The Document Which Used to Be Called the MIT Lockpicking Guide (1992)
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2007–2026One slot for every year since HN launched. Height is that year's peak points; orange marks a 100+ point or 50+ comment breakout. Select a bar to open its strongest thread.
First comments on top threads
HN comment orderThese days I'm enjoying viewing the lock lab you tube channel. It's a pretty insightful guide into what makes a good lock, and the style of locks to avoid if you truly want security. http://lock-lab.com/
If anyone is wondering, everywhere the guide mentions "sheer force" and "sheer line", that should be "shear force" and "shear line". It's like "wind shear". "Sheer" doesn't even make any sense in this context: "sheer force" would be twisting the tumbler so hard you break all the pins, and that would not exactly be considered "lock picking"! What's interesting to me is how pervasive this misspelling has become. A Google search for "lock picking sheer force" finds 17,500,000 matches, but…
The "Stuff Made Here" guy on youtube is working on an "unpickable" lock. He has made some neat stuff including a pool cue that can't miss and a basketball hoop that doesn't miss.
The first top-level comment from each of the four biggest threads, in HN’s own order. Excerpts are shortened; open a comment for full context.
- Breakout years
- 2
- Total points
- 583
- Total comments
- 186
100+ points or 50+ comments
reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking
reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking
Every submission
| Date | Title as submitted | By | Points | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014-04-14 | The MIT Lockpicking GuideFirst breakout | AndyBaker | 215 | 71 |
| 2016-01-03 | The Document Which Used to Be Called the MIT Lockpicking Guide (1992) | Tomte | 1 | 0 |
| 2016-11-13 | The Document Which Used to Be Called the MIT Lockpicking Guide (1992) | Tomte | 4 | 0 |
| 2017-03-20 | The Document Which Used to Be Called the MIT Lockpicking Guide (1992)Best thread · Latest 20+ point return | Tomte | 355 | 114 |
| 2021-02-09 | The Document Which Used to Be Called the MIT Lockpicking Guide (1992) | Tomte | 1 | 0 |
| 2021-09-01 | The Document Which Used to Be Called the MIT Lockpicking Guide (1992) | Tomte | 3 | 1 |
| 2022-05-10 | The Document Which Used to Be Called the MIT Lockpicking Guide (1992) | Tomte | 4 | 0 |