine they had those typical, ubiquitous cylinder key locks, the machines in the engineering building in college were all Abloy. So, you know, there's that anecdata. Not that it helped much, turned out if you put money in the machine, held down the soda selection, and power cycled the machine, it would happily dispense a fresh soda. Rinse repeat, Pepsis for everyone!

halfmatthalfcat 5y ago
LPL does more than just picking including destructive attacks to the lock shackle, body, etc. He’s also reviewed bags and such where he simply cuts through to show ineffectiveness.
rootusrootus 5y ago
That reminds me of the time, way back when I was a teenager and hung out with the wrong crowd, I learned (and saw demonstrated!) that soda vending machines of the time were trivial to steal from. It probably did a fair amount of damage. Take a soda bottle filled with salt water, blast it into the coin slot, start pushing the buttons and watch all the cans get dispensed. Not necessary to muck about with the lock.

cogman10 5y ago

The takeaway I've consistently gotten is "Don't buy MasterLock" A lot of the other examples of locks do show that a skilled picker can get through in almost no time. There are a few designs that are better than others, but not by a whole lot.

colechristensen 5y ago
There are many locks that a toddler with a simple tool can open in two seconds and others which would take an expert a half hour with power tools. There is a lot of reasonable space in between for choosing a lock which isn’t trivial to defeat.
Gigachad 5y ago
I'm not sure the quality of lock core really matters all that much. Every single thing I have seen stolen that was locked was the result of physical damage like cutting or smashing through. Most bicycle locks sold can be cut with a small pair of diag cutters. They stop people just walking off with your bike but if they are at all prepared its trivial to cut.

tomatocracy 5y ago

I do similarly, although for a different reason - for bicycle locks, my impression is that thieves almost never try to pick them - it's just much easier to break them with wire/bolt cutters, portable angle grinders or jacks.

Finnucane 5y ago
I figure with bike locks, the best you get is relative security--somebody else's bike is going to be an easier target.
- LorenPechtel 5y ago
  This is generally what physical security comes down to--making it impossible is simply not feasible. All you can reasonably do is make your stuff harder to get than somebody else's.
  - Gigachad 5y ago
    Location is more important than lock choice IMO. I have my bike stored inside my apartment. Its virtually impossible to steal. If you always keep your bike inside, its pretty safe. But even a good lock is pretty pointless if you leave it accessible to the street overnight.
legitster 5y ago
It's pretty telling that he regularly eviscerates bike locks, but then he once showed his own bike lock was rather cheap. And his reasoning was that he doesn't take his nice bike out, and he would rather they destroy a cheap lock than an expensive one.
- allo37 5y ago
  The video I saw from him recommended the Kryptonite Evolution 4 chain lock (was there a different one?). It's still quite a beast of a lock with a 10mm chain and weighs over 6lbs (standard size, the mini is lighter). Maybe not the strongest bicycle lock in existence, but still leaps and bounds ahead of many of the lower-end ones...

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

dharmab 5y ago

It should be noted that LPL is an exceptionally skilled picker using custom tools and makes quite difficult feats look easy. Most pickers with that level of sophistication can find gainful employment. I don't think he showcases locks he cannot pick in a few minutes on his channel either. From talking to locksmith friends there are a number of locks targeted for commercial use cases where picking/safecracking is considered infeasible (8 hours or longer)

legitster 5y ago
I was being somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but I really do wish he cared more about explaining the cost/benefit. Flexing how a lock can easily be defeated by a custom-made tool after hours of analysing it is not actually a good proxy for the security situations I use a padlock for.
- andreareina 5y ago
  He frequently mentions when skill and specialist tools would be a material factor for the particular lock.
- pdpi 5y ago
  He used to, when it was more of a hobby. Now almost all the videos have the line “these tools are part of the genesis set I sell over at…” somewhere in there.
  - kadoban 5y ago
    Don't think the content changed in general, just which brand of tools he uses did IMO. He ~rarely but consistently mentions some locks that are things he'd use or are worth the money for some use-case. It's just most locks get dunked on because most are terrible.
    - halfmatthalfcat 5y ago
      I wish he gutted them still. Now it’s usually just a pick and it’s over.

acomjean 5y ago

I was on a construction site and the construction trailer was brought in. Its door was padlocked. No Key. With a rotary saw (gas powered) and a metal cutting disk it took about 4 minutes to open. 3 minutes and 50 seconds was trying to get the saw started. Locks are generally a mild deterrent and "proof it was broken into". reducing access to the shackle seems to be more popular. Those big metal construction boxes put the lock inside the box with only access to the bottom of the lock. Doesn't help against pickers, but you'll have to cut through the steel box to get inside. https://images.homedepot-static.com/catalog/pdfImages/f1/f19a2bd1-41c4-4efd-849d-09bfb172dc88.pdf https://images.homedepot-static.com/catalog/pdfImages/f1/f19...

colechristensen 5y ago
There are different materials for locks, some of which are considerably more resistant to cutting tools. Security devices like that are not about absolute prevention but about the time, effort, and expertise required to open them.
- throwaway0a5e 5y ago
  Abrasives always win[1]. Always. The best you can hope for is to make the abrasive less efficient. [1] https://www.tripsavvy.com/thmb/TUF10GAAaTV8l7NkWB5bXkZTQe8=/2121x1414/filters:fill(auto,1)/GettyImages-530302856-58f122605f9b582c4dc4c245.jpg https://www.tripsavvy.com/thmb/TUF10GAAaTV8l7NkWB5bXkZTQe8=/...
  - colechristensen 5y ago
    Abrasives always win if you have a lock in your garage and a week to open it. If you're a thief with a battery powered angle grinder and a cheap one at that, it is quite possible that a high quality lock will defeat you. There are alloys that will just eat cutoff wheels and jam up low powered battery powertools. It's always the case that there exists a way to defeat a lock, it is not always the case that a particular person in a particular situation can defeat a lock.
- 5y ago

LegitShady 5y ago

"Oh that's a fancy lock you have over there. I could take 4 minutes to cut it, 2 minutes to pick it, or about 15 seconds to force it open with a pair of wrenches. An actual criminal is just going to break that window over there."