Secrets of Lock Picking

Excellent book. Easy to understand and accurate. This book will teach you not only how to work with improvised lock picks but also includes instructions and diagrams to build your own. There's no confusing jargon, and the accompanying illustrations are phenominal in their ability to illustrate the point and back the written instructions perfectly. This is a great referance for the aspiring locksmith. Want to get into lock picking but don't know how? BUY THIS BOOK!

Steve Hampton writes with a nice and easy conversational style and leads the reader through the basic tools and locks. And along the way he offers his advice on this or that. For example, Hampton's favorite tool is the diamond pick.He also likes to make tools from everyday items. On page 18 he shows how to pick a five-pin tumbler lock with a modified screw driver and a safety pin. My favorite tools are the Magic Keys which Hampton shows on pages 34 and 35. I sometimes astonish my friends with how fast I can open their warded locks without a key. This little book has a lot of secrets on lockpicking that won't be secrets anymore to anyone who reads it.

Steve Hampton writes with a nice and easy conversational style and leads the reader through the basic tools and locks. And along the way he offers his advice on this or that. For example, Hampton's favorite tool is the diamond pick. He also likes to make tools from everyday items. On page 18 he shows how to pick a five-pin tumbler lock with a modified screw driver and a safety pin. My favorite tools are the Magic Keys which Hampton shows on pages 34 and 35. I sometimes astonish my friends with how fast I can open their warded locks without a key. This little book has a lot of secrets, but if you read it, they won't be secrets anymore

This was my second book about "alternative entering metods" (the first one was "Lock Bypass Methods"), but this is my Bible for sure! I'm not a long time lockpicker (I began March '99), but I guarantee, this piece will give you serious knowledge! It presents almost every kind of lock you will find, shows how they work and teach you how to pick them. Don't be disappointed if you fail to open your first ones, be persistent and you will succed. The illustration are as clear as crystal, so is the text. Steven Hampton gives you confidence by telling his experiences as a locksmith, making the book more informal, rather than just a "technical" guide. It is quite a thin book, but full of information, althought it seemed to me that it could be expanded. For further information on hi-tech locks, try "Advanced Lockpicking Secrets" by the same author.

I bought this book back in 1989 when still in high school and wanting to become an apprentice locksmith. I learned THAT DAY how to pick a lock and successfully acomplished that task. The feeling of acomplishment was incredible and led me on the path to the locksmith trade.You gotta love this book simply because you are not taught how to use the 'tools of the trade' but how to improvise...this was a blessing. You may one day not have your 'pick' set with you and that's exactly what happened to me in the Navy. I locked my keys in my coffin rack locker and had no way to get in. Frustrated I remembered the book and how you can use a safety pin as a makeshift pick. I broke the clip off my government issued pen and bent a paper clip into a hook pick. I went to my 'heavy duty' 'pickproof' master lock on my locker and after being rusty for a few years got it open! Shortly afterwards the Navy helped me become a U.S. Navy locksmith (and the ships locksmith) where I gained the 9583 NEC (Locksmith). I continue to use the skills learned in this book to this day. It is invaluable even for a seasoned pro. Steven Hampton creates some great books and you should also pick up his advanced lock picking book as well.Definetly a "Must have" in my opinion if you are in any way interested in locks, locksmithing or becoming a locksmith.