Mule Tool from DX -

[darksim905]

Review this and played around with it shortly. Not much to say other than it came up short, pardon the pun

If anyone has any questions or can fill in some of my requests on my site, please let me know or PM me.

[MBI]

Thanks for posting the review and the pics. I was debating ordering one just to try it out. Good to know it's too short to work properly unless modified.

As to the origins you asked about on your website, I wish I knew. A few years ago I tried to research it and couldn't find a definitive answer. If I remember right, the earliest commercially made examples I could find were made in the 90s.

I think the concept is much older though. I first learned of them in the late 80s as a tool for lever locks, which I quickly adapted it to work with knob locks using an old leather belt. I got the impression at that time that the idea had already been around for quite a while within certain circles.

[LocksmithArmy]

Lockmasters has one for lever handels that works extreamly well... and the Ben Jim tool (i think its called) seems to work well on doorknobs...

[MacGyver101]

. . . the Ben Jim tool (i think its called) seems to work well on doorknobs...

That is the right name, and I've heard good things about it as well. Here's their patent that includes diagrams and exact dimensions of their lever-handle and knob versions.

[darksim905]

Thanks for posting the review and the pics. I was debating ordering one just to try it out. Good to know it's too short to work properly .........

MBI: No problem sir! Yeah, if you have any information or data on the origins of it, send it my way. You can e-mail me through my site, PM me, or find me on here/Reddit; it would be greatly appreciated. And yeah, the oldest thing I've been able to find is that B&E video material. Thing is lockpicking101 or elsewhere are very hush hush about those sorts of things, and it's kind of annoying when you're trying to find out more information for a legitimate purpose.

What's the earliest commercial examples you've found? Any that are still selling/still marketed?

I'm almost certain the concept is much older as well. I just don't know by how much.

Thanks MBI. I look forward to hearing from ya

[darksim905]

Lockmasters has one for lever handels that works extreamly well... and the Ben Jim tool (i think its called) seems to work well on doorknobs...

@LocksmithArmy: I didn't see anything on the Ben Jim' site about the company selling only to locksmiths; do they sell just to anyone?

[MBI]

What's the earliest commercial examples you've found? Any that are still selling/still marketed?

I'm almost certain the concept is much older as well. I just don't know by how much.

Thanks MBI. I look forward to hearing from ya

I don't remember the specifics at the moment. I seem to recall the earliest commercial one I found is something that's still being made, might have been the Keedex one, although I believe that one has undergone a couple of modifications over the years.

I've heard some people speculate that they were invented after the ADA law was passed since they work best on lever handlesets and that's when you really started to see those become really common instead of knobs in commercial buildings, but I know from firsthand experience that's not the case since I think the ADA wasn't passed until 1990 and I was using these tools before that.

Much like you discovered, I found that good information on their origins is hard to find. Or maybe I'm just not very good at looking for it.

[LocksmithArmy]

Lockmasters has one for lever handels that works extreamly well... and the Ben Jim tool (i think its called) seems to work well on doorknobs...

@LocksmithArmy: I didn't see anything on the Ben Jim' site about the company selling only to locksmiths; do they sell just to anyone?

I do not know. I have never been to the ben jim website... i always get their tools through resellers...

[darksim905]

Lockmasters has one for lever handels that works extreamly well... and the Ben Jim tool (i think its called) seems to work well on doorknobs...

Do the resellers have better pricing? $125 for each of those tools is a little ridiculous.

[jeffmoss26]

My freshman year in college, kids made these from coat hangers and a piece of string...they would slip them under the door and open the lever handle. A lot of stuff got stolen. Not sure if they ever did anything to rectify it.

[MBI]

My freshman year in college, kids made these from coat hangers and a piece of string...they would slip them under the door and open the lever handle. A lot of stuff got stolen. Not sure if they ever did anything to rectify it.

In college one of the first things I did anytime I moved into somewhere new I screwed a board to my door at the bottom so it scraped along the floor as it opened and closed. Specifically so it didn't leave enough room to insert one of these tools under there.