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Comment by franciscop | Hacker News Reader

Def want to see Enclave's under Lock Picking Lawyer! If you make a "unpickable lock" you'd def want to send it to LPL, that's like the ultimate proof of how easy/hard it is to pick. The fact that there's no video, with how approachable LPL is and accepts random locks in his PO box, can only be seen as a red flag.

Do it in the open, like Stuff Made Here!

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Check out another prominent lock sporter, Lock Noob. He has a recent video where he examines the lock and agrees it’ll be hard to pick.

Unpickable locks aren’t that unique or rare in the community but they tend to be too complex to make it to market at a reasonable price or with the ability to withstand years of wear and tear and still work.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qNHFyc1oMwU

> The fact that there's no video, with how approachable LPL is and accepts random locks in his PO box, can only be seen as a red flag.

He says he's going to make a small number of prototypes and send them to the locksport community. It's not a "red flag", it's just very early in his design cycle.

He's selling them at $250, patent pending and is sold out for 20 days ("again"), def sounds like a normal product and not a prototype.

"Please be aware that this lock is only a demonstration of the mechanism, and cannot be used to secure doors, chains, or anything else. "

It's for locksport and to play right now. There's no ready means to actually... lock something.. with it.

LPL makes few videos with locks where he can't do anything. To me it's not a red flag but more likely a signal that he hasn't found an exploit (yet).

I definitely remember seeing a design similar to this one not many weeks ago on LPL. I am looking for it now. The video on the landing page shows these little discs which can provide a false set, and a secondary mechanism that opens only when all the pins have a correct set. I am not an expert just watch a lot of LPL so don't take my word for it when I say this is the same design, this may be a completely novel design, but I'm looking for the video, it can't have been long ago...

Edit: ok, it wasn't on LPL, or a similar design at all, it was this lock and it was on Lock Noob, I found this was in my viewing history and it was just recently published, it must be the video I remember: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNHFyc1oMwU (I see this was also linked down thread)

It looks like a very good design! I'd like to see it in front of Lock Picking Lawyer too

It was reviewed a month ago. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNHFyc1oMwU

I think it's just too soon?

> that's like the ultimate proof of how easy/hard it is to pick

I would assume there's much better locksmiths on the planet than the most famous one on youtube who does it as a side job.

LPL is not a locksmith, he practices lockpicking as a sport. And evidently extremely good at it.

Not only that but he manufactures and sells lock picking equipment and consults on physical security. There's nothing part time about LPL's lock picking any more.

Well, we don't know what his main job is, only that he lives in Washington DC. I would assume because of his location that he works for the US government, and that this is the reason he does not want his face on video.

he’s in corporate law. contracts and such.

was* afaik his channel, shop and counseling are his main jobs now.

Has he won any tournaments? I'm not too familiar with the sport sorry.

Yes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Avn7ABVHPYk

True, but it’s also probably excellent marketing if you can get your lock featured and it does well.

It is not a side job anymore. He has stopped lawyering to concentrate on security. He launched covertinstruments.com, which sells tools and training.

whether he does it as a side job isn't really relevant, but I do think that there's a bit of a cult of personality going on here.

he's clearly a good lockpick, but even in a thread that isn't about him, he's somehow dominating conversation and gathering plaudits. I completely agree that being famous doesn't make you the ultimate arbiter of anything

Didn't know HN had so many lock experts and lawyers frequenting the site. Dozens of comments have already detected an IP violation, half the thread is recommending ways the lock can be tested or people it needs to be sent to for confirmation of the unpickable claim...

As someone who doesn't know anything about lockpicking, I feel like part of a weird minority here. What do I know but I'd assumed one would take it to a convention or competition where the best lockpickers in the world meet, not a youtuber. Something like this: https://www.wired.com/2014/12/international-competition-mast...

> Didn't know HN had so many lock experts and lawyers frequenting the site.

Now you do? They're are definitely lawyers who frequent this site. And lockpicking is a common interest of computer security experts

That youtuber has won his fair share of locksport competitions.

Sure. Not saying he's bad at lockpicking. The point is more are you an expert yourself or how do you know he's THE guy to talk to? For reference, what are the main lock picking competitions in the world and which ones has he won? Can you name them?

When I looked it up out of interest, he isn't mentioned as the world expert in actual lockpicking forums. I found a couple of other names but in any way, it makes more sense to have it tested by a group of experts than just a single person. One person may fail, but if an entire convention full of the best lockpickers can't pick your lock, that's a much better indication the lock really is unpickable.

What’s wrong with taking it to a youtuber?

Got a lockpicking set from a friend, and was ... hooked ... ever since. Apparently it's pretty normal among tech / IT types.

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