Welcome to the OCL Wiki
Oak City Locksport is the original Raleigh area lockpicking group, founded in 2010 by Katie (aka "sq33k"), and led today by Patrick (aka "unregistered436"). We meet once a month to teach the community how to pick locks and share interesting projects, and provide educational hands-on activities at conferences called "Lockpick Villages". Our meeting schedule can be found at https://www.meetup.com/Oak-City-Locksport. Follow us on Mastodon or Twitter for other updates, and/or follow us on YouTube!
We're focused on fun and education! It's useful to learn about the relative security (or insecurity) of the locks we use in everyday life. More informed and educated consumers can make better choices regarding what they purchase to protect themselves and their families. There are many different variations of the saying, but "Locks are for honest people". A real criminal is more likely to break a window, use bolt cutters, or crash through a door.
We welcome newcomers to this hobby, and are more than willing to teach the basics to get you started. There are no startup costs or membership fees since we have "community" locks and picks, but most people end up buying their own materials once they're hooked! That said, we'll gladly accept donations to replace lost and damaged equipment from the regular wear and tear it receives at meetings and conferences that we have taught at. Most people pick up this hobby because locks are like little metal puzzles.
Besides our Meetups you might also find us running the Lockpick Village at regional security conferences such as CackalackyCon or BSidesRDU.
Our organizational mission is to:
- Provide education on the skill of lock picking, lock collecting, and associated endeavors
- Provide early training and vocational instruction to those looking to pursue a future career in locksmithing or physical security professions
- Share useful knowledge and techniques with first responders, law enforcement, or military service members who need to make rapid non-destructive entry for life and safety purposes
- Educate members so they understand the relative security (or lack thereof) of the locks they rely upon on a daily basis
- Provide a welcoming environment, resources, and instruction for those new to the hobby to build their skills to the point that they can also contribute to the educational mission
- Support and promote locksport both in the Raleigh-Durham area and at national conferences and events
Oak City Locksport is organized as a North Carolina educational nonprofit corporation (SOS ID 2582912), with federal 501(c)(3) status pending.
Our EIN is 92-2613857
