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Recently I have become aware of someone who has been going into storage garages and picking locks either for the intent of practicing and doing it for fun or for more illegal ambitions. If you are picking locks that don't belong to you even if you're doing it just for fun or practice you need to know that it is illegal and that someone notices when you put the lock back on the wrong way. If you are doing it for a illlegal purposes you need to stop this immediately because you will get caught and you will be arrested. It saddens me to find out that someone picked my own fathers lock off his storage garage and put it back on the wrong way. This is not a mistake he would make and I know the lock was removed and put back on because I was the last person to see it. He called me and confronted me about the issue thinking I was just messing around and I was quite shocked to find out that his lock had been moved. The lock I'm speaking about he has the only key and if the storage company were to remove it they would cut it off. This happened in Sarasota Bradenton area. If you live in this area and need locks to pick for practice please PM me and I will gladly give you some for free. But do not try opening other people stuff even if it's just for fun. This is a serious issue and I would hate to see someone getting arrested in our community we don't need that type of reputation.

+1 Hope the person read it.
Steve

I would also like to add that nothing was taken from the storage garage in question. My concern is that if someone's doing it illegally that mine wasn't the only one that was open. I believe that somebody was left-handed due to the way they put the lock back on. But like I said if you're doing it for fun or for practice don't pick other people stuff. I'm more than willing to give you locks or let you borrow them or I'm certain someone on the site would do the same instead of you getting in trouble for doing something stupid. It's just a good lesson for everybody to know that picking locks that you don't own is a bad idea.

Yes very sad indeed. Glad to hear nothing was taken. I have a feeling and this has been a worry of mine for some time, that this may be the work of a kid. Made some picks but with no money to buy and a burning interest to pick he/she found a solution.

Please note that there are golden rules we ALL follow 1. dont pick a lock that isnt yours 2. dont pick a lock in use and I forget 3 but you get the point. The only way these rules can be looked over is if the actual lock owner provider permission to open/pick his lock and there either must be a written consent or in the alternative the owner must be there with you. I have opened a small number of locks on request but I always make sure that I am dealing with the lock owner and not someone who wants to get in.

There are tons of places to get free locks and like it was said above, many people here, me included, would be more than happy to provide and even ship locks just to avoid situations like this and more importantly give us a bad reputation. Not that we have a great one as it is but we need to make sure it doesnt get worse.

Sounds like it may be time to change to a different Storage location.
One that has better security.
Cameras
On site guards
For sure contact management of the storage place.
Maybe they have video.?

Only pick your locks or locks you have permission to pick.

Let us know how this plays out.
Thankfully nothing was taken.

Does the facility have restricted gate hours? Modern (post 1980) gate systems log users who access and time stamp. Does the facility have cameras? Does the manager do lock checks every morning? If not I'd get out of that place. These are all requirements if you plan on getting your stuff back if it's stolen. Otherwise you're asking for trouble.

Pmaxey has a very good point. If this place doent have anything to protect the units after hours then you need to find a new place. What stops this same gent from again opening your lock but this time cleaning out the unit? If this place is some old antique storage spot then maybe the night security guy or the workers are having fun picking locks or checking whats inside. Maybe they open to see which ones are most valuable to plan a robbery? or maybe to see which ones to bid on if things go to auction lol.

Sorry you need to deal with this... It gives us all a bad reputation. If made public, things like this can lead to silly laws that will cripple our hobby.

I wouldn't count on this thread making a difference. Perhaps it's time for an used abloy from eBay, and/or a monitored/guarded storage facility.

Yes this place does have restricted hours 7 am to 9 pm. They also have cameras but only on the outside. There is a number of buildings that have inside units that are not monitored but the doors into and out of them are. Meaning they wouldn't see what unit something was taken from but they would defiantly see someone walking out with the stuff. Each person is giving a specific code they type for there unit. For example my dad has 3 units so he has three different codes ( 12121 * ) ( totally made that code up ) so if someone used there code they would know which unit they own. I believe that someone could jump a fence at a certain spot if they were careful but they would only be able to take small items with higher value, which the locker that they opened did not have. I am having my father speak to the owner and I will speak with them as well next time I visit. He will also be getting different locks for the units. He has these boat locks on there now that are a pain in the ass because the pins reset every half rotation without the key, meaning you have to pick it about 15 times to open it all the way and its not easy to pick either for a beginner that is. I don't think that this will help either but if it was someone just practicing maybe it will. My fear is this is someone who has the intent to steal and that this behavior will continue. I will keep everyone updated. its disappointing to say the least. Thank you for the replies, I appreciate the feedback. I don't come on here as much as i would like, but I have been apart of this community for a long time and I hate when people make us look like criminals. As one of the people who inspired me join this hobby, and a man I respect ( Wizwazzle ) always says at the end of his videos " Peace and don't break the law "

Very curious to see these locks. If im not mistaken even tubular locks dont need to be picked that many times to open. This makes me think someone had to stand there for a good while opening the lock. Please do post pictures of these locks and key, unless of course that may have some negative effects.

Trailer Coupler Locks are what they are called. and this was not the locks that were on there before. I was a buffalo round lock. The Trailer Coupler Locks without a key reset the pins after a 180 turn. I know this because my dad owns one and i was picking it one day and it was a pain. They are not super hard to pick but the fact you have to keep doing it over and over without a key makes it time consuming. I am not entirely sure this is the exact lock he has but it looks very similar. I will look at it more closely next time im there.

This makes me very sad. All the resources I use for information have always stressed the importance of following the law. It is moments like this that give people the ammunition they want to attack the hobby. I have really become passionate about lock picking, and it just hurts me to see someone using it for the wrong reasons.

I am just so glad that nothing was taken, but It just reaffirms the importance of reminding everyone to only pick locks that they own, or have expressed permission from the owner to pick.

It does seem from my experience on these forums that Florida does have a rather large lock picker community. I hope that the network is wide enough and strong enough to reach out to this person and get them to atone.