@@timtechdude4339Hi folks, this is the lock picking lawyer, I've got something special for you today. For years people have been asking to see my wife's rack. It's a fine rack, holding firm these years. And while many other men might try to use some shoddy tool, Mrs Lockpicking Lawyer prefers... My Carrot. Now let's take a look at a model of this rack and see just why my carrot is PERFECT for the job...
@@mellocello Which means there's a thriving black market for carrots catering to the millions of Party members who *aren't* paid in certificate rubles. So...better have some Certificate Rubles or western currency - Deutschmarks were popular -, but be careful because possession of either could land you in prison if you're not that high up. Or you trade something you do have. Cured meats or other vegetables from country relatives' backyard gardens. Moonshine from country relations or friends in the Air Force. Or random stuff the wife picked up and brought home (because Soviet housewives *always* carried a shopping bag in their purse), not because the family actually needed it, but simply because a store had some in stock and it could be traded for something you *did* need. What passed for an economy in the Soviet Union, especially during the Brezhnev era and after, would have most medieval clerks (closest they had to economists back then) tearing their hair. Oh, and don't forget to check the date of manufacture of anything you do get. Beginning of the month is probably OK, but end of the month means the workers are rushing to fill the quota, and have installed screws with hammers and not bothered to hook up internal connections.
Can verify that the "carrot method" works. My parent's appartment in Russia was robbed 20 years ago. It had a lock with a key like this and according to my mom, there was a carrot sticking out of the lock, when she came home to find the front door open.
They're not so forgotten in my experience - i've spent all my childhood in Russia, st. Petersburg. 2 out of 4 flats on parent's story had rack locks, including parent's door! Few facts about these locks usage: - Those "bolts" you've unscrewed at 0:53 tend to screw themselves in - and required manual adjustment (slight unscrewing) from time to time (few weeks) - otherwise locking mechanism were tightening up, making unlocking the door way too hard - key itself was uncomfortably large for a key, but doubled down as an improvised wood saw :DD I remember sabotaging my teacher's chair leg by rasping it almost in half while she was away for a break - closing/locking the door from inside meant that you pull springed lock rods, close the door almost to the end, release rods and then proceed to fully close the door - at which moment rods LOUDLY springed back into slots, making it the loudest locking mechanism i know
My garage door has one :) It has a nice quirk - it is spring loaded, so it is very entertaining when in the winter time the key gets flicked out of the door into a pile of snow after opening the door..
as a person in Ukrаinе, i can say that we use this locks almost exclusively with regular locks. the ratchet one is more like internal heavy-duty latch that is shielded from weather and has at least *some* pick resistance. and the regular lock on top can be much smaller because only the ratchet lock holds the weight of a door
My grandfather had one of these on his garage, during Soviet times. Typically they were not store-bought, but made by some local handyman with access to machine tools, for private sale or, more commonly, exchange for requisite amount of booze.
You must have thousands of locks, I'd love to see the full collection someday. I got into lock picking thanks to your channel, and it certainly is a fun and rewarding hobby, thank you LPL.
That Ukrainian lock does show some potential. All that would be needed is some shroud over the button and it would be more secure than any Masterlock product you've shown here.
Just remove the button and have a pin on a chain that fits into a hole in the bolt for manual opening. Almost as convenient and a snare type device has nothing to catch onto.
I am from Ukraine and I had a Ukrainian version of the lock on my garage that you showed, but in it you had to turn the key 90 degrees twice and insert it deeper each time. Only after the second deepening of the key did it gain access to the lock
The carrot method is a tall tale. You simply insert a flat screwdriver, rack the bolt while swearing at those who designed this PoS lock and it's open. Source: the 90s.
As someone who saw these in use they were called "riegel" locks. They were mounted to the door on the inside and installed exclusively on the pull side. Also you often had to pull the door a bit to make it easier to open the lock.
I saw Makers Muse 3d print one of these a while ago. They are from cold places and still work for low security applications even when it’s really cold.
If that Ukrainian lock had a protective ring around the bolt and a pyramid shaped bolt (instead of a cylindrical one), it would be a lot harder for someone to open with a wire.
Hello from Ukraine. I have had a brass lock and it server many years before we installed a modern door and then I sent it to scrap. Locks were made during 199x years because of economic problems factories and also maybe jails produced this instead of whatever they have produced before just to survive. People were payed by what they have produced and there was no online boards to sell that, some "entrepreneurs" collected the goods that people was payed with and selled them somewhere with some profit. Some stuff was produced unofficially
A friend got a Lucan lock (predecessor to the Manolex padlock) at a locksmith expo in the US in the 70s IIRC. Late 70s or early 80s the Manolex padlock was being sold in ads in Popular Mechanics magazine etc.
I remember these from my childhood - they were quite common in the 80s Soviet Union. Some variations also had a sort of a pin or a lever at the back of the bolt on the inside of the door, that prevented the bolt from sliding back and thus making it impossible to open via key or any non destructive methods from the outside altogether since the bolt wouldn't move at all. Some also had a plate that could be rotated or slid over the backside of the keyhole, preventing the key from going all the way through and thus preventing the bolt from moving all the way across - which functionally prevented the door being opened from the outside (via key or otherwise). The most common usage was in tandem with other locks on a door - it was pretty much standard practice to see at least two locks on apartment doors, often you would see three (two deadbolts and one of these). Not sure of it's pick resistance, as we were very young kids at the time and weren't interested in that - but it wasn't uncommon to know someone in your school whose key could open your door (or vice versa). Likewise, it was also common for kids to try disable the thing permanently while trying to open it with a friends key (or sometimes their own key) and having it stuck half way in. Come to think of it, I think that was the most common way the lock stopped someone getting in - they would try to open it with a makeshift key or something similar, and it would get permanently jammed in it. Don't think I heard of anyone using a carrot though (but again, I was very young at the time).
A bigger version of these was used for garage doors/gates. My grandpa has one, and I still remember how heavy that key was, especially put in a bag together with all the other keys to his garage :)
Once you explained how the lock worked, my immediate thought was just tensioned by pulling the door handle, and then just slide it to the side, and then you immediately proved me right.
I own one of this. You undereestimate the ruffness and rugidness of most doors (mostly garage doors) closed by this locks in post-soviet space. I imagine it would be really hard to work the bolt and keep the door secure in one place to open it like this, especially in winter. Sorry for bad English. Like your videos.
Oh wow! I have seen GIFs and videos about these and been able to find almost no information on them at all. It is wild to see so many of them in one place. I saw someone "pick" one of these locks with a carrot! lol, you mentioned the carrot just after I edited my comment....
These were popular/produced during the 90s in the post-soviet conuntries and primerally used on apartment building entrerance. So having no security isn't really a problem if the major application is to prevent drunks from pissing on the stairs/hallways/elevators. First time I see padlocks with this construction though o_0. Ukrainian "reverse-rack lock" somewhat reminds me of another popular lock from the 80s-90s that was primerally used on garages (which were build as metal boxes near apartments or as long rows of brick/concrete garages with the shared walls). These were so called "falling key" locks (замок с падающим ключом). Key had a swinging part that were "falling" inside a lock when you fully inserted the key. They also had very simple construction.
Man I was hoping you'd cover these one day! Being Polish, I remember that the block of flats I used to live in as a kid had these small storage rooms on each floor and my family had one of them, it had a key like this. The building was made in early 90's juuust after the communist rule in Poland ended. I bet these locks are still there in most of those rooms.
Hello from Ukraine. I have a similar lock at main entrance. So i measured the key with calipers, and just 3d printed a copy. These locks aren't secure, but they are almost indestructible, so are quite popular, especially in basements
Had a variation of this lock with key being a metal rod around 3 millimeters in diameter cut in similar manner to the center. With a wooden handle on one end for ease of use. The lock was cut into the door.
As a guy from ex soviet respublic - those are still used as garage locks sometimes here. Usually "homemade". But no one uses them as the only lock here anymore as they are actually quite easy to pick if you know what you are dealing with.
![[1606] Soviet Era “Rack Locks”](/img/logo.svg){kind=logo}
