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Rating: 
Summary: Clear and detailed
Review: An hour after sitting down with this book, I was able to pick a lock. After a week, I could pick a lock in seconds. The instructions are clear, the diagrams helpful. I was able to pick my home locks so quickly that I wondered why I bother to lock them at all. The info offered by this book is worth having in case you ever lock yourself out of your house or car.
Rating: 
Summary: Informative book
Review: Even though it is quite a small book, it's one that is highly recommended. Some of the items are obvious, while others are helpful and make you think about your surroundings or for just utilizing cheap alternatives to professional tools that might not be in your bag of tricks. For example, the author says to use a cut out of a clear 2liter bottle for a plug remover to hold the pins & springs, while seeing what is going on through the clear plastic. Neat idea and not obvious to all.I'm just a novice at picking, but learning quite rapidly. There are exercises to improve your skills. The only thing bad I can say about the book is the first chapter. Long winded, but basically states the following: 1) picking what you aren't supposed to is illegal and will get you into trouble, 2) don't be egotistical and show off to your friends thinking you can pick anything, and 3) practice practice practice, that's the only way you'll be proficient in lock bypassing & picking.
Rating:
Summary: Informative book
Review: Even though it is quite a small book, it's one that is highly recommended. Some of the items are obvious, while others are helpful and make you think about your surroundings or for just utilizing cheap alternatives to professional tools that might not be in your bag of tricks. For example, the author says to use a cut out of a clear 2liter bottle for a plug remover to hold the pins & springs, while seeing what is going on through the clear plastic. Neat idea and not obvious to all. I'm just a novice at picking, but learning quite rapidly. There are exercises to improve your skills. The only thing bad I can say about the book is the first chapter. Long winded, but basically states the following: 1) picking what you aren't supposed to is illegal and will get you into trouble, 2) don't be egotistical and show off to your friends thinking you can pick anything, and 3) practice practice practice, that's the only way you'll be proficient in lock bypassing & picking.
Rating:
Summary: EASY TO FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS IN PLAIN ENGLISH
Review: Frequently, I lock my keys in the house and a commercial locksmith is out of the question when you live in a rural area. Several times I have had to kick in the door because lack of proper clothing and snow. Well, if you've ever had to fix a door because of this bypass technique, you'd know how expensive they are to replace. When I stumbled upon this book I thought it would be a great way to reduce frustrations during this unfortunate happening. Actually, I have used a technique twice in an emergency and it has worked well and I have used a little improvisation of my own based of the author's suggestions. This book provides many techniques to use for different styles of locks without actually damaging the lock. Improvising with common items near and around the house is it's main focus for most of the techniques. These tools are simple and very easy to make following the directions and illustrations in the book. I've been approaching it by reading one technique and then practice it before moving on to the next. Considering the easy to follow instructions and lack of confusing technical jargon, I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Far from easy ....
Review: I had been trying to open an old S&L moneybox for some time - the lock mechanism is "simple" per this book. Curiosity can be frustrating. I didn't want to spend any money on tools for a one off project (I ended up doing this and bought another book). The intellectual satisfaction was worth it. I'm interested in antiques so may get some payback for learning in the future. (I can now also open simple padlocks, and furniture locks, with an improvised tool in fairly quick time.)
The information on getting into a locked car is easy to follow; I knew some of this before buying the book but the process will be easier in future. The stuff on handcuffs also appears straightforward - if you use them for business or pleasure - I don't - this could be worth reading.
This is a practical book but hard work and requires practice. Worth reading if you have a real interest in locks and will practice. Not for beginers; I bought this book first then came back to it.
Rating:
Summary: Works for handcuffs!
Review: I'm a hands-on tool guy. I saw this book and looked at the handcuff opening trick. I have handcuffs and tried the trick out. It works. There's a section in here that tells you how to make your own picks, and I found street sweeper bristles in my apartment's parking lot. All of this stuff can be accomplished without leaving any trace, which is cool. I tell people about this book every day. Once you find something to open that you can apply the knowledge to, you won't put this book down.
Rating:
Summary: Top Notch, In-Depth, Very Informative
Review: Let's face it. Sometimes you dont have an entire van full of specialized locksmithing tools handy. But that doesn't change the fact that you need to get in right now. That's where "How To Open Locks With Improvised Tools" comes in to your rescue. This small book is jam packed with knowledge conveyed in plain English. From making your own tools our of readily available items to picking or bypassing the most stubborn locks, Conkel's book has it all... right down to the last detail. There are plenty of books and videos out there that tell you how to open or bypass locks with specialized tools. Anybody can do that. But the true experts can not only use their specialized tools well and with great precision, but they also can accomplish the same task without them. That's what separates this book from all of it's peers. The others are merely bloated instruction manuals for the use of lockpicks, whereas "How To Open Locks With Improvised Tools" is the bible of an entire trade... neatly condensed into little more than 125 pages. Very highly recommend.
Rating:
Summary: Top Notch, In-Depth, Very Informative
Review: Let's face it. Sometimes you dont have an entire van full of specialized locksmithing tools handy. But that doesn't change the fact that you need to get in right now. That's where "How To Open Locks With Improvised Tools" comes in to your rescue. This small book is jam packed with knowledge conveyed in plain English. From making your own tools our of readily available items to picking or bypassing the most stubborn locks, Conkel's book has it all... right down to the last detail. There are plenty of books and videos out there that tell you how to open or bypass locks with specialized tools. Anybody can do that. But the true experts can not only use their specialized tools well and with great precision, but they also can accomplish the same task without them. That's what separates this book from all of it's peers. The others are merely bloated instruction manuals for the use of lockpicks, whereas "How To Open Locks With Improvised Tools" is the bible of an entire trade... neatly condensed into little more than 125 pages. Very highly recommend.
Rating:
Summary: Just about there.
Review: personally im only interested in picking locks and this book does help abit, but it focuses more on bypassing security systems and teaches you how.
the paragraphing is kinda compact and so are the instructions and diagrams for me- someone with little technical background.
a good read for the hot and lazy afternoon or those boring plane trips.
Rating:
Summary: Lockpicking 301
Review: This book ought to be the third level for someone who is interested in learning how to pick locks though it contains
information which may be useful to anyone. From this book one can learn how to develop and use a number of common items to unlock locks of a variety of sorts whether the lock be on a car or a house. Though I am not a locksmith, I have been practicing lockpicking for some time because somebody always forgets the keys. Conkel's book contains a number of ideas which will open locks easily which had never occurred to me.
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