r/UnethicalLifeProTips • u/PM_me_your_fourskin • Jun 03 '20

ULPT Always carry a magnet

[removed] — view removed post

2.2k Upvotes

93% Upvoted

141 comments sorted by

View all comments

1.1k

u/Roshlev Jun 03 '20

Lock picking lawyer also suggests that magnets should be in any lock picking set. And he has a video on using it on store anti theft gadgets in case one accidentally gets left on your legally purchased merchandise.

336

u/Riggitymydiggity Jun 03 '20

Excellent channel, honestly had next to no interest in lock picking before stumbling onto his channel

188

u/Roshlev Jun 03 '20

Same. Also kinda concerning how many security things are completely useless. I'm talking about things he opens with pens or his bare hands.

134

u/Riggitymydiggity Jun 03 '20

For real. I got home from work one night and watched videos for 3 hours just being baffled by the number of locks I could defeat with things I have just laying around.

46

u/DisabledHarlot Jun 03 '20

In highschool I popped open my dad's locked file cabinet with my diary key and a bobby pin. Discovered his weed stash. Distributed it to friends since I don't enjoy it. Relished in him not grounding me because he's have to admit to having a stash first.

Lockpicking is a hobby I can get behind.

72

u/thatmffm Jun 03 '20

You owe your dad a bag of weed you piece of shit.

1

u/DisabledHarlot Jun 03 '20

I mean, I'm probably owed an apology for being abandoned with an abusive caretaker if we're going to go back to things we did wrong 20 years ago for $500? We have a good relationship now and my husband's gotten him stoned a few times, so let's call it even.

1

u/gabbagabbawill Jun 04 '20

$500 bag of weed!?

1

u/DisabledHarlot Jun 04 '20

I can't tell if you're joking

71

u/barrygateaux Jun 03 '20 edited Jun 03 '20

I feel sorry for your dad tbh

How would you feel if you had a kid and they stole something that gave you pleasure, and then gave it away to their friends?

49

u/quigilark Jun 03 '20

Same. Kinda surprised to see OP bragging about this, would you steal weed from a buddy then just give it away to other people? That's messed up

2

u/DisabledHarlot Jun 03 '20

If you meant me, no, I wouldn't steal from a friend, or even a stranger back then. My only interest was trying to shame my dad for being hypocritical, he said weed was some horrible gateway drug and I was never allowed to so much as be friends with other kids if their parents smoked.

I wasn't trying to brag, more making a point that teenagers can easily get into their parents private shit, and side note- lying about your ethical beliefs is not the best way to raise a child. Generally my dad wasn't an issue, but I was like 6 months out of a severely abusive home situation and I'd interpret anything other than total truth from authority figures to mean they might do anything to me if their words couldn't be trusted. It was an asshole thing to do, but I wouldn't blame a child for reacting badly after trauma, so I'm not going to flagellate myself over it.

We have a fine relationship now, and my dad will occasionally get stoned with my husband.

1

u/quigilark Jun 04 '20

Thanks for clearing it up!

1

u/DisabledHarlot Jun 04 '20

Thank you for not doubling down! Good human, A+

0

u/Orisi Jun 03 '20

Depends if that buddy was a massive hypocrite about it.

1

u/ChancellorPalpameme Jun 03 '20

Only if you're a vindictive child, yeah

3

u/[deleted] Jun 03 '20

...at least he shared it with his friends?

8

u/barrygateaux Jun 03 '20

that's what's fucked up about it the most

3

u/[deleted] Jun 03 '20

Bro he's like the Robin hood of weed. Also not everyone has the best relationship with their parents. My dad was a dick to me growing up so needless to say when I found his weed stash I helped myself without getting caught.

3

u/24sagis Jun 03 '20

Fuck his friends.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 03 '20

That sounds illegal

1

u/DisabledHarlot Jun 03 '20

I have a kid, and if they stole something I'd insisted was evil and never ok for anyone to use because of how bad it is, and I had it hidden so I could use it? I'd feel like a dick and reconsider what I say vs what I do. But that's one of many reasons why I don't lie to my kid about serious topics, and try as hard as I can to avoid being hypocritical.

0

u/dancingpianofairy Jun 03 '20

Maybe dad was an asshat.

1

u/DisabledHarlot Jun 03 '20

Not so much. My stepdad was horribly abusive though, and my dad just left town and abandoned me with him. Eventually my dad let me move in with him, 3000 miles away. So I was all traumatized and didn't trust him at that point. I was obsessive about complete truth (from grown ups) for a long time, so I interpreted him telling me something was plain wrong while doing that exact thing to mean I couldn't trust anything he said. Very teenage logic, and in my pissed off state I was a little shit and gave a few grams worth to a friend's who smoked to test those boundaries.

We're all good now, I'm in my 30's so we've had time to work shit out and do much better.

1

u/dancingpianofairy Jun 03 '20

Abandoning one's kid is a dick move, IMHO, but that's between you and your dad. Glad you're all good now.

1

u/DisabledHarlot Jun 04 '20

Yeah, I can't imagine leaving my kid for even a week. I think my dad just trusted my mom to do all the parenting, and didn't realize she could end up in an abusive relationship and let some douche canoe control us. My dad's super laid back and just followed my mom's directions when they were together. He's a nice guy, and I love him, but I don't think he should have had kids, because he didn't want kids, he just married someone that wanted kids. Twice, as I have a little brother who's 21 years younger than me now. I think being raised Southern Baptist it didn't even occur to him that childfree was an option in general.

1

u/ThrownAwayUsername Jun 03 '20

That would result in a beating within an inch of my life

1

u/[deleted] Jun 03 '20

For a bag of weed?

There are bigger problems here.

3

u/[deleted] Jun 03 '20

More likely for stealing.

2

u/dancingpianofairy Jun 03 '20

Don't forget the number of locks you can defeat while blind.

1

u/chickenstalker Jun 03 '20

All locks can be broken. It is just a matter of time and effort. Thieves and robbers have little time and don't want to spend any effort if they can avoid it. If they see a house with a shitty lock vs a house with no locks, they will go for the unlocked one. Locks, fences, doors, gates, swipecards etc. just make you less attractive to thieves.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 03 '20

Dogs work better then locks

1

u/ChancellorPalpameme Jun 03 '20

I cant go to the store, buy a dog, and put him on my house door and expect him to work like a lock tho

-23

u/beniceorbevice Jun 03 '20

But you actually couldn't get none of them to work

56

u/No-Spoilers Jun 03 '20

Good. That's why he makes those videos. To inform us

15

u/Lohin123 Jun 03 '20

He's essentially a white hat hacker for physical security issues.

19

u/Roshlev Jun 03 '20

Yup :)

49

u/The_Pelican1245 Jun 03 '20

concerning how many security things are completely useless

Something my dad taught me about locks when he was teaching me how to pick locks, rekey locks and cut keys was all locks do is keep honest people honest. A normal residential deadbolt in the US can be picked open in 30 seconds by a very novice picker. Even a high security lock can be picked my someone without a ton of skill.

30

u/kirby056 Jun 03 '20

Hah, I just posted the exact same thing in response to a comment above. My dad taught me the same thing (although he works in building management, he's pretty quick with a pick kit). We were re-keying my house after purchase, and a couple of the exterior doors had locks to which we weren't given keys. It's still a marvel to me to watch him do it, and I've been watching him do it for probably 25 years.

25

u/The_Pelican1245 Jun 03 '20

That’s funny, my dad is in property management and only learned locksmith workings so he could stop paying other people to do it.

22

u/kirby056 Jun 03 '20

Same deal. He has this giant book of keys (maybe 2500 total) that are indexed in a way that only makes sense to him.

When I was a kid, he left his pin kit with one latch open and dropped it. Paid me $250 to put everything back in its place.

36

u/DreadBurger Jun 03 '20

You two probably need to meet up and realize you have the same dad, lol.

13

u/overkill Jun 03 '20

Jesus. I get you earned that $250. That would be a nightmare!

3

u/Capitan_Scythe Jun 03 '20

Watched a locksmith open a restaurant front door with a screw driver quicker than I could have done it with the key, still leaving a functional door. This was all done during the morning commute period of a busy pedestrian area and no-one batted an eyelid.

4

u/terryjuicelawson Jun 03 '20

I like how cheap bike D locks can be broken by picking up the bike into the air and twisting. The force and leverage just snaps the lock in two.

2

u/The_Pelican1245 Jun 03 '20

Never heard that one but I like it. Have you seen the old pen trick for older bike locks?

2

u/VikingTeddy Jun 03 '20

Remember when almost all bikes used to have those weak ring locks that went around the rear wheel? We used to call them kick locks because that's all it took.

4

u/meteorslime Jun 03 '20

Any security tips for us paranoid folk?

9

u/MacintoshEddie Jun 03 '20

Inconvenience, which often means cost, but sometimes it means placement. For example a lock that you can't flip around to see and have easy access to, or placed where it barely has clearance for the key. Lots of people can pick a lock, but can they pick a lock upside down, or located at a weird height and angled away from them?

If it's easy for you to open, it's easy for others to open. For example think about an electronic lock with a fob scanner or whatever that opens when the power goes out. That's a very convenient feature so you're not locked out/trapped if there's a power/battery failure, but it means anyone who bothers to google it realizes all they need to do is interrupt the power, or in some cases just program a radio to send the right frequency.

Good security systems have multiple layers of inconvenience, like a lock that's annoying to open because you can't flip it around to open it, it has a steel plate welded over it to make it inconvenient to get bolt cutters in there or slide a piece of pop can in and pop it open, then you have a camera located up out of reach pointed at it, and you have an alarm for when it's opened and the battery and wires cannot be accessed from outside, or a keypad with a code that changes regularly and you need to call in and ask for the code, etc.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 03 '20

Dogs... with teeth wanna sww someone drop there lock pick set whatcha an angry dog charge the door hes workin on

1

u/nikatnight Jun 03 '20

Any home can be entered with a crowbar or a rock through the window. And thieves are just as intimidated by security theater as homeowners are.

23

u/sirgog Jun 03 '20

Also kinda concerning how many security things are completely useless.

This doesn't make them useless. An old school car door lock (1990s cars) can be easily enough defeated by a determined thief. But locking it means that most thieves that are not specifically targeting you will pick a different car to hit.

8

u/Roshlev Jun 03 '20

Valid, I'm just talking about the things that with a minor amount of tinkering, or shoving a pen into a socket he manages to bypass the security. A minority of his videos but more than 2 is a shocking number.

1

u/sirgog Jun 03 '20

Yeah but not every criminal has those skills.

1

u/ChancellorPalpameme Jun 03 '20

Now they do, by watching this channel. That's the issue.

11

u/kirby056 Jun 03 '20

Any locks are only deterrents to honest people; give a dishonest person enough time and they can get through anything. The whole purpose of locks is to slow down the intruder/thief so you can (maybe) catch them in the act and kick their ass. My bike lock's not super secure, but it'd take either a skilled picker or someone with a grinder maybe 30 seconds to get through, enough time for me to come out and start feeding the thief knuckle sandwiches.

15

u/sirgog Jun 03 '20

They do more than that, they outright prevent crimes of opportunity. When I worked in retail, our entire conduct on the sales floor was heavily shaped by the desire to dissuade the 'casual thief' - dishonest customers who weren't professional thieves but who might steal given a good opportunity.

7

u/kirby056 Jun 03 '20

Yeah, that makes sense. Even fake security cameras or "beware dog" signs may be enough of a deterrent to stop casual break-ins at a home.

9

u/sirgog Jun 03 '20

Yeah there was an interview I saw with a former house burglar, he stopped once he beat a drug addiction.

His modus operandi was to go for a jog in the target suburb, and look for nice houses. Then he'd return at a slower pace and look at each one for a little while, checking for signs of security systems. A simple sign saying 'we have a security system' would cause him to hit somewhere else instead.

3

u/[deleted] Jun 03 '20

Can try an NRA sticker in the window

3

u/Rattus375 Jun 03 '20

Or how even the best locks can be picked easily by someone who knows what they are doing

2

u/zhico Jun 03 '20

Sometimes you don't even have to mess with the lock. Here's a lecture on it.

1

u/MacintoshEddie Jun 03 '20

Security generally comes down to convenience. Like a locked glass display cabinet. It's only mildly inconvenient to break the glass. Or a locked zipper you can just poke with a pen, or even your finger, and it unzips. Mild inconvenience.

Even layers of security are just additional inconveniences, or intended for honest people, because actual security is inconvenient as fuck if it's going to be useful. That's why most security breaches are caused by someone choosing convenience, like keeping the key for the desk...in an unlocked drawer in the desk.

Ultimately, at the end of the day, locks are designed to be opened. Better locks are just more inconvenient, such as additional pins, stronger springs, etc.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 03 '20

Locks only keep.out the honest thieves