Movies tend to make everything seem a little more glamorous than it actually is (unless it’s a Quentin Tarantino movie, but let’s not split hairs). I mean, that’s why they call it movie magic, right? Surprisingly, that glamorization even applies to burglaries and picking locks. How many times have you watched a movie where a burglar breaks into a building with little or no help? Does Hollywood want us to believe that anyone can just rummage through their pockets and find the tools they need to rob a bank? (They probably do, but we beg to differ!)

Mythbusters – Bobby Pins, Safety Pins & Paper Clips

According to movies bobby pins, safety pins, and paper clips are the three “holy grail” items  of lock picking, and if you just happen to have one of any of these items in your possession you apparently have the key to every building ever locked. And if you have access to one of those circular-hole glass cutters? Well, watch out, world. This guy’s unstoppable!

We hate to break it to all of the aspiring cat burglars out there, but none of this is true.

 

(Sorry, Eddie Murphy, but your bobby pin lesson is going to fail miserably when put to the test.)

Mythbusters – What It Actually Takes

Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately, if you happen to be planning on a life of crime) picking a lock can be done and in the world of locksmiths, it’s actually a necessary skill, but it takes far more than a flimsy little bobby pin to do the trick.  Depending on what kind of lock you have is going to determine what you need. Picking a lock takes specific tools like a professional lock pick, and it’s actually a process that takes more than just a few seconds. In fact, if you’re using this skill for evil, the chances of you picking the lock and finishing your business before the cops arrive is slim. Let’s face it; you’re probably going to jail.

For example, any locking device with a spool driver sticks at the sheer line and prevents the burglar from picking the lock while a side bar is a secondary locking mechanism with in the lock that corresponds with either a) side cuts on the key or b) is able to recess when the proper key is inserted. Basically, our point is that locking devices have come a long way when it comes to the subject of increased security.  Long gone are the days when a broken safety pin and a paper clip are going to turn you into MacGyver and well, we can’t say that we’re disappointed.