What is Lockpicking 101?


Some of you have been to a TOOOL “Lockpick Village” at a Maker Faire or a similar event. Maybe you’ve been to a TOOOL meeting near you. You may now be wondering what this “Lockpicking 101″ is, which we (TOOOL PWM) are doing on 11/2 at Port City Makerspace.

The best way to explain what to expect is to tell you what it isn’t.

A “Lockpick Village” tends to have a roughly 20 minute PowerPoint presentation, with a large group of people hands on with locks getting to yell the infamous “OPEN!” We have done Lockpick Villages at places like World Maker Faire NYC for 75 people every hour.

A TOOOL meeting tends to be a group of 10 or 20 people with some locks thrown out, with minimal structure. We teach you how to do things if you ask, but there is no hard guidance.

A Lockpicking 101 class is some where in the middle. Maybe 30 or 40 people spend a couple of hours with a shorter PowerPoint, and get more individual time than a full Village, with more structure than a regular meeting.

Our chapter’s normal meetings take place on the first Saturday of every month from 2-4 PM at Port City Makerspace in Portsmouth, NH. We are replacing our normal meeting on 11/2 with a Lockpicking 101 class. While we aren’t charging for tickets, we are still “selling” tickets at https://www.eventbrite.com/myevent?eid=8441246997 to allow us (as well as the space) to know how many people to expect. We currently have 14 tickets “sold” and we would love to see more of you. Tell your friends, your co-workers, local news media. Tell anyone who’s interested in locks, physical security and lockpicking.

We hope to see you there, and if you have any questions, either post in the comments or email chapter-pwm@toool.us.

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