How to: Crack Your Own Safe

So, you decided to program your home or work safe with some clever combination that refers to a mostly forgotten, and well-hidden, childhood memory. Good thinking—no one could possibly crack that code.

And then, obviously, you forget the password. Don’t worry, we’ve been there. And here’s how to get out of a potentially embarrassing predicament.

If you are dealing with a simple, small digital safe, then we have good news for you (or maybe it’s bad news—you decide): reopening it without the combination or key is surprisingly simple. Due to the nature of the mechanism, all you need is a timed bop on the top and it’ll slide open like, well, like a small digital safe that, in retrospect, isn’t as secure as advertised.

Place the safe on a flat surface and try to land a quick tap on the top while simultaneously turning the handle or lever. That should do the trick.

The situation is a bit more intricate when dealing with a combination lock. If you want to impress people, and your hearing hasn’t been destroyed by all those hair metal bands you saw live in the ’80s, press your ear to the safe and fiddle till you hear a “click.” If you can hear the numbers on the dial that have an elevated audio output, you can plot and deduce the order those digits fall in. Don’t feel bad if you fail—this method is usually only successful at the hands of a professional locksmith (or professional crook).

Option 2 is to demolish the safe, and for that you’ll need a powerful and long drill as well as a borescope. First, bore a narrow tunnel in the safe to get a visual of the inner lock mechanism. Once you’ve made contact, bust out the borescope so you can visually see the lock and then watch yourself hack it open. It’s not as easy as it sounds—safe-building people have seen the same movies as you, and the fruits of their labour are prepared for this kind of invasion. Many safes come with a glass shield that will put the safe into a permanent lock if tampered with. But no safe is invincible.

By the way, if for some reason you own a plasma cutter or a thermal lance (in which case, stay the hell away from us), it’s time to go barbaric and just cut a damn hole through the thing.