# now what do I do with this combination lock? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 31, 2007, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-do-i-do-with-this-combination-lock/406149 "2007-05-31T01:50:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rachael\_Rage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71c47a/32.png) [@Rachael\_Rage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachael_Rage)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-do-i-do-with-this-combination-lock/406149/1 "2007-05-31T01:50:51Z")
In the vain hope that one of you has encountered this with positive results… Short story: I bought one of those ‘you set the combination’ travel locks at Target. I set the combination. Apparently I didn’t set it correctly, because when I closed the lock, I couldn’t open it again, no matter what combination of numbers I tried. There’s no 1-800 number, there’s not even a brand name. It’s a “TSA-approved” lock so maybe if I went to an airport they could open it, but I don’t have time for that. Any tips or tricks? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-do-i-do-with-this-combination-lock/406149/2 "2007-05-31T01:51:55Z")
Is it on anything or is it just the lock? A locksmith would be able to help but it wouldn’t be worth it for a plain lock. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-do-i-do-with-this-combination-lock/406149/3 "2007-05-31T01:59:05Z")
Three digits? A thousand possible combinations? Shouldn’t take more than an hour to try them all. So it’s that or decide that your time isn’t worth the price of a new lock and buy another one. ETA: did you try the original default setting, probably 0-0-0? Maybe you didn’t actually reset it, and it’s still that. ---
**Author:** ![Scruloose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@Scruloose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scruloose)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-do-i-do-with-this-combination-lock/406149/4 "2007-05-31T02:02:18Z")
[del]000[/del] [del]001[/del] [del]002[/del] [del]003[/del] [del]004[/del] [del]005[/del] [del]006[/del] [del]007[/del] [del]008[/del] [del]009[/del] [del]010[/del] [del]011[/del] [del]012[/del] [del]013[/del] [del]014[/del] [del]015[/del] [del]016[/del] 017… ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-do-i-do-with-this-combination-lock/406149/5 "2007-05-31T02:58:44Z")
If it was my lock, I’d try 666. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-do-i-do-with-this-combination-lock/406149/6 "2007-05-31T03:12:29Z")
I’d try the “delta 5” of the number. E.g., if you thought you set it to 148, try 693. That and the reverse of the original and the delta 5. (E.g., 841 and 396) ---
**Author:** ![VernWinterbottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c67d28/32.png) [@VernWinterbottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VernWinterbottom)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-do-i-do-with-this-combination-lock/406149/7 "2007-05-31T03:28:08Z")
Sunday, my wife and I were with our seven year old daughter in the one-room schoolhouse at Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts. We were alone in the building. The teacher’s desk in the front of the school room was locked with a small combination lock. We’d been in there about a minute when our daughter announced, “I unlocked the desk.” She told us how she thought of the numbers it might be, tried it, and found her first guess was correct. I’m still amazed. (We found, among other things, that although it’s an 1830s historical village, they’ve secretly hidden a telephone in the desk.) The combination wasn’t 0-0-0, either. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-do-i-do-with-this-combination-lock/406149/8 "2007-05-31T03:42:53Z")
I brute-forced a 4 digit combo one time. Only took a few hours. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-do-i-do-with-this-combination-lock/406149/9 "2007-05-31T03:47:06Z")
In Junior High, I walked up to my friend’s locker and zipped the dial back and forth. Turns out, I hit the right combo and opened it. ---
**Author:** ![brendon\_small](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brendon_small/32/17101_2.png) [@brendon\_small](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brendon_small)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-do-i-do-with-this-combination-lock/406149/10 "2007-05-31T04:19:04Z")
We found a lock-box in a storage unit that used to belong to my wife’s sorority. The only thing left in there was that and the man that owned it called her to come get it because she was the contact back when. They hadn’t been in there or paid for it in months, so she brought it home and I sat down, starting at 000. Took my about 45 minutes. It’s kind of the easiest way (at least in my experience…) Brendon Small ---
**Author:** ![Blaster\_Master](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Blaster\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blaster_Master)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-do-i-do-with-this-combination-lock/406149/11 "2007-05-31T04:25:35Z")
Give it to some anal rententive kids. When I was in high school, I one time found a 4-digit combination lock, and during the lectures, I would play with it trying different combinations. At times, other kids would try combinations as well… it was eventually cracked by someone else. The funny part is, he had used some kind of silly mathematical formula to try to figure out what the combination was, and for the combination that worked, he had miscalculated. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-do-i-do-with-this-combination-lock/406149/12 "2007-05-31T05:08:20Z")
Is this a three/four digit thumbwheel lock, or a dial style? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-do-i-do-with-this-combination-lock/406149/13 "2007-05-31T05:48:23Z")
Buy a new one, they are cheap? ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-do-i-do-with-this-combination-lock/406149/14 "2007-05-31T05:53:55Z")
[QUOTE=Darth Vader’s Little Pal] Any tips or tricks? [/QUOTE] [http://www.metacafe.com/watch/297062/how\_to\_crack\_a\_combination\_lock/](http://www.metacafe.com/watch/297062/how_to_crack_a_combination_lock/) ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-do-i-do-with-this-combination-lock/406149/15 "2007-05-31T13:45:30Z")
TSA has a passkey; they can open an approved lock independent of the combination. So asking them to open the lock for you probably doesn’t help you as much as a brute-force attack on the combo would help. ---
**Author:** ![Belrix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed655f/32.png) [@Belrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belrix)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-do-i-do-with-this-combination-lock/406149/16 "2007-05-31T17:40:02Z")
If it’s the kind I have, with spinning disks, then you can sometimes just force it a bit. Put pressure on the hasp, placing the entire lock under tension. Then start tweaking the wheels a bit. With luck, on a cheap lock, one will be stickier than the others, this is the wheel most under tension by the hasp. Turn it bit by bit until you feel it kind-of slip into place, kinda like falling into a detent position. This should put another wheel under tension which you can then rotate until it falls into place. Repeat until the lock is open. Really only works with cheap locks, though. ---
**Author:** ![Lambo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lambo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lambo)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2007, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-do-i-do-with-this-combination-lock/406149/17 "2007-05-31T18:20:20Z")
[QUOTE=brendon\_small] We found a lock-box in a storage unit that used to belong to my wife’s sorority. The only thing left in there was that and the man that owned it called her to come get it because she was the contact back when. They hadn’t been in there or paid for it in months, so she brought it home and I sat down, starting at 000. Took my about 45 minutes. It’s kind of the easiest way (at least in my experience…) Brendon Small [/QUOTE] Well? Now we all want to know what was in it!