Steel Bolt Hacking

Rating:
Summary: Mediocre, at best
Review: The book's intended purpose as stated is to sell lockpicking as a competitive sport, or club. While I agree with the message, several problems made the book very nearly unreadable, and left me wondering why I'd spent money on what is so obviously an amateur web-page in bound form.

As mentioned, much of the information is copy/pasted from one chapter to the next, up to and including diagrams and pictures, with no real reason for the repetition. I suppose the author might have wanted to illustrate how similar different types of locks are in function, but this is a poor way at best to do so. Additionally, numerous spelling and grammatical mistakes broke up whatever flow the book had, from the rapidly (and incorrectly) changing tenses in the author's anecdotes, to simpler mistakes such as 6this. [sic]

If you find this book used, it might be worth the price. Still, if you have any idea already how a lock works, you're better off searching the web for How-To's and FAQ's. It's obvious the author does know the material, and that's what makes me most upset about the book. If he'd bothered to hire an editor, or even a proofreader, he would have improved the book's quality immeasurably, and perhaps made it more saleable.

Rating:
Summary: phreaking beautiful
Review: A book written by the real deal instead of a bunch of lit majors, or so called computer experts that work for companies that no one has ever heard of. I saw the author at DefCon this year, and wish I had bought it then. I'd like to see more books by independents.

hack on...

Rating:
Summary: SOLID Information for beginners
Review: Amazon finally sent me "Steel Bolt Hacking"... for some reason they really took a long time to get it to me, so I've been using the internet scronging for information. Here is my early review of the book. This review is for people who are thinking of buying the book and are still early in the process of learning how to pick locks (my pov)

For reference am a new to this (getting better but still practising on padlocks w/o security pins and crappy Kwikset cylinders).

--$/physical--
It's a smaller book than you expect for $20. But hey, it's priced to be a bit of a niche book. It's also not a "good quality" paperback it looks more like a pamphlet quality. HOWEVER - we ought to be after Information not beauty. Maybe future revisions (or the Advanced Steel Bolt Hacking book I'm waiting for -wink-) will be better

--writing style--
Well look Douglas isn't Proust - and neither are you. But it's a very friendly introduction - from a beginners view it's extremely friendly and approachable. I imagine this is very important for some readers who aren't familiar or don't like technical manuals. The graphics are ok looking, but more importantly I felt they were VERY clear on depicting exactly the concepts which you need to get *as a beginner*. Chick has a habit of being very redundant, it's pretty annoying and a waste of space. Maybe it's filler, maybe it was to help each description be stand-alone. I dunno.

--information--
This is really the key to why you should buy this book.


The basic concepts and lock types are well presented.
The tone is easy even for a non-technical person IMHO.
The Diagrams are clean and obvious.
If you are curious about this hobby or just started then read the book and you will find it very worthwhile.

I think it's worth the $20(us). Go get it.

DISCLAIMER - if you don't want to spend $20 for some reason.
Like I said Amazon kept me waiting on this one. During that time I bought picks, scounged some padlocks a few door cylinders, and *scoured the internet for information*. There is plenty of information out there. The FAQs on this site point to a great deal. Some of the videos are fantastic (others just great entertainment). The MIT guide is very helpful for beginners. You don't need to buy this book. (Personally, I think you ought to support people who try and write valuable guides like this for curious people like myself). But if that $20 means a lot to you, or you're going to resent the purchase if the minor flaws I mentioned bug you, or if you are already well advanced in the craft, use free resources. The internet has a LOT of free information, friendly people with even more information to share, and let's face it, the basic concepts are trivial compared to the practice.

Rating:
Summary: Handbook
Review: Doug Chick presents a simple howto guide on lockpicking, which is nicely in depth enough to get the hacker started. Nice book! One has to keep in mind however that there is a 'zen' that has to be attained to pick locks. If you're relaxed, you'll have fun, and see just how vulnerable you really are. A must have for geeks.

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining, Educational
Review: For those that want to learn about lock picking contest and the basics of locking picking, this book is pretty good. For those of you that want to learn the formula to cracking a combination lock, this is a great book, however if you're bad at math like I am, you might just want to just stick to lock picking. Over all, I'm glad I got this book. I was a little insulted about the line on the cover, "The Computermen's Guide to Lock Picking" 1. Because I don't think computermen's a word, and 2. Because it excludes women, but there was enough humor inside that I forgive Mr. Chick.



Rating:
Summary: Odd, But Interesting New Sport for Geeks
Review: Here is a book that introduces and teaches a fascinating new sport for the hacking hobbyist, which doesn't necessarily involve computers. Steel bolt hacking is the art of competition lock picking that is beginning to make its mark on computer people and other geeks around the world.

The beginning of the book discusses the origins of lock-picking sporting groups, crews in the U.S and Europe, competition around the country, and how to become a part of a lock-picking group. The book is fully illustrated with pictures of different types of lock picking instruments, tools to make your own picks as well as padlocks, deadbolt, and combination locks. There are pictures of locks that have been cut open and even how to crack push-button combination locks. (You know, the kind you find on the door to a server room;-) I have to say, for a little book, (114 pages) it is brimming with valuable information for a beginner.

I liked that the book didn't exaggerate. It didn't tell me that I was going to be a master lock picker after only a few tries. It took a little time, practice and sore fingers, but after practice and a lot of patience, I could pick every lock in my house. Well, almost every lock.

What I didn't like about the book: The most annoying point, I felt, is the considerable redundancy in methods between different types of locks to be picked. Also, the book suggests that there might be a lock-picking group in every city in the U.S., when in fact I am having a difficult time finding one in my are. And I live near D.C. -- You'd think there would be one on every corner around here. I think that the sport is still in its infancy and Mr. Chick is hoping his book will draw more people to it. Also, the author put his e-mail address on the back of the book. He hasn't responded to my e-mail yet, but I suppose that he's probably a busy man.



Rating:
Summary: The only hack here is the "author" DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK.
Review: I have to agree with the "Amateurish" review wholeheartedly. Some of these other reviews, as well as the Slashdot.org review, make me very suspicious about the author pumping up his own book. No one in their right mind could recommend this book! Whole chapters are repeated almost exactly word for word (and thats only one of the many complaints I have).

Even with the repeated chapters, photos, techniques, and a multi-page chart in the back that lists every possible combination for a 5-key lock (no secrets here, its just: 1-1-1-1-1, 1-1-1-1-2, 1-1-1-1-3, ....) The book still comes to only around 100 (very small, with large print) pages and has, in the end, about 3 paragraphs total CONTENT.

Anyone interested in lockpicking should look anywhere else than this book. Download the "MIT Lockpicking Guide" for free instead of buying this book. The author here is a hack and a scammer and I'm really annoyed I believed those obviously fake reviews. NEGATIVE FIVE STARS!

Rating:
Summary: Great book for beginners
Review: I understand why locksmiths are critical of this book, as well as other lock picking books--because it is too easy to learn yourself! This is a great book for beginner lock pickers, and the fact that Mr. Chick had to publish it himself is even more reason to purchase it. My copy had a couple of printing errors, such as, mis-aligned pages, but to me this is what a hackers book is suppose to be, not a book ruffed up in Photoshop to give it "hacker" credibility.

Can't wait for Chick's next one.

Rating:
Summary: A Unique Title,
Review: This is not your average lockpicking tutorial and you'll find it to be useless unless you have a particular mindset. Written for the "computer hacker", Steel Bolt Hacking is a title meant for people with a curious mind who want to learn to pick locks for sport and fun, not nessicarilly for profit or occupation. This title approaches the subject from that of a computer user, drawing conclusions and connections that today's avid computer user can both understand and apply to practice.

Rating:
Summary: A start in the right direction
Review: This is the first, and better of the three lock picking books that I bought. The book sums up what the other books I bought on lock picking did, as well as the MIT lock picking guide, but has the advantage of naming other resources, groups and where to go for more help. If you are beyond the basics, I wouldn't recommend this book, although I am still looking for an advanced lock picking book myself. I've even contacted a few locksmiths, but all were very bitter and completely indifferent to an amateur learning lock picking. Maybe I would too if it were my profession--but who cares.

I'll admit that I had a hard time with the math on cracking combination locks, but if you want a fast easy reading book to learn to pick locks, I would recommend getting this one to start with. The MIT guide is too basic and very old. My advice is; go to the authors website, www.thenetworkadministrator.com , because if you don't like his style of writing or are offended by his humor, than you're probably not going to like his book, but I do.

My name is Barry Chapman, and I approve of this message!
:-)