What is locksport and why should I care?

What is locksport and why should I care? Locksport is a hobby in which people pick locks for fun. The basic ground rules are only picking locks you own, locks that are not in use, and keep everything legal.

People interested in physical security or people interested in puzzles typically get into this hobby. They start off with basic picks and some household locks. They are often shocked how easy it is to open common household locks. I’m talking about 20 seconds with very minimal skill. Yes, that is scary. If they stay in the sport they progress to more difficult locks, making their own picks, or challenge locks by modifying the pins in the lock.

There is some tension between locksmiths and locksporters. Many locksmiths view the hobby as exposing secrets. Some locksporter enthusiasts refer to themselves as “locksmiths” after picking a few locks. This can be very frustrating for locksmiths. Lock picking is probably only 3% of what most locksmiths do in a day. Some locksmiths enjoy their enthusiasm and supply them with older high security locks they’ve removed.

Much like hacking, locksport can reveal security flaws before criminals do. It’s my opinion that locksmiths should embrace this enthusiastic community to help spread knowledge and understanding of physical security.

Why should you care? One, you may find it to be an interesting and relaxing hobby. The financial barrier to entry is very small. You can do it at home whenever you have free time. Two, it can teach you about physical security. It may encourage you to up the physical security of your home. We’re talking about people buying metal picks off of Amazon and picking their locks within 30 second with minimal training. That should make anyone notice.

Marijuana Dispensary Security

Businesses are increasingly in need of better physical and computer security. Companies face threats both internally and externally. A comprehensive security approach can help prevent or stop an attack or aid in the recovery of assets. Perhaps no other business has higher physical security needs that marijuana dispensaries.

Dispensaries are especially prone to theft for several reasons. Federal law and banking regulations make it very difficult for these businesses to deposit cash. This results in large amounts of physical cash bring stored on premisis. Additionally, the physical product that carry is lightweight, very valuable, and near impossible to trace. A pound of medical grade marijuana retails for around $6,500 in Ohio.

Unlike other industries, dispensaries are often but able to use insurance coverage for damages. Insurance companies are not going to be keen on replacing 5 lbs of medical grade marijuana. (~$32,500) or tens of thousands of dollars in cash from the sale of a product that is doll federally illegal.

So how sound marijuana dispensaries protect themselves? Develop relationships with individuals and companies you trust to be long-tet partners.

Plan, implement, revise. A comprehensive security plan will require extensive planning and take time to implement. Budget both dollars and time accordingly. Once a plan is implemented schedule routine maitenance to make sure things are still operating well, staff is trained, and systems are updated.

Slogon

As of March 2nd, 2019 the official slogon of Lock Alchemy, LLC is “In, on, around a door we do it” the slogon is copyrighted. This phrase is copyrighted with our without punctuation of any kind (Including, but but limited to commas and hyphens).

“In, on, around a door we do it”

© 2019 Lock Alchemy, LLC All Rights Reserved

Lock Rekey near Solon

We are often called out to rekey locks after someone moves into a new home. This was a newer home and had the original door hardware. The entire job took about an hour which included getting to chat with my lovely customers.

This house was my favorite kind of rekey. The house had three knobs and three deadbolts. Pretty standard. However, the deadbolts were an older style. Modern deadbolts require a 2 1/8 bore, the hole in the door. These deadbolts were 1 5/8.

Moving into a new home is expensive. Rekeying their locks allowed them to maintain security while saving the cost of replacing all of the locks.