ESLife

Introduction to Lock Picking

By Isabella Woods

Don't worry, this isn't the beginning of a slippery slope into a life of crime! There are many reasons why perfectly law-abiding citizens should familiarize themselves with the basics of picking locks. Most people carry around a bunch of keys that will open the doors to all parts of their lives including their home, office, car, bicycle padlock, gym lockers and garages. If these keys ever go missing it can be a real disaster. Having the ability to pick open your locks in an emergency saves time, expense and worry.

However, it is important to be aware of the ethics of picking locks. Locks are there for a reason, and it is both completely illegal and unethical to open a lock without the express permission of the property owner or legitimate keyholder. While lock picking is associated in a lot of people's minds with criminal behavior, the truth is that few criminals bother going to the trouble of learning how to pick locks other than those on cars, preferring instead to break their way through doors and windows.

In reality, most people who pick locks are professional locksmiths called upon by the keyholders of the lock in question. Whereas a criminal will smash a door down to get inside a building, most honest people prefer to hire a locksmith to open the lock without causing damage to the property. Professional locksmiths have a lot of different bits of equipment designed to help get them through doors, including electric pick guns which vibrate inside the lock to jiggle it open. Yet any true professional should be able to get through a basic pin-and-tumbler lock with nothing more than a small flat head screwdriver and a bent paper clip.

There is also a third kind of lock picker: the hobbyist, who likes the challenge and the puzzle element of picking a lock. Getting through a lock without a key is a satisfying skill to master, as it relies on the senses as well as intelligence and patience. Lock pickers must learn to listen to the tiny noises from within the lock that tell them when the pins are in place; they must be dextrous enough to make the subtle movements needed, and to feel the slightest movement within the lock through the tips of their fingers. It is also important to have a talent for visualizing the insides of a lock, and an understanding of the way different locks work. All of these elements combine to make lock picking a fun past time for a lot of people. There are two good reasons why it is good to learn a little about picking a lock: firstly for practical independence, in order that you can never get locked out of your own house, and secondly because it is great fun to try.

A basic pin-and-tumbler lock can be opened with relative ease and a essential lock picking kit. These are the kinds of locks often found inside padlocks, on house doors, so it is useful to know how to get around them. A pin-and-tumbler lock is like a cork in a bottle. The cork, or tumbler, has holes running into it, and each hole has two pins inside which are cut differently and which run between the tumbler and the surrounding housing (i.e. between the cork and the bottle). When the right key is inserted into the lock the pins lift up so that the gap between the two pins aligns with the edge of the tumbler: this is known as the shear line. This means that the tumbler can be rotated freely, opening the lock. The goal of picking the lock is to lift these pins in the exact same way a key would. To do this, the lock picker inserts a tension wrench to twist the tumbler slightly. The tension wrench is a small flat-headed tool, like a screwdriver. They then prod at the pins inside the lock with a pick – a long piece of thin metal that is hooked slightly at the end – in order to lift them up to the shear line. This takes practice and patience to achieve, but it is a useful skill to have.

Almost everyone who owns a car has had the heart-sinking experience of slamming the door shut only to realize that they've left the keys inside. This momentary lack of concentration is often made worse by the embarrassment and expense of having to explain to a mechanic exactly why they need to break into the car. But before you start looking into scrap insurance prices, if you find that you are frequently locking yourself out of your car it might be wise to learn how to use a slim jim. But it is easy for inexperienced lock pickers to damage the lock or the car door whilst using a slim jim, so it is important to learn this skill with the supervision of an experienced locksmith.

Like a great many other things, lock picking is a skill that can be used both for good and evil purposes. But it is a valuable and useful thing to learn for everyone who can be a little absent minded at times, or even just for those looking for a new way to challenge themselves.
Posted by ES Team on 20 December, 2014 hobbies, how-to | 0 comments | Read more →

Merry Christmas 2011

To all who Celebrate the Season...... Merry Christmas and a blessed holiday from ES Knives. I know I plan to. The hard work is over and now it's time to enjoy the blessings of the season. Spending the Holiday with family and my Granddaughter's first Christmas.

Guntersville Lure

Posted by ES Team on 19 December, 2014 ES family, holidays | 0 comments | Read more →

Real Men Cook

Let's talk about food and cooking. I needed to get this off my chest: REAL MEN COOK!!!

I was taught, as a boy, that women did the cooking in the family. Men did the manly things like working on the car, hunting , fishing and sports. You get it, Men did those manly things and left the unmanly things to the women. How we decided what was manly and what was not manly was never reveled to me. But I knew growing up that I was expected to learn the manly arts. One thing for certain; Men did not cook. Cooking was not a manly art.

Over the years, I have blown that stereotype right out of the water. I love to cook and I am a manly man. In particular, I love to cook meat. I cook everything but meat is my specialty. In fact my nickname among my Native American friends is Meatman. I smoke it. I grill it. I cook it in the oven and in the pan. I love to cook meat. My Motto today is Real Men Cook.

Cooking is an art. It is more than just throwing things together. I have been practicing my art for over 20 years. For food to turn out exceptional you have to learn the ins and outs of cooking. You have to mess up from time to time to get where you want to go. That works in almost all of life's path. If you don't take risks it becomes hard to grow


Real Men Cook Meat Cooking StationAs you can see in the picture I have my own little cooking emporium out back on my
porch. I cook on charcoal, gas and pellet. I have a gas grill and a gas smoker. A few months ago I purchased a traeger pellet grill and I love it. You can see that I also have a weber kettle grill because sometime you just need that charcoal taste. If you can cook on charcoal you can cook on anything. My next cooking project is building a brick grill/smoker. Then I'll be able to smoke with wood coals in the backyard.

The table with the stones in the picture serves two purposes. It makes a great little work station. The stones are perfect for my cast iron dutch ovens.

 

 Real Men Cook Meat Cast Iron Dutch Oven

I love cooking with the black iron. Most of what I cook is in the cast iron. Cast iron is amazing. It has a 500 year history and played a big part in the settlement of my Country. There is something about the taste of food cooked in cast iron that you can't get anywhere else. Not only that but cast iron is good for you unlike many of the other metal pots on the market.

Since I love to cook I thought I would start with this little introduction. From time to time I'll post a recipe or two and maybe share a few secrets.

Posted by ES Team on 18 December, 2014 ES family, hobbies | 0 comments | Read more →

Life Is Hard Enough

Life is hard, but it's harder when your stupid.

Stupid Signs

Think smart people.

Posted by ES Team on 17 December, 2014 humor | 0 comments | Read more →

Gifting A Knife (tip)

Where I come from it is considered unlucky to give a knife as a gift to a friend because it will cut or sever the relationship. To avoid this curse, the receiver should give a coin in return so as to "pay" for the gift. It is common gesture to include a penny with the knife that is given as a gift which the receiver returns to the giver as "payment".
Gifting a Knife Tip
Posted by ES Team on 16 December, 2014 history, how-to | 0 comments | Read more →

Super Knife Eraser (tip)

Super Knife Eraser
Have you ever wondered why knife dealers knives always look so good?

I sell a lot of knives. I sell high end knives and I sell low end knives. I trade knives. I come across blades that have marks, like rust, tarnish and other markings. You never know, blades do rust and get marked up. I use a Super Knife eraser to clean my blades. There are all sorts of polishes, goops and products that make claims to remove rust and tarnish. I have used them. I have not found one that does the job I need it to do. But my Super Knife eraser is another story. It never lets me down.

The Super Knife Eraser is the well kept secret. They are ideal for erasing rust, tarnish and other surface blemishes on metal, and produces a fine, brushed satin finish. I use my eraser almost daily. I could not live without it.

Every knife collector should know about the Super Eraser. The Super Eraser has an abrasive compound mixed into the rubber of the eraser. I came across some old pocket knives a few weeks ago that had some serious rust spots. I used the Super Rust Eraser and every single knife showed marked improvement. They were not perfect but they came out nice and ready to sell. I sold them as used. That was important, my eraser turned a virtually worthless blade into something not only salvageable but also marketable. Liquid metal cleaners wouldn't touch the spots , but the super Eraser got them off. Honestly, You have to see it to believe it!

The Eraser measures 3-1/8" x 1" x 5/8". They are easy to use, with little effort and they last for years. They are made in Germany. Germans know their knives. It is nice to find a product that is not made in china.
Other Uses for The Super Knife Eraser 1) Great for cleaning the crud out of Tang Stamps on old blades. 2) Removes Oxidation from Derlin handles. 3) Cleans Ceramic and steel sharpening sticks

This may sound like a sales pitch and maybe it is. They are a great seller on the ESKnives site. But really I wanted to spread the joy. I wanted to be helpful and share a tip to knife care that very few know about. There are many people that have tarnished blades and don't have a clue how to restore them. The Super knife Eraser is a good place to start.
Posted by ES Team on 15 December, 2014 how-to | 0 comments | Read more →

Super Bowl Party in Afghanistan

Troops Super Bowl Party

Supporting Our Troops
Saturday, March 17, 2012
10:41 AM

Super Bowl Party in Afghanistan

We at Extremely-Sharp were happy to help a few of our troops celebrate the Super Bowl. No matter what our political beliefs may be I think it is important for all of us to join together and support our troops that put their lives on the line every day to defend our Constitution so we here can live with the Freedoms that we enjoy. I'd tip my hat but hey….. I only got the one arm. After all, my left hand is not my hat tipping hand.

When Platoon Sergeant from TASMG TF 12 DET 4 Harold Compton asked me for help with their Super Bowl Party over in Afghanistan I was more than happy to help out. We sent several Smith and Wesson knives out to Sergeant Compton to help out with the cause.

There are some things that are more important than business and the bottom line. Supporting our troops through it all is one of those things. My Son-In-Law is over there. His wife and daughter are here. We all worry about his well being every day. We all sacrifice through these tough times. I thank all the men and women serving our great country. I am grateful we were able to help play a small part in making an intolerable situation a little better.

Posted by ES Team on 14 December, 2014 ES family, holidays | 0 comments | Read more →

HMK Tumult Video

On the Road and thought I'd post this video on the HMK Tumult I did a while back. You can see them at ESKNIVES.

 

I love this knife and it's a Benchmade made in the USA!

Posted by ES Team on 13 December, 2014 knife reviews | 0 comments | Read more →

We are Only as Good as our Customers Say We Are!!!

We love our Customers at Extremely -Sharp

I have been selling knives, swords, survival gear since 1990. I have been selling knives and swords on the internet since 1995. Like a lot of people I started on ebay back when ebay was fun and not a multi million dollar conglomerate saturated by big business. Remember those days?

The sword and knife business is a tough business. The competition is crazy. There are tons of companies on the internet selling knives and swords. Most of them much bigger than we are. And then we have Walmart….. I don't have to explain to most people what Walmart and their like are doing to small businesses. Downtowns have become ghost towns in many communities due to these large conglomerate corporations.

So why do people buy their knives from us? What does One Arm Don at Esknives have that all those others don't? First off I think price and selection. We have a great selection of knives and swords at great prices. We work hard at bringing our customers the cutlery they are looking for. We have been building our contacts and suppliers for over 20 years. We know how to buy the best, the odd, and the weird and offer them at the best prices.

But what keeps people coming back is our customer service. We strive to keep satisfied customers. Our policy of Free Shipping on orders Over $50.00 is geared to let our customers know how important they are to us. Every sale that goes out is completely guaranteed no questions asked.

This means that if you get a knife and are unhappy with it for any reason you get a refund. If you think I misrepresented a knife on the website and it is not what you thought it was, you get a refund. If the post office losses your package, you get a reshipment of your order or a refund no questions asked. If you are dissatisfied in any way we make it right. I mess up an order (happens rarely) I make it right.

We love our community. You want a special knife that I don't have, contact me and I will use our vast resources to search for the knife. Maybe you have a cause or your helping out an organization. You have an organization putting on a function we will donate a knife for your cause. We support our community in the ways that we can.

But what we really believe here at Esknives is that We are only as good as our Customers say we are!! If you want to know how good we are look at what our customers say about us. I get feedback almost everyday.

Here are just a few customer comments. Just for the record these are real comments. I make up nothing. Names have been changed to protect the guilty.
Don

"Your customer service is exceptional! Our son, Dave, was so excited to receive the butterfly knife you picked out for him! Your prompt and professional response to our problem and your thoughtful note have really impressed us. We look forward to doing business with you in the future and will recommend your business. Thank you." 
Jennifer

"Thanks a million Don, excellent product! I received it yesterday." 
Jimmy

"Don I Just wanted you too know my package arrived today. I am very pleased. I thank you for your great customer service. I WILL definitely be buying more things. THANK YOU AGAIN. I AM A SATISFIED CUSTOMER . HAVE A GREAT DAY. "
Reggie

"I very much appreciate all your effort! "
Beth

"I thank especially to Don for helping/answering my questions. I received my package in my mailbox and I am really satisfied with your products. I am planning to buy some more in the future, thanks! Have a great day. "
Thomas

"Thank You Don. I sure wish I found you guy's a lot sooner. I can't tell you how pleased I am with your fabulous service and even better products. your descriptions don't tell the whole story about how freaking cool the stuff really is!!! Thanks again." 
Justin

Those are only a few comments I got this last month. So I don't have to blow smoke, or dance or talk bad about the competition. Our customers say it all. ESKNIVES is not just any business. We are a family business. We have integrity and we treat our customers with the respect the deserve.
Posted by ES Team on 12 December, 2014 ES family | 0 comments | Read more →

Time to Start Camping!!!

Time to start camping!!! I love camping!!!

Snoopy Camping with Woodstock

Posted by ES Team on 11 December, 2014 camping | 0 comments | Read more →
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