TOOOL sponsors and organizes a number of public education initiatives. In addition to our group meetings, TOOOL participates in lectures and talks at many conferences and conventions around the country and around the world and often conducts hands-on workshops.
We organize “Lockpick Villages” where attendees are free to learn, play, and socialize while enjoying locksport lectures and shared lock picking advice. We also facilitate sportpicking competitions at such conferences and other public forums.
Want to tinker with locks and tools the likes of which you’ve only seen in movies featuring police, spies, and secret agents? Then come on by the Lockpick Village, run by The Open Organisation Of Lockpickers, where you will have the opportunity to learn—hands-on—how the fundamental hardware of physical security operates and how it can be compromised.
The Lockpick Village is a physical security demonstration and participation area. Visitors can learn about the vulnerabilities of various locking devices and techniques used to exploit these vulnerabilities. Visitors also have the opportunity to practice these exploits on locks of various levels of difficulty.
Experts will be on hand to demonstrate these techniques, and plenty of trial locks, pick tools, and other devices will be available for visitors to handle. By exploring the faults and flaws in many popular lock designs, you can not only learn about the fun hobby of sportpicking, but also gain a much stronger knowledge about the best methods and practices for protecting your own property.
Is This Really a Good Idea?
People often ask us whether this sort of education and sharing of information is a wise and safe practice. While TOOOL is surely not blind to the fact that our hobby may seem rather different and even at times frightening to some members of the public, rest assured that these public workshops are helpful to decent, honest citizens—they are not helpful to those who would act as criminals.
Allow us to explain:
There are essentially three categories of lock-opening techniques: lock picking, quick & dirty opening, and covert entry.
Lock picking is what we do at sportpicking events and as a hobby. Lock picking takes time, practice, and is generally impractical for burglars, thieves, etc.
Quick & dirty techniques would include attacks like bumping, shimming, bypassing, and of course brute force. The latter is what criminals do. (There are some unsubstantiated cases of crimes that have possibly involved bump keys or shims, and this is part of why we warn the public about these risks, too.)
Covert entry is, in a nutshell, what spies do. This is the compromising of locks in a masterful and almost undetectable way. Often, practitioners with this level of skill are employed by governments and are able to exploit weaknesses in high security locks, alarm systems, etc.
So what does this mean for people who come and learn from TOOOL at a Lockpick Village? Well, we have rather specific guidelines when it comes to teaching the public.
As far as lock picking, TOOOL is happy to provide both the knowledge and the means to engage in this hobby. We teach about basic picking techniques and we also sell lock picking equipment, sometimes in person and also on our website. This is part of our core mission—to support the sportpicking hobbyist community.
When it comes to quick & dirty techniques, we provide knowledge but not the means. TOOOL strives to educate the public about certain risks that are present in the cheapest (and sometimes the most common) lock designs. We explain why bumping is a risk, how to mitigate it, what padlocks cannot be shimmed, etc. However, TOOOL does not sell bump keys, bypass equipment, etc.
Covert entry is outside the scope of a typical Lockpick Village. We provide neither the knowledge nor the means to tackle the most advanced and high security locks in use today. While some of our membership—through their work in the security sector—may have knowledge of some exploits such as these, they are not discussed publicly.
If you have any other concerns or curiosity about exactly what we teach, feel free to review our slides and instructional resources, or just stop by a Lockpick Village and meet us in person sometime! All who come with a desire to learn and practice safely and legally are welcome.
If You’d Like to See a Lockpick Village at Your Event:
The Open Organisation Of Lockpickers is a volunteer organization, and as such you do not have to contend with booking fees, speaking fees, or any other major financial considerations for having TOOOL members appear at your event. Our staff is all-volunteer, however, and as such the following provisions are standard for arranging a Lockpick Village or any other TOOOL appearance:
Travel and Lodging
Naturally, we need to get our volunteers to your event somehow. We have many members around the country so often travel consists of mileage or public transit costs as opposed to airfare, and we are happy to share rooms together when staying in hotels.
Shipping or Baggage
Often, as you might expect, we travel with considerably more luggage than most people. Our luggage is also typically much heavier than that of most people. Either as checked baggage, sent via a consumer shipping service, or shipped as freight, our equipment needs to arrive at your event.
Hardware
All TOOOL Lockpick Villages feature equipment and hardware reserved for Lockpick Villages as well as equipment owned by individual members. Both village and personal equipment are regularly maintained and updated. It makes a world of difference to first try lock picking on hardware that is not misused, old, and broken. We are happy to supply the necessary locks and tools to support your Lockpick Village.
Event Admission
If you are inviting TOOOL to come and run a Lockpick Village as part of a larger event, we ask that our volunteers be given badges granting them admission. After all, when they’re off-shift, we don’t want them to have to go across the street to a coffee shop—let them browse around and see what other cool happenings there are at your conference or faire.
Food and Drink
While we do not require you to pay any sort of per diem, it is customary to reimburse our volunteers for food costs. We do stipulate that if your event is catered for either attendees or staff then TOOOL volunteers should be able to avail themselves of that option. If your event has a lunch/dinner service or a bar, meal or drink tickets are customary.
Lock Picking Permission
The Open Organisation Of Lockpickers has methodically researched the laws relevant to lock picks in all 50 states, so we are very equipped to properly inform you of the regulations relevant to a Lockpick Village at your event. Still, our optimism and attention to detail isn’t always shared by facility owners, event managers, school administrators, etc. Therefore, we insist that prior to committing to an appearance anywhere, the TOOOL leadership will be shown proof of understanding and permission from any supervising body or parent organization that is sponsoring a conference or controlling a venue.
Nothing is more frustrating than getting a whole Lockpick Village shipped, getting people in place, and having everything set up… only to hear at the last minute that a hotel manager or school dean or company executive is uncomfortable with attendees learning this knowledge, getting hands-on time, and occasionally purchasing pick tools and locks that they may take home with them for continued study.
TOOOL members do not stand to personally earn anything financially from their work with our organization. All proceeds from sales of picks, locks, t-shirts, etc. go directly back to TOOOL in order to fund additional research and equipment. If the above considerations are acceptable and you have the budget to support the presence of a Lockpick Village, it would be our pleasure to bring it to your event!
Feel free to email info@toool.us so we can begin to discuss additional information about the size, scope, and planned dates of your event.