How To Break Into A Small Padlock Using A Paperclip

This must be the first how-to guide I’ve posted on kennysia.com

When I came back from Sabah earlier this month, I found myself in a position where I had to break into the lock of my own luggage bag.
In my absent-minded stupor, I must have misplaced the keys to my luggage, leaving my smelly post-marathon clothes fermenting with sweat inside my luggage bag. I didn’t have a choice. If I didn’t break into the lock of my luggage bag, I’d be collecting mushrooms from my running shorts today.

What surprised me was how easy it was to break a padlock.
On my first attempt, I managed to effortlessly pick the padlock in just 5 minutes. The only “tool” I used was a regular paperclip that costs not more than 70 sen for a box of 100s.
I’ve made an “instructional” video here, so in case anyone found themselves in the same situation as I was, don’t panic.

Disclaimer: kennysia.com will not be held responsible for any panties stolen from your luggage bags as a result of this video.


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83 Replies to “How To Break Into A Small Padlock Using A Paperclip”

  1. bro….i tried on the door knob by using credit card and also paper clip…also can. very simple to do it…just twist and twist till u get the right hit to unlock the lock.
    anyway, nice video clip from u…..guess there will be increase of crime since they learn from ur video clip…hehehe

  2. I’ve always wondered how that worked! I didn’t know you had to bend it that way but awesome!! xD
    Now I can go to the airport, steal a bag, open the lock, get caught and scream while I’m being handcuffed and dragged away “BUT KENNY SIA TAUGHT ME! IT’S ALL KENNY’S FAULLLLLTTT…….!!!”
    lol xD

  3. Cool. Have you ever seen the other video where the guy opened the luggage bag using a pen? I tried that and it actually worked! I had to do it cause my stupid cheap padlocks broke on me.

  4. Kenny u r multi-talented lah ! BTW why do u tapau ur sweaty clothes and didnt wash it back in sabah ? But I guess living as a bachelor, this is gonna happen sooner or later !

  5. Is that some RM1 padlock la kenny -__-
    Lol at the panty part la dude. that tickles.haha..
    Dunno why i’m laughing at the panty part only and nothing else.. >_

  6. gracias! do u know where i learn the skills of lockpicking? it all started from me watching tin tin adventures on tv and one day, tin tin broke a padlock using a hairpin to help him escape from drowning in a tank! such influence from the media!
    doesn’t mean i am evil and pick locks all the time…duh!

  7. i tried using a pen to unlock the zip. it works superb too! just that the lock is still there so it has to be broken no matter what. but for conveniency, the zip way is faster. just use a pen, put it between the zip and pull ur pen along the zip. close ur luggage like normal. it does no harm AT ALL to ur luggage. go try!

  8. Hello. I watched the video regarding the lock thingy. I like the way you speak 🙂 Very professional. Haha. I’m also from Kuching btw. Have a great day.

  9. At first I thought it would be cool to embed some subtitles into your video stream like any other good “How-To” videos, but I got lazy. 🙁
    Anyways here’s what I got so far. Reflect on your speech, ignore it, count how many times you say the word “okay” for fun, or save it as a written statement of the video in case some idiot sues you for liability. 😛

    ————————————————
    Hi everyone this is Kennysia,
    Um today I’m going to show you how to pick a simple small luggage lock, um, using nothing more than a paperclip which u can get from most supermarkets
    for less than a ringgit for a whole box. Recently I had to do something like this because after I came back from Sabah I realized that I lost the keys
    to my luggage. And uh it kinda forced me to becoming a thief and break into my whole luggage. So anyway, um, this is the luggage I used to secure, Im sorry,
    the luggage lock I used to secure my luggage. And as you can see right now I locked it and it’s fixed. So first (?) is to take a paper clip and what I
    normally do is that I bend out the ends so that it is easier for me to bend that into shape.
    Okay.
    So. That’s the first step. Um, so what I normally do, is that, you see this end here ? It used to be rounded ? We don’t want that,
    we want it to be a bit sharp so that it’s easier to insert into the keyhole.
    Umm, what I normally do is that I bend it the other way around. Its not sharp yet, but it’s just the general shape of it. Um, slightly sharper, understand(?)
    So press it together as fast as possible. Okay. Alright so it’s like this. Okay ? Next thing you wanna do is this ends here you wanna bend it so that it’s
    becoming like a handle, so bend it at 90 degrees…towards the uh, the middle.
    And it kinda gets something like this. Still not perfect, but that’s the general shape of it. Okay ? So there you go. And this section here, that’s is the, uhhh,
    the key part. And, all you wanna do is wanna make it as slender as possible, right now its still a bit of fat here. Make it as slender as possible.
    And you can use your finger to sort off bend it into shape. Um, I tend to prefer using my fingers because, I got good fingers, um, but if not you can always
    use a playar or scissors to kinda press them into closer together. Okay. Alright. This, towards the end here, you can leave it a little bit fat, that’s okay. Uhh
    that’s meant to pick a lock. Umm, yeah, that basically that’s the general shape of our lockpick. And using this, we um insert it into the keyhole. Okay. Then just
    try to push it all the way in. (?) Jimmy a bit, while you bend it into shape. And once you feel that it’s all the way in, all you gotta do then is just apply a
    slight turn. A hard turn if you can. And everything is working well. You’re here, the locks released, and you’ve just pick a lock, using a paper clip. Okay ?
    So if you think your luggage is secure, think again. because I have just picked a lock with a paperclip. Um, the long thing I wanna say, is that, please use
    this video as an educational guide, Do not use it for evil purposes, I will not be held liable if you go to jail.
    So, thanks for watching. 🙂
    ————————————————

  10. Haha. Its funny how you say ‘normally do’ throughout the video its like thats the tenth time youre doing it.

  11. If this can be done, then is there any other safe way to protect our luggage during our travels. Thanks Kenny, now my travels will never feel safe again until another method of locking my luggage is discover!!!!

  12. Okay so this brought back memories of when I was back in KL and my father insisted on me and my mother looking at this forward about how people set up atm machines to swallow cards and then retrieve it after bla di da enter pin code the scam u know. Anyway, funny thing is, the email, although a warning, came with step by step instructions of how to make the clip device to be slotted into the atm. I’m sure alot of ppl have seen this, but anyway…..WHY la you teaching ppl to unlock locks when you KNOW in malaysia, chances are people are GOING to use it for stealing?? I mean, now everyone’s gotta upgrade to those uber cool digit expensive locks. WHy la? I can’t use Korjo brand from the airport anymore cuz I know all these malaysians now know how to unpick a lock.
    Evil….especially for a FIRST HOW TO !!! lols
    I gave my dad the same shit when he showed me the email. I mean, after seeing it, I started thinking how SIMPLE it is to do…so u know if it got in the wrong hands.
    Anyway..haha

  13. Kenny, actually you don’t really need to unlock the lock in such a way just to open your luggage bag. Too time consuming. You can try this alternative method. I did it many many time without fail. Use a pen to poke the middle part of the luggage bag zip. You can then unzip the bag to take out your key. As easy as that!
    Don’t worry you won’t spoil the zip cos you can zip it back again after you open the lock.
    Now you can imagine how unsave it is to check-in your luggage. By hand the safest.

  14. nice blogs.
    but for this video, there’s too many ‘what i normally do’, contradicting to the fact that this is your 1st time doing it 🙂
    have to take away that punctuation of yours 😉
    peace.

  15. Picking is elegant but time consuming. One can do it faster by giving the padlock a rough nudge (eg. with a hammer) and the useless chunk just disintegrate.
    MADE in CHINA.

  16. Seeing how many hits your site gets, Kenny Sia is officially a threat to national security!! ISA!!! …What’s the home minister’s name again? lol.

  17. “What surprised me was how easy it was to break a padlock.” – Kenny.
    ————————————————-
    Kenny,
    Thanks for the lesson learn on how to lock picking. Now can you teach us how to hack into another person’s bank account?
    🙂

  18. lorr kenny,
    is that a cheap pad lock in Pasar malam ka. Seringgit dapat 3 🙂
    i can break that with my bare finger la..no need paper clip la bro
    hahaha
    lankapo.com

  19. hi, I’ve been trying to reach you through your posted email address, but my mail can’t go through.
    Is there any way that I could reach you?
    Thank you.

  20. Good one… Whenever I travel, I will have to spend hours comparing hotel rates… comparehotel.com.my saved my time.. Any more travel tips to share?

  21. honeybunny has a LOT of free time!! 😛
    Posted by: Eve at 23 October 2008 7:44 AM
    ——————————————–
    Extreme Dymaxion Sleep FTW. In average I have 11 years more time than an average person ! 8-10 hours of sleep is just bad habit. 😀

  22. How risky it’s that someone actually open up your luggage and throw a package of drugs inside without you knowing? That’s why don’t always think that the conventional lock is safe! I always used a plastic security seal – luggagelock which come with a serial number.

  23. The IQ of kennysia readers has significantly spiralled downwards over the years.then again,so has the intellectual material in the blog.
    ps: it’s just a simple pad lock.what next?how to open a beer bottle cap using your hands?

  24. fuck off agu. go back to reading your so-called intellectual reading material on eastern times and utusan malaysia propaganda.

  25. did i hit a nerve mr.beer bottle opener?why so defensive?don’t tell me you’re affected by what i said.terperasan ka?i wonder why 😉

  26. this is not very helpful..soon you will our luggages being broken open by airport crew…crap..we already have enough problem, first the zip and now a documentary about breaking locks…nothing is safe anymore…:(:(:(:(:(….

  27. Kenny, Kenny…if you’re a ‘man’ you’d have a hacksaw in your house (since you were BACK HOME when you found out you lost your key right?)
    *haih*….disgrace to real man all over the world…

  28. you don’t have to break the padlock. there’s other way to open the luggage whenever you need, and close it back with the padlock still attached.
    while ur luggage still usable when you need to fly again.

  29. hahahahhahaa. nice one. the last time i lost my key i sawed the lock open. =D had to use a knife cos i didn’t have a saw at home. took a hell lot longer, but i was so proud of myself! lol

  30. I realized that i left the key of my luggage padlock at home when im in airport just now. Then i thought of this page. Though the video is removed, thank goodness not the picture. Else i would have to buy new clothes for the rest of trip.

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