We caught up with Lady Locks based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania USA, who is a YouTube, Instagram and TikTok sensation in the world of Locksport, picking locks just for fun and stress relief.
Proven that’s it’s possible to have nice nails and amazing lockpicking skills, Lady Locks is a brand ambassador for Covert Instruments, a member of the CI Round table and is proudly working towards her 10th Lock Pickers United Black Belt high security lock.
She hosts a live lock picking session weekly on her YouTube channel and often has other locksporters on her panel. Her channels are great if you want to learn picking skills and find out about lock vulnerabilities.
Lady Locks told us:
How did you get into Locksport?
I happened to be on YouTube one day and saw a video by a survivalist talking about the things you need to know in the world for your own safety, such as opening a lock with paperclips! So, I got some paperclips and a Masterlock and had a go at picking it. The lock popped open and before I knew it, I was buying lock picks on Amazon, which I didn’t realise were available for ‘anyone’ to purchase. I started lock picking in March 2022 and by June 2022 I had started my YouTube channel.
The Purpose of my Channels
I teach people how to pick locks and the ‘ins and outs’ of the locksport community, my channel is great to follow if you’re interested in learning lock picking for stress or anxiety relief or if you’d like to just learn the vulnerabilities of certain locks to educate yourself a bit more on security. I even host a weekly locksport meetup on my YouTube channel, where I go LIVE with other lock pickers to pick locks and answer any lock related questions!
My Hometown
I live in Pennsylvania in the US, it’s a nice state but has changeable weather day-to-day which makes life challenging. In Pittsburgh, one day we have a lot of snow and we’re in our fleeces, waterproofs and snow jackets, the next it’s t-shirt weather. It really is crazy. When I’m not picking locks, I like to go for walks (weather permitting).
About Locksport
Locksporter and lock picker seem to be interchangeable terms in the community sometimes. But some say that locksporters are the people who compete in lock picking competitions. Regardless, I am a lock picker not a locksmith, it’s just a hobby for me and not a career. Well, saying that, it’s turning into a career as now I’m a Brand Ambassador for Covert Instruments (a company who designs lock picking gear and tools, specialising in covert entry and providing bypassing tools to the emergency services) and my YouTube channel continues to grow.
In Locksport there is a big community of locksmiths and lock pickers, lots of people who want to learn more and teach each other, I absolutely love it and find that picking locks relieves stress and anxiety. I’ve had to learn how to be patient – yes that’s possible – because lock picking takes a lot of practice. And on a bad day when it seems like nothing will open, I have a stash of ‘easy locks’ I can pick to build my confidence, motivate me, and get me in the right headspace.
When people think of locksport or lock picking, they tend to think of The Lock Picking Lawyer (a YouTube star with 4.5M subscribers) known for picking various locks on camera and reviewing their effectiveness while pointing out security flaws. He works with lock manufacturers to improve the security of their devices, and he is the co-owner of Covert Instruments. I’ve been working to let people know there are more of us out here, and locksport is an amazing hobby that anyone can get into. I try to use my social media to share my love of lock picking and invite others to join in the fun.
Love / Hate Relationship
Some locksmiths in the US don’t like Locksporters, and I don’t know why because we do have some locksmiths in our ranks. But some people just don’t like it, I guess. We don’t try to step on any toes, and what we do is totally different. Some people say that we’re encouraging criminal activity and break-ins, but there are rules that we follow in locksport.
The rules of Locksport: DO NOT pick locks in use that don’t belong to you, unless you have permission from the owner of the lock. Always check your local laws regarding lock picking first… We want to keep locksport legal!
Is Locksport Helping Criminals?
It’s a statistic on Google that less than 2% of burglaries involve someone picking a lock, most involve a broken window or some other form of dynamic entry. Lock picking is generally not something that criminals do, maybe they don’t have the patience or the knowledge. For more information on why a lot of us pick locks, watch my video: Why I pick locks – the reasons may surprise you.
Picking & Black Belts
I like to pick all kinds of locks, including high security locks from all over the world. All in the comfort of my lock lab. I am part of Lock Pickers United which is one of the biggest groups of lock pickers in the world, where you can work your way up the ranks by picking increasingly difficult locks earning yourself karate belt flair to show off your skill level. I’m proud to be the first female to attain a black belt in Lock Pickers United, although there are two other ladies coming up through the ranks who maybe sporting black belts themselves very soon.
Addiction & Illusion
People tend to know the Lock Picking Lawyer, but beyond that there is an entire community of lock pickers. It’s easy to become addicted to lock picking and while doing it you learn so much about security and just how unsecure things are, it (kinda) shatters your illusion of safety. People often say locks are there to keep honest people honest, and after learning about locks, I can totally agree!
Subscribe & Join Me
I would like to give a shout out to all the locksmiths in the UK. What I do is just a hobby, picking locks for fun in the comfort of my own home. From what I know of locksmithing (which is not much), I imagine picking locks is just one tiny portion of the knowledge you need to do your job. And thankfully I don’t have to deal with years of training, cold weather, and customers looking over my shoulder! I tip my hat to you guys!
I invite you to check out my channel and subscribe if you like it! If nothing else, you might get a laugh out of my antics.