Fri Apr 26, 2013 3:00 pm
Different ways to dial a combo
Hello,
This isn't probably news, but I've never seen this explained anywhere, and it's something that may help newbies in manipulation (like me) to understand a little more the inside working of a lock.
So... How do you dial a combination??
Left, Right, Left - very good!
Let's suppose you have a lock with a combo of 32-74-53 (I'm using the combo set on mine)
You agree that it can also be inserted Right, Left, Right, don't you?
This way, you would have to check what was the equivalent combo for aligning the gates from the opposite side. I won't go into that here. I'll just say:
So you see how you can dial it:
For a LRL it would be 32-74-53
For a RLR it would be 30-76-52
That's pretty easy, but...
Did you know you can dial a combo R-R-R? Or L-L-L?
In fact, you can dial it 8 different ways: LRL, RLR, LLL, RRR, RRL, LLR, RLL and LRR.
It's pretty easy once you know how the wheels work.
I'l try to explain, but the easiest way would be for you to have a lock in front of you, preferably being able to look at the wheels.
So let's dial a combo LRR.
Using my numbers you would have to dial L32, R74, R52. But how?
Begin by picking all 3 wheels L. Stop at 32. You have just dialed the first number of the combination.
Now dial to the right, pick up the 2 remaining wheels and stop at 74. Easy huh?
Now the fun part. You actually have to spin the dial to the left, because if you continue to the right, you would move the second wheel past it's number (which you have just inserted). So, dial left untill 52. Now, pass 52 for about 5 numbers. The spin the dial to the right, picking up the 1st wheel again (probably around 49) and stop at 52.
This way you guarantee you approach 52 from the right.
Now for a more difficult R-R-R. Numbers would be... 30-74-52 - Very good!
Same thing here. Pick up all three wheels spining to the right, stop at 30. Spin left, pick up th 2 wheels, stop AFTER passing 74 (in this case, spining to the right, after 74 would actually be around 70). Then spin the dial to the right, picking up those two wheels again, stoping at 74. For the last wheel. Spin to the left, pick up the last wheel and place it after 52 (now it would be around 55 for example). Spin back (to the right again), pick up the wheel, and stop it at 52.
You have now approached ALL the gates from the right! Of course it envolves spining to the left, it would be impossible to JUST spin to the right, but the numbers are being entered from the right.
Why on earth would I need to know this?
- First of all, it's cool. And we, lockpickers and manipulators like cool stuff!
- Second, it's usefull for manipulation. Imagine you take AWR and find 2 gates. Then you place them on W3 and W1. That's cool. Now take W2 AL and find the last one.
But if you found those 2 gates to be on W2&3? How do you dial them? You could figure out what the gate number was from the left. But this method only takes 1 extra spin on the dial.
(I'm not saying this is the best method anyway, it's a matter of taste!)
- Third, Imagine you are dialing a combo with people constantly looking over your shoulder. They could easily see what you dial. This way, you can brainfuck them. You can actually look back and tell them the combo. They won't know how to dial it.
I could also tell you you could write down the combo near the safe, so you wouldn't forget it and no one would be able to enter it. But if you can't remember a simple 3number combo, you wouldn't probably remember how to spin the dial anyway
I hope someone finds this usefull,
Thanks!
This isn't probably news, but I've never seen this explained anywhere, and it's something that may help newbies in manipulation (like me) to understand a little more the inside working of a lock.
So... How do you dial a combination??
Left, Right, Left - very good!
Let's suppose you have a lock with a combo of 32-74-53 (I'm using the combo set on mine)
You agree that it can also be inserted Right, Left, Right, don't you?
This way, you would have to check what was the equivalent combo for aligning the gates from the opposite side. I won't go into that here. I'll just say:
- W1 - L32 or R30
- W2 - L76 or R74
- W3 - L53 or R52
So you see how you can dial it:
For a LRL it would be 32-74-53
For a RLR it would be 30-76-52
That's pretty easy, but...
Did you know you can dial a combo R-R-R? Or L-L-L?
In fact, you can dial it 8 different ways: LRL, RLR, LLL, RRR, RRL, LLR, RLL and LRR.
It's pretty easy once you know how the wheels work.
I'l try to explain, but the easiest way would be for you to have a lock in front of you, preferably being able to look at the wheels.
So let's dial a combo LRR.
Using my numbers you would have to dial L32, R74, R52. But how?
Begin by picking all 3 wheels L. Stop at 32. You have just dialed the first number of the combination.
Now dial to the right, pick up the 2 remaining wheels and stop at 74. Easy huh?
Now the fun part. You actually have to spin the dial to the left, because if you continue to the right, you would move the second wheel past it's number (which you have just inserted). So, dial left untill 52. Now, pass 52 for about 5 numbers. The spin the dial to the right, picking up the 1st wheel again (probably around 49) and stop at 52.
This way you guarantee you approach 52 from the right.
Now for a more difficult R-R-R. Numbers would be... 30-74-52 - Very good!
Same thing here. Pick up all three wheels spining to the right, stop at 30. Spin left, pick up th 2 wheels, stop AFTER passing 74 (in this case, spining to the right, after 74 would actually be around 70). Then spin the dial to the right, picking up those two wheels again, stoping at 74. For the last wheel. Spin to the left, pick up the last wheel and place it after 52 (now it would be around 55 for example). Spin back (to the right again), pick up the wheel, and stop it at 52.
You have now approached ALL the gates from the right! Of course it envolves spining to the left, it would be impossible to JUST spin to the right, but the numbers are being entered from the right.
Why on earth would I need to know this?
- First of all, it's cool. And we, lockpickers and manipulators like cool stuff!
- Second, it's usefull for manipulation. Imagine you take AWR and find 2 gates. Then you place them on W3 and W1. That's cool. Now take W2 AL and find the last one.
But if you found those 2 gates to be on W2&3? How do you dial them? You could figure out what the gate number was from the left. But this method only takes 1 extra spin on the dial.
(I'm not saying this is the best method anyway, it's a matter of taste!)
- Third, Imagine you are dialing a combo with people constantly looking over your shoulder. They could easily see what you dial. This way, you can brainfuck them. You can actually look back and tell them the combo. They won't know how to dial it.
I could also tell you you could write down the combo near the safe, so you wouldn't forget it and no one would be able to enter it. But if you can't remember a simple 3number combo, you wouldn't probably remember how to spin the dial anyway
I hope someone finds this usefull,
Thanks!
Go ahead, keep plugging away, picking on me! You will end up on bypass or with rigor mortise.
- GWiens2001
- GWiens2001
. What do you think?
Maybe try a decaffeinated coffee 
