The LockpickingLawyer is the online persona of a lawyer whose hobby and area of expertise involves evaluating and demonstrating vulnerabilities in various locks and other security devices. With over 4 million YouTube subscribers, he has become one of the internet’s most popular resources on lockpicking.
An Introduction to the LockpickingLawyer
Very little personal information is publicly known about the man behind the LockpickingLawyer moniker. He keeps his true identity private to maintain separation between his legal career and lockpicking pursuits. What is clear from his videos is that he is an American lawyer with years of experience working in the justice system.
His interest in lockpicking began as a hobby over a decade ago. Since then, he has accumulated extensive knowledge on lock vulnerabilities, honing the skills required to pick even high-security locks with ease. He shares this knowledge through multiple YouTube channels, including his main LockpickingLawyer channel with quick lockpicking videos and a second LPL Research channel where he posts more in-depth content.
Why the LockpickingLawyer Has Credibility on Locks
There are several key reasons why the LockpickingLawyer has become a trusted source of information in the lockpicking community:
His Legal Background Provides Unique Insights
As an actively practicing lawyer, the LockpickingLawyer approaches locks from a legal perspective, considering how their vulnerabilities could be misused and impact security or ownership rights. This informs both his lock reviews and recommendations on improving security.
Exceptional Skill at Picking Locks Fast
His videos consistently demonstrate an exceptional ability to pick locks extremely quickly, often in mere seconds. This skill is the result of years spent understanding lock designs, honing techniques, and accumulating specialized lockpicking tools.
Access to a Wide Range of Locks to Test
A key part of assessing locks is getting hands-on access to evaluate their effectiveness. The LockpickingLawyer’s background as a lawyer likely gives him connections for obtaining locks. His YouTube fame also means manufacturers now routinely submit locks to him for publicity. This gives him an ever-growing range of real-world locks for testing.
Methodical Testing and Reviews
In his videos, the LockpickingLawyer uses a very methodical approach to evaluating locks. He always thoroughly tests the viability of different bypass techniques while commenting on vulnerability issues or design weaknesses a lock possesses. This produces rock-solid assessments on a lock’s effectiveness.
Recommendations Backed by Expertise
When it comes to recommending high-security locks, the credibility built through his skills and testing regime gives huge legitimacy to the LockpickingLawyer’s suggestions. Manufacturers now actively seek his approval as an endorsement that their locks meet quality expectations.
LockpickingLawyer Tools: Custom Picks for Lock Vulnerabilities
The LockpickingLawyer has a penchant for identifying vulnerabilities in locks and exploiting them using customized lockpicking tools. He frequently reveals these special tools during his videos.
Some of his notable customized tools include:
- Custom tension wrenches – For applying torque to the lock core in ways specific locks allow
- Specialized picks – Shaped perfectly to leverage flaws in keyway shape, warding, or binding pin layout
- Custom decoder pins – For cracking combination locks through decoding sequences
- 3D printed tools – For mimicking key shapes, accessing restricted areas, or applying leverage
The LockpickingLawyer designs many of these tools himself and offers some for sale through his covertinstruments.com website.
What Lock Does the LockpickingLawyer Recommend?
For day-to-day home and business security, the LockpickingLawyer most often suggests supporting door locks with high-security padlocks. His current top recommendation is the classic American 1100 Series padlock for its exceptional resistance to common lockpicking techniques.
The Best Bike Lock Recommended by the LockpickingLawyer
Bike owners are also eager for the LockpickingLawyer’s recommendations onresistant, yet portable solutions. For bikes, his current suggestion is the Kryptonite New York Fahgettaboudit Mini U-lock. He admits most locks will succumb to an angle grinder attack, but this small form-factor U-lock design makes attacks as difficult as possible within the size constraints of a bike lock.
The LockpickingLawyer acknowledges that is extremely difficult to find a portable lock that can foil a skilled attacker for long. But features like disc detainer locking mechanisms and dual deadbolt designs in his recommended locks ensure they remain secure against more casual attacks, making them the best compromise for portable security.
Conclusion
With his lawyer knowledge, lockpicking skills, methodical testing, access to locks, legal insights, toolmaking, and no-nonsense recommendations, the LockpickingLawyer has firmly established himself as one of the world’s foremost authorities consumers and manufacturers turn to for evaluating and improving locks. His transparency and integrity in assessing vulnerabilities ensure manufacturers now covet his approval as a mark of security quality in their locks.
