"Locksport" is an emerging form of competitive lockpicking. Participants strive to open locks that they've never seen before as quickly as they can:
Some police officers are concerned that criminals could use these events to learn lockpicking skills, but enthusiasts say that criminals are unlikely to invest the time necessary to develop them.
Link via Make | Photo by Flickr user robertdx used under Creative Commons license
Locksport fans compete in several formats, including head-to-head contests that determine the fastest lock picker. In the so-called Locksport Wizard, each contestant is given a burlap sack containing an identical set of locks and is required to blindly pick them using only tools they have put in the sack.
In other challenges, participants have to pick their way out of handcuffs before attempting to defeat a set of locks. There also are competitions to disassemble locks and reassemble them properly.
Some police officers are concerned that criminals could use these events to learn lockpicking skills, but enthusiasts say that criminals are unlikely to invest the time necessary to develop them.
Link via Make | Photo by Flickr user robertdx used under Creative Commons license
yeah the masterlock trick is quite handy, and easy to memorize, too.
rotate dial while pulling on shackle, it will catch on like 5 or 6 numbers. all of them will end in the same digit except for one of them. this is the last number of the combination, and all ML combos are either all odd or all even.
from there one can eliminate morepossible combos, because not only are all ML combos even or odd, they're done in alternating sets of those numbers. this is so you can't have the same number twice in a row in a combo. so if the last number is 27, then the second number cannot be 3, 7, 11, 15, 19, 23, or 27 etc, it will only be 1, 5, 9, 13, 17, 21, 25, 29 etc, and since the first number cannot be the same as the second, then it must be 3, 7, 11, 15, 19, 23, or 17 etc
with this the number of combos is reduced to 100 (or so?) which one can run through in about 5 minutes.
Or you could just saw the damn thing off, or shoot it, or throw some acid on it, freeze it and wack it with a hammer... it's kinda like the difference between throwing a spear at someone and dropping a nuke on them. The latter not being sporting and therefore not a competitive endeavor.