TOOOL Chicago
The Chicago chapter of The Open Organization of Lockpickers (TOOOL) meets at Pumping Station One the first Wednesday of every month at 8pm. We talk about locks, and the art of picking, opening, and bypassing physical security devices, with lots of hands on picking. Intro Classes are generally taught if we have several beginners.
Contact/Participation
Meetings are public and open to all.
If you have any questions or just want to let us know you're coming, please don't hesitate to contact us at chapter-CHI@toool.us.
Meetings
If you've never tried to pick a lock before, we think you'll find it a fascinating experience. For some people it's a very zen undertaking, and for others it's an interesting and challenging technical puzzle (and for many, both). If you have your own tools, definitely bring them. If you don't we're happy to loan you some for the night.
Meetings are intended to be very social and lot of discussion is driven by what everyone has been working on lately, so bring any tools, locks, videos or articles that have been of interest to you lately. Bringing some beer to share is always a nice gesture.
Our normal meetings are held the first Wednesday of every month in the classroom/lounge of PS1
If you're hoping to get the full beginner lesson, make sure to show up on time (or at least let us know you're coming).
Some months we do talks or workshops rather than the usual open picking. Join the mailing list to find out when those are coming up (email us to be added).
Our Google group can be joined by going to Google Groups and searching for toool-chicago or sending an email to: toool-chicago+subscribe@googlegroups.com.
A Word on Rules
Lockpicking is a very cool skill. It's also a skill that can get people very upset with you if used improperly. We expect that all of our members will use their skills in a responsible and legal way, and we take that expectation very seriously; hopefully that's enough said.
TOOOL US espouses two rules that will steer you right:
- Do not pick locks which you do not own.
- Do not pick locks which you rely on.