We’ll soon be hitting the open road on a 1,000 mile journey that will take us from Texas to just south of Flagstaff, Arizona for the 2013 Overland Expo.

Running from May 17th – May 19th, the expo is one of the world’s largest events for DIY adventure travel enthusiasts with classes for overlanding, demonstrations, food, music and over 140 vendors of adventure equipment and services.

This is our first year to attend the Overland Expo and I couldn’t be more excited about participating in all the different workshops. From recovery techniques, vehicle marshaling, 4WD maintenance, cooking and overland driving skills, the expo is packed full of awesome!

What is Overlanding?

You may be wondering what the term overlanding refers to. I’ll first say that it’s right up the alley of most of the readers on ITS and that overlanding utilizes principles and skill-sets we advocate and write about here on ITS Tactical all the time. Overlanding by definition to me is all about the journey and the experience.

It’s about getting into off-road capable transportation, whether that’s a 4WD truck, a Motorcycle or even a bicycle and heading to a remote destination where you’ll rely on self-reliance during your extended trip. It’s also a great opportunity to test your preparedness to handle anything life throws at you and sleep under the stars. Just a few things that I’m very fond of in my life.

The Overland Expo

While the expo is just days away, I wanted to put out some information for those that might still be either considering visiting this year, or even making plans for next year. The Overland Expo is divided into two ways to experience the event.

The Overland Experience Package is the attendance package that includes the option for signing up for specific workshops, demos and driving classes. It’s also the all-inclusive package that features unlimited attendance, dry camping, drink tickets for Friday and Saturday night happy hour and even a BBQ banquet on Sunday afternoon.

Day passes are the second attendance package and are a pay-by-the-day option for unlimited attendance on that specific day. While day passes still get you into the exposition to check out all the gear, vehicles and camping equipment, it doesn’t include the option to sign up for driving/riding classes or workshops. You can still attend films, slide shows, roundtables, demos and test drives/rides and camping is available for a fee.

The Overland Experience Package runs $265 for a single person/vehicle/motorcycle and $480 for two people/one vehicle/one motorcycle. Kids under 16 are free. The day passes for a single adult run $15 for a single day, $25 for two days and $35 for three days. One family day passes, which equals one household, run $30 for one day, $50 for two days and $65 for three days.

At gate pricing is available as well, which may be your only option for 2013, as the Overland Experience and Day Passes seem to be sold out. Admission at the gate will run $20 or $40 for a family per day. $35/$65 for two days and $45/$75 for three days.

The Rig

I’ll be driving out to the expo with my FJ Cruiser and look forward to getting in some hard usage. I’ve slowly been adding on to it since it’s purchase a few years back. While I plan on detailing the upgrades I’ve made in a future ITS article, I’m certain it can handle what I plan to throw at it this week.

The basic rundown is a 3″ Lift, Nitto Trail Grappler Tires, Pro Comp Wheels, Baja Rack Roof Rack, Baja Rack Ladder, Baja Rack Accessory Brackets for a Shovel, Axe, Hi-Lift Jack and (4) NATO 5 Gallon Jerry Cans. Plus a few extras in the interior like MPAC Racks and Recovery Equipment.

We’ll be camping out at OE, so if you see my FJ Cruiser, be sure to come by and say hi. The open road and adventure awaits!

This article pulls at my heart strings and it’s one I’m proud to be writing today. Our local Fort Worth Police Department has recently instituted a Tactical Lifesaver Program based on TCCC protocols and has even started issuing personal trauma kits to all their officers who have gone through the training.

In the four years I’ve been running ITS Tactical, I’ve talked to countless members of our local Police departments who have told me time and time again that they’re issued nothing when it comes to medical supplies and are solely dependent on EMS to save them in a life threatening situation.

While I’ve given out countless ITS ETA Trauma Kits to those I know in the line of duty that have nothing that they don’t purchase on their own, there’s only so much I can do outside of continuing to spread the word about the importance of having life saving equipment available when you need it. Whether that’s in the line of duty or as a civilian taking the bus to work.

Here’s a couple of great videos from the Fort Worth Police Department about a HALO Chest Seal saving a life, as well as a video just released today about an officer shot in the line of duty that was able to self apply a Tourniquet to stabilize himself before EMS arrived on scene.

Something those that aren’t familiar with EMS protocols should know, is that most EMS won’t even enter a scene until the shooting has stopped and deemed clear and safe.

How long does it take to bleed out? Compare that to the average EMS response time and you’ll see why it’s so important to have life saving equipment at the ready. For those of you that carry a gun on a daily basis, you know how to take a life, but do you know how to save one? It just might be your own that you’re saving.

A heartfelt thank you for Tony Coltrin pointing today’s FWPD incident out to me, stay safe brother!

Carry The Load 2013 is just a few weeks away and today I’d like to give you some information on where the ITS Tactical Joint Task Force Team we’ve organized will be meeting up before the event, how to join if you haven’t yet and a few tips and tricks I learned from participating last year.

If this is your first time hearing about Carry The Load, it’s a life-changing journey for people as they walk or run as long or as little as they can in the 20-hour period from Sunday afternoon, May 26th through noon on Memorial Day, Monday, May 27th. Like the service members they honor, they carry more than they have to, longer than they think they can.

We’d love to have you out there walking with us, even if it’s just for an hour. Head to this link to join our team! If you can’t make it out and still want help us reach our goal of raising $5,000.00 for the charities that Carry The Load is sponsoring, we’d sincerely appreciate you donating here.

Lessons Learned

While these tips won’t necessarily get into preparing you for walking, I’m going to touch first on some lessons learned from my experience last year at Carry The Load and what I’ll do differently this year. During 2012, I walked a total of 33.81 miles in the 20 hour and 12 minute event, wearing a pair of Under Armor workout shorts, Under Armor loose fitting T-shirt, TAD Fast Pack EDC (weighted with a 20 lb. pill) and Salomon Shoes. My socks were also thin, short cotton socks. Big mistake.

I tried to tough-guy it last year and didn’t take care of my feet properly, which led to massive blisters and wearing flip flops for a few days afterwards to avoid putting my feet back into shoes. I also never stopped to change socks at all, nor did I even bring an extra pair. I honestly knew better, but don’t really recall what justification I used to neglect some important aspects of foot care. The blisters really didn’t hit me bad until the wee hours of the morning and I stopped by a medical station to wrap them up to prevent infection.

I also had some chafing that could have been treated by bringing along some body glide and pre-applying it before starting to the areas I already know I’m prone to chafing at. For me this is usually where my arm rubs my body from swinging just below my armpits and the insides of my legs.

A few of the better lessons learned were bringing a Source Hydration Bladder and properly hydrating before, during and after the event. There are three water stations as well as one at the start point (base camp) to fill up. With a 3 liter bladder I was just fine on water throughout the event and usually needed to just fill up at base camp.

I really liked the RunKeeper app that I used during the event to track my distance, it was nice knowing the ground I’d covered. I also brought plenty of snacks in my backpack, such as Lara Bars, Honey Stinger Waffles (the best), Energy Gels and trail mix. This year, as well as last, if you raised $200 you could stop for three free meals during the event as well. I can’t recall what times the food was available, other than the single time I stopped at around midnight or so. I truly don’t even remember what I ate either.

Plans for This Year

One thing I’m going to do is switch to boots this year, as well as bring an extra pairs of wool socks to change into when I start feeling hot spots. The pair I take off will get hung on my pack to dry out as I walk in case I need to switch back into them again. Depending on the temperature, I’m more than likely going to stick to shorts again, but haven’t made up my mind on that one. I’ll be pre-applying body glide too.

The boots I’m using are Lowa Renegades that are leather lined. I’ve really taken to leather lined boots in the past few years and have ditched gore-tex. I find that the leather lining conforms to my feet better and prevents odor. That and being super comfortable are the reasons I really love Lowa Renegades.

Other than those changes, which include focusing on taking care of my feet and body better, I’ve been trying to get out with a weighted pack. I’m a bit behind the curve on that one and I’m using these last few weeks to add that in. I don’t plan on carrying any more than about 25 lbs. of weight total (including backpack weight) which is about what I carried last year.

If you’re going to carry a weighted pack, I suggest to start integrating it into some aspect of training. There’s obviously no requirement during the event to carry weight, but it’s just something I’m doing to honor those that I’m carrying the load for on Memorial Day. Putting some mileage in walking is also important if you plan to walk the whole event.

Where to Meet?

Carry The Load is taking place on the Katy Trail in Dallas, where participants walk a 6 mile loop multiple times during the event (if you stay for the whole thing.) The starting point is at Reverchon Park (click the link for directions), which also serves as the base camp for Carry The Load. Here’s a map of the route.

It’s important to mention that registration for the event is free, but those that raise $200 will earn a free t-shirt, 3 meal tickets and a parking pass. If we’re one of the first 50 teams to raise $5k, we’ll qualify for a spot in the tailgate area for our group to use during the event and can plan out some other things to do there. It would truly be great for storage of team gear, extra food, etc.

Opening ceremonies for Carry The Load begin at 3:30 pm on Sunday, May 26th and the walk begins at 4 pm. We’d like for everyone to meet just outside the entrance into the event at Reverchon Park at 3 pm. We’ll only be there to meet everyone until about 3:20 pm and will then enter to attend the opening ceremonies. We’ll certainly have some ITS swag for everyone too!

Everything will wrap up at 12:13 pm on Monday, May 27th and be followed by closing ceremonies and awards at 12:20 pm. Don’t forget to pick up your registration packets at Luke’s Locker in Dallas or Plano on May 24th or 25th from 10 am until 6 pm.

We look forward to seeing you at Carry The Load 2013! Even if you’re just coming out for a bit, please register here for free, so we know to look for you before the event.

First off, this isn’t a post about what the cause of the explosions were yesterday that rocked Boston, or a “here’s what should have happened” armchair quarterback analysis. I wasn’t there and neither were the majority of the people that will read this.

What I can say is that if I were running the Boston Marathon, I would not have been prepared, regardless. I’ve run a marathon before and I didn’t carry anything other than some energy gel packets. This is exactly why I personally carry both a Pocket Trauma Kit and a firearm though. It’s not for me, it’s for you.

That’s how I feel about daily carry items. If everyone had this same perspective, of looking out for your fellow Americans and hoping you’ll be there when they need you, the world would be a better place.

Staying Vigilant

This isn’t to say that there aren’t bad people everywhere, capable of nightmare scenarios like what happened yesterday in Boston that left three dead, 176 injured and 17 in critical condition. Remaining vigilant and being prepared is the most you can do. You can’t go around on high alert all the time. To give you a Cooper Color Code reference, you can’t live your life in the yellow, your body won’t be able to handle it.

Colonel Jeff Cooper was known for advocating a color code to describe a person’s state of mind. Not so much in regards to a level of alertness, but purely the mental state.

The following comes from his book, Principles of Personal Defense:

• Condition White – You are unprepared and unready to take lethal action. If you are attacked in White you will probably die unless your adversary is totally inept.
• Condition Yellow – You bring yourself to the understanding that your life may be in danger and that you may have to do something about it.
• Condition Orange – You have determined upon a specific adversary and are prepared to take action which may result in his death, but you are not in a lethal mode.
• Condition Red – You are in a lethal mode and will shoot if circumstances warrant.

While the Cooper Color Code is obviously focusing on shooting and in the scenario we’re discussing here, there wasn’t a threat to start shooting at, but it’s applicable here to illustrate levels of mental alertness and situational awareness.

Something that Jeff Gonzales talked about in the mindset lecture portion of his pistol course I recently took, is shock threshold. Shock threshold is the measure of time from the initial shock of an event to the point at which you react. If you don’t apply that aspect into your training, you’ll never know how you’ll react.

Factors that can affect shock threshold are physical fitness, age, experience (more familiar, less shock threshold) and genetics. Remember, strong people are harder to kill.

How is shock threshold applicable to what happened in Boston? I only mention it to point out that you need to be ready to respond. The less time it takes you to respond from the initial “shock” of an incident and getting your ass in gear to respond, the better off you and those around you will be.

Medical Kits and a Plan

I’m not going to turn this into some sales pitch for the Medical Kits we sell at ITS, this is about having something and being trained to use it. I don’t care if it’s knowing how to use a bandanna and direct pressure to stop bleeding, or having a hemostatic agent like Combat Gauze and a tourniquet.

Get a kit, get trained and have it on you. Plain and simple. If you’re not comfortable carrying it, then you’re going to leave it at home when you’ll need it the most. Comfort doesn’t just apply to it being in your pocket, but also speaks to your level of training. If you’re not prepared to fully use it, then you’ll hesitate.

Whatever you feel that you can carry comfortably on your body is what you should focus on. Those chosen supplies should give you, at the very least, a way to stop bleeding. Extremity hemorrhage is the leading cause of preventable death right now with our troops overseas and after looking at the devastation in Boston, that scenario is much like the IEDs that our soldiers are facing.

I’m going to try my best to not to get on my soapbox about the fact that most primary first responders are Law Enforcement and they continually have to fight to get the medical supplies they need and often have to purchase these things out of their own pocket. It’s time for our local governments to wake up and get our officers the proper equipment and training they need to respond.

Having a communications plan in the event that the lines are flooded is extremely important too. Text messages may work, but what’s important here is not what can be used, but what you and your family will use. Have a plan on how your loved ones can get ahold of you so they’ll know where to turn.

Mindset

I’ve always focused on our motto here at ITS Tactical when it comes to scenarios like what happened in Boston, “Prevail.” That and what lies at the core of what our logo, Website information and the oath I took when enlisting in the Navy states: defense against (imminent) threats, both foreign and domestic.

Staying vigilant, but not hyper vigilant, is the take home. That and using what happened in Boston to ensure you’re prepared to handle anything like this that might happen in the future around you. If you see something out of the ordinary, report it. You’re the eyes on the ground and you can make a difference.

Keep those affected in your thoughts and prayers, but stay strong. The best way to honor their memory is to prepare yourself to be able to help when the next nightmare scenario occurs.

For resources on connecting with victims and what you can do to help, please refer to our post from yesterday here.

You may be asking yourself why someone would want to fold the stock to the side on an AR-15, which is a reasonable question and one I asked myself. Before SHOT Show this year, I’d never seen a product that could take a standard AR fixed stock (adjustable or not) and allow it to fold to the side.

I had the opportunity to meet up with the guys from Law Tactical at SHOT, where they were able to tell me a little bit about the Law Tactical Folding Stock Adapter. The first thing I thought was that you’re not going to be able to fire the gun with the stock folded, knowing full well the AR’s order of operations.

Removing the buffer, action spring and receiver extension by folding the stock to the side, won’t allow the firearm to cycle properly. While optimistic of the adapter’s role on the AR, I also saw the immediate advantage to facilitate more options for storage and concealment.

Without a Stock

In my experience with the guns I own and have shot, rifles without a stock are worthless in my opinion. Can you shoot them, yes. Are they accurate, no. I bring this up because it’s important to have this discussion and to analyze the nature of a product like the folding stock adapter.

To me, this goes right along with the side-folder stock found on AKs and even underfolders. With AKs, you can shoot multiple rounds with the stock folded, but the AK is a different platform. I’ve had the opportunity to shoot AKs with the stocks folded and I’m even working on building a side-folding Krink in a new build series for ITS. What I’ve personally found is a whole lot of awkwardness when it comes to shooting a rifle with a folded stock.

For me, it’s hard to be consistent and accurate without a stock on a rifle-caliber firearm. Extending your arms to absorb the recoil like on a pistol, is definitely a spot where the awkwardness comes in. It’s much different trying to keep a foot of gun on target while trying to shoot it like a pistol. It’s not so much the recoil management, as it is the weight and length.

Either way, I wanted to provide my opinion on shooting without a stock for a frame of reference. Again, it’s just my opinion. I also side more with the intended purpose of the folding stock being designed for paratroopers, who have a need for a more compact firearm during a jump. I’ve also read that the intended purpose of the AKs folding stocks were for the Russian airborne troops and delivery of fire from a multitude of shelter positions.

Again, going back to Airborne units and firing from concealment being the intended usage. With the Law Tactical Folding Stock Adapter, firing more than one round from concealment with the stock folded is impossible, so other than an emergency shot, you’ll have to fold the stock back out to finish engaging a target.

Law Tactical states that they designed their folding stock adapter for “deployment by vehicle and aircrews and is ideal for low profile transport of AR rifles in non-permissive environments… ideal for any situation that requires a smaller profile weapon.”

Hands-On

I’d first like to note that the Law Tactical Folding Stock Adapter is designed, built and assembled in the USA from CNC machined, hard-anodized aluminum. I was immediately impressed with the quality of the adapter when I first had the chance to get hands-on with it.

The Law Tactical Folding Stock Adapter works with direct impingement or gas piston systems and fits any A2, carbine, mil-spec or commercial buffer tube and stock. It can also be used with standard bolt carrier groups including: full auto, semi auto, 5.56 to .308.

While the bottom of the adapter features a QD sling attachment point, I prefer the functionality of the Magpul ASAP or the SLAP Plate and would like to note that the ASAP didn’t fit with this installation, but the SLAP did.

A simple one-button release is activated with a simple press, yet strong enough to resist accidental depressing while moving in and out of a vehicle, etc. Just unfold and fire, the stock will automatically lock into place.

Let’s get into the installation and I’ll follow that up with the results of my test fire, function check and pros & cons. There’s also a video below walking through the complete installation, test fire and after-action report.

Installation

The installation of the Law Tactical Folding Stock Adapter is very easy and like most guys, I honestly didn’t follow the instructions much. I’m not trying to validate that quality, but I do find I learn more about the inner workings of a product if I try to figure things out on my own a bit first.

Either way, installation is simple and all you’ll need is a stock wrench for loosening and backing off your castle nut, two allen wrenches/hex keys, flat head screwdriver and your receiver extension plate or the flip side of your stock wrench. Optionally you also might want to consider a lower receiver vise block to enable you to work with your AR in a vise.

The full install can be seen step-by-step in the video below:

Function Check and Test Fire

Now that the unit is assembled, perform a quick function check to ensure the operation of the AR is intact. All that’s left to do at this point is take it to the range for test firing.

While the directions that come with the adapter clearly state “DO NOT FIRE” in the folded position, we had to test that one out for ourselves, since the AR is capable of firing a single round while folded. I was certainly worried at what would happen and as you can see in the video above, I made sure to stand to the side in case the bolt carrier group decided to launch out the back.

It didn’t do that though and I was actually able to fire a round, fold the stock back over, cycle the gun and fire another round. I also learned in this why it’s not recommended to fire from the folded position. No damage occurred to my gun within the test firing, but a small part did break on the adapter.

I didn’t ever see this part during my install, nor realize what it was or its purpose, until taking the unit apart. I explain this in detail in the video above, but I’ll attempt to explain this in writing as well. There’s a small housing for a sleeve, spring and detent that’s located in the side of the adapter that moves back and forth as the stock opens and closes. I believe the purpose of this detent is to provide the back pressure needed to properly close the stock.

As the stock is swung around to latch closed, the opposite side of the adaptor (from the latch side) needs to have a counter-pressure to ensure proper alignment. This detent, which had a circular polymer piece, broke in half from the force of the recoil when I fired the gun with the stock folded to the side. Due to the detent breaking, the spring was forced into the channel and when I closed it, the spring was bent.

In the video, you can see that the stock did close properly and the gun fired another round, but after we stopped filming we noticed pieces of the detent on the shooting bench where the fun was resting. You can actually see pieces of the detent fall out during the video when it was shot in the open position.

When we got back to the shop and out of the snap spring cold we had roll through, I took the adapter apart and was able to diagnose what happened. While a part did break on the adapter, it did and still does function correctly. Without that detent to provide that opposing pressure to the assembly, you do have to snap the stock over quickly to increase the force required to close it. To release it now, you also have to  use pressure to provide that opposing force needed before you can release the button to fold the stock.

In all though, considering how much force is moving through the bolt carrier group on it’s way to the rear after firing, it speaks well of the construction of the adapter that it was able to handle that and not damage the receiver or internal parts on the AR. While I certainly don’t claim to know the inner workings of the adapter, I question whether a stronger ball on the detent would have saved that part from breaking, or if that’s a necessary requirement.

Pros and Cons

Starting with the pros of the Law Tactical Folding Stock Adapter, I really love the fact that it enables you to fit your AR into tighter spaces. Whether that’s a smaller gun case, backpack, bag or storage in a vehicle. I can’t necessarily comment on the Airborne potential of this product, but I’d suspect it might have an application there as well with certain military units.

While the adapter does add about 1 3/4″ to the overall length of the AR, this is offset by not needing to extend your stock out as far to maintain a good extension and cheek weld.

The downsides of the adapter are that to field strip the AR, you have to have a flat head screwdriver to remove the receiver extension before you can open the upper receiver. I also found that the hinge of the adapter interfered with the operation of the charging handle, as my hand rubbed across the hinge when racking the charging handle. The adapter does have rounded edges, but I still found it to be in the way.

Also, while obvious, you do have to fold the stock closed before you can fire more than a single round. And if you do fire that round from the open position, you could run into the same issue I did with the detent breaking or even a different kind of damage that could only be known if someone had a chance to test a first round fire on multiple firearms and configurations. Meaning that your damage from a first round fire might be different than what I experienced.

I’d like to conclude by saying that I really do like the functionality of the Law Tactical Folding Stock Adapter and would still highly recommend it for its intended use. Just the ability to allow you to fit an otherwise lengthy AR into different locations is a huge plus, it will be up to you to determine if its purpose is right for you.

For more information on the Law Tactical Folding Stock Adapter and to purchase one of your own, visit them online. Also, if you have any further questions, be sure to leave them in the comments here and either I’ll do my best to answer them, or see if the guys from Law Tactical can come on and answer them for you.

One of my personal goals for 2012 was to learn tubular lock picking and become proficient enough to share my knowledge with everyone here on ITS Tactical. It took me a few more months than I would have liked, but today I’ll be walking you through how to pick tubular locks.

Tubular locks are commonly found on small gun safes, vending machines, computer locks, etc. In fact, what prompted me to get into tubular lock picking, other than for Locksport purposes, was when my son lost his key to a small handgun safe he was using for his Airsoft pistol.

Commonly thought to be more secure and more resistant to picking than standard pin and tumbler locks, I’ve found that with the help of a tubular lock pick, they’re much easier and faster to pick.

Tubular Locks

If you’re familiar with past discussions we’ve had on ITS, you’ll hopefully know what I mean when I refer to pin and tumbler locks, the kind you commonly find on your front door. Tubular locks are very similar to pin and tumbler locks and are actually a tubular pin-tumbler lock. Also known as Ace locks, axial pin-tumbler locks and radial locks.

All the features of a standard pin-tumbler lock are still there, just configured in a circular pattern rather than inline as standard pin-tumbler lock is. In fact, while the purpose of this post is to explain tubular lock picks, specifically built for picking tubular locks, they can also be picked with common single-pin picking. Only with a lot more effort.

As you’ll notice in the photo of the tubular lock pick trainer above, you have the spring, key pins (red) and driver pins (gold). This is also represented in the diagrams below as (red) key pins and (blue) driver pins.

Each complete pin stack is pushed with help from it’s spring towards the front of the lock. This binds the shear line and prevents the plug from turning (colored yellow in the diagrams.) The difference with a tubular key and a standard key is that instead of the cuts of a key, a tubular key has half-cylinder indentations with map to the height of the pin stack. It also means that duplicating a tubular key requires different machinery.

The top center of the interior of a tubular key features a raised protrusion that aligns the key in it’s proper configuration to map to each pin-tumbler stack. When the key is inserted, those mapped heights align, causing the shear line to separate and allow the plug to turn from the outer shell (green in the diagram below.)

Tubular Lock Picks

Standard configurations for tubular lock picks are 7 pin, 8 pin and the less common 10 pin. Some tubular locks are even six pins and while I haven’t personally tried it, the 7 pin tubular lock pick should work on the 6 pin lock. I suspect this is the case, as I’ve used an 8 pin tubular lock pick to pick “some” 7 pin tubular locks.

The parts of a tubular lock pick include independent needles that correspond with each independent pin stack. These needles are held under tension with the use of the rotating collar.

Below the needles, but before the handle, there’s a washer that facilitates resetting the tubular lock pick. This brings us to the first step in using a tubular lock pick.

1. Ensure the needles are free and can move independently and loosen the collar to the point where it’s just barely finger tight to apply light tension to the needles.
2. Extend all the needles by pressing the washer to move them beyond the end of the pick.
3. Press the complete pick against a hard surface to reset the needles to their baseline height.
4. Insert the pick into the lock slowly, allowing the picking needles to map to the corresponding pin stacks.
5. Slowly apply left to right turning torque to the pick and the lock should pop open.
6. Once the lock is picked, remove the tubular lock pick and tighten the collar.
7. *See the YouTube Video embedded above for a walkthrough of these steps.*

Now comes the amazing part. With the collar tightened down, you now hold a key in your hand that will open the tubular lock over and over again. With a tubular lock decoder you can actually measure the height of each pin as is corresponds in a clockwise pattern around the tubular lock pick. With that “code” you can have a locksmith create a duplicate key. That, or you can take your now decrypted tubular lock pick to a locksmith and have them reproduce a key.

It’s actually scary how easy it is to not only open tubular locks, but to continue to open them over and over again. To me, these are less secure than household pin and tumbler locks, due to the ease of creating a new key. There are of course ways of impressioning a key blank on a standard pin-tumbler lock, but take much more effort than the tubular lock pick does.

There’s even more to tubular locks that I’ll save for a future discussion, but if you’re interested in jumping ahead, google how to pick a tubular lock with a ballpoint pen.

As always, our goal with providing locking picking information is to continually break down the illusion of security you may depend on to keep your family and personal effects safe. Through gaining more knowledge of this skill-set, you can make more informed decisions when it comes to protecting your valuables.

Remember, locks and security in general is only to buy you time. They’re there to keep honest people honest.