The Lock Picking Party

Man spends a lifetime acquiring important skills.

Like changing a tire, or making a top-notch bologna sandwich.

Then there are skills that are just cool. Like lock-picking.

And for that we present The Lock Picking Party, a cocktail-fueled tutorial on the age-old art of open sesame.

Hosted by urban mischief-makers Obscura Society NYC, the tutorial is taught by one Schuyler Towne, the world-class competitive lock-picker and pioneer of American Locksport (yes, unauthorized entry is now a sport).

Towne also co-founded The Open Organization Of Lockpickers’ U.S. chapter, raised 90 grand for lock-picking tools on Kickstarter and can topple tumblers with his eyes closed – seriously, watch him do it blindfolded.

Your venue: The John Mossman Lock Collection of the General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen (mouthful), one of the largest collections of bank and vault locks on earth. They’ve got ancient Egyptian wooden pin locks dating back to 4000 B.C.

So you enjoy some cocktails and live jazzy tunes while Towne instructs you on the finer points of hook picks, torsion wrenches and other implements of the break-in.

And at the end of the evening, you’ll take your own lock-picking kit home.

So leave those keys in your pocket.

Meet your guide

The Editors

Sometimes our crack team of editors collaborate on stories. Given that our crew has written for the likes of The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Vice, Men’s Journal, the New York Daily News, The Paris Review and countless other outlets, this is a good thing.