Visual Guide to Lock Picking

Well written with lots of photos. I got this to send my college age kid who keeps locking herself out of her apartment, so she could avoid having to pay a locksmith every other week by keeping a set of picks conveniently stashed somewhere nearby in a neighborhood where a key would be found - and used. I wound up keeping this copy for myself and sending her a second one. I love locks and picking them for fun. The apple didn't fall too far from the tree - I learned to pick locks because in college I kept locking myself out of my dorm room (the door automatically locked when it closed) and finally got a set of picks made to fit in a wallet - which I carry to this day. I always had the picks even if I managed to forget my keys since I kept them taped to my ID card. The book includes an intriguing discussion of historical locks and diagrams of them, as well as information on how those locks would be picked. There's a section for those weird round locks like on Coke machines and how to pick them. I would never have even thought about that. There's also a section on high security locks which caused me to re-evaluate the locks on my home -- and replace them with more secure locks, ha ha. Part of what fascinates me about locks is all the tiny mechanisms and the physics involved. We see locks all the time and don't even think about the ingenuity behind these little machines. Getting an inside look at the mechanics involved is but one way to appreciate human intelligence and marvel at the things our brains think of, both how to lock stuff up as well as our innate curiosity (or simply criminal intent).

Great book to read for anyone that has an interest in Locksmithing, Locksport, or just a passing interest in lock picking, or how locks work internally, very well written, excellent pictures and diagrams that show cutaways of various types of locks from all angles. I would definitely recommend this to anyone interested in the aforementioned topics.

This is a good guide for beginners, I wish I would have had it years ago when I first started picking. There's good visuals of different locks and how they work as well as tool descriptions. I pick locks as a hobby, unfortunately most folks associate picking locks with criminal behavior and nothing could be further from the truth. I have been able to get my locked out neighbors into their homes on several occasions as well as unlock their cars for them. Once my family rented a house at the beach, after several hours of driving we found that the keys weren't put back into the lock box. We had no way of getting in touch with anyone and it was a long drive back...needless to say I had us in the house in about two minutes (the keys were left on the dinning room table) and I was a hero to a lot of cranky people. Lock picking is a very rewarding and fascinating hobby, I love the mechanics of locks and the thrill of hearing the click. I pick up locks with no keys at yard sales and just about anywhere I can find them and to date there is only one I haven't been able to open...but I will do it! Buy this book and read it thoroughly it will advance your knowledge. Skill comes from practice but this will help launch you into a really cool hobby.

It's a book. It is a good book of what it is about.

My boss, believe it or not came into the office with a lock pick set, and I was really blown away at how fun and satisfying picking locks are. (In the office and on my own personal property of course.) So I decided to buy my own set! Then immediately after I went on amazon and purchased this book to further my knowledge! And am really glad I did. It has detailed diagrams and visualizations throughout the book. It also has detailed information on every lock you can imagine, and also has detailed information of every type of lock pick and tension tool there is as well. Nice bold words on every page, and even if you like just looking at pictures you'd be okay to learn something just by skimming the pages. Every time I open the book I'm quite blown away with the amount of detail knowledge I gain just from a single sit down. If I were you and looking to learn anything and everything there is about picking locks then this is the book for you. Great Fast Shipping Too! I also have amazon prime, and I live in Michigan; I ordered on a Friday and it came Monday Morning.

This is a great book. Very practical, anticipates questions and assumes you know nothing. Great illustrations, showing the inner workings of numerous lock types. All important terms are italicized so you can easily find them again. I bought a clear practice lock, which was easy to open. But I also successfully picked a heavy duty Master padlock within about 15 minutes. Well written and thoughtful, this is the book I was looking for. Thanks for introducing me to a new hobby.

I thought it we'll written & easy to understand . Before reading this book I knew nothing about lock picking . This book was interesting never thought there was so much to it . I am even considering a coarse in lock smithing .

Everything excelent

Information and knowledge is valuable. I think I will learn a lot from the diagrams and well written text.

Its a good read lots of info

great book lots of detail pictures