Lock picking has for a long time been portrayed as an easy to do task in the flicks. I know from experience that after numerous attempts (just for practice) on my homes doors is that it requires some skill and most importantly knowledge. Let me just start by explaining that in order to pick a lock you have understand how locks work. Basically there are a bunch of tumblers inside, and they are all of different lengths. In order for the lock to unlock, the tumblers must form an even plain. Now think about a key, and how it has different grooves. Each of these grooves offsets the tumbler to the appropriate length to create the even plain. When picking a lock the real challenge is jostling the tumbler enough to find the correct height (equivalent to the key’s groove) and locking it in place to move onto the next tumbler. To make the process easier and quicker, you can purchase a lock picking tool that jostles the tumbler. Unfortunately, these things aren’t cheap and if I were just going to suggest you pick up one of those I wouldn’t be writing this. In the case of the guys over at Inventgeek.com, you go out and build your own lock picking tool from the Oral B Humming Bird. Originally used for picking your teeth, the Hummingbird can be modified within 30 minutes, according to Inventgeek, to help you pick locks. They have a step-by-step on how to accomplish this feat, and then they cap it all off with a quick demonstration video. Total cost: somewhere in the neighborhood of $15.

Go to Inventgeek for the full ‘how to’.

Via Digg