The Great Locker Opening!

Version 1.1

As regular readers will know, I have acquired a number of lock picking items over the last few months. What most will not know is this was with a particular goal in mind. 

Where I work people are assigned lockers. This is on the understanding that come September, they empty the lockers and remove any locks. Of course, as is the spirit of the age many of them take the stance that the rules intended for everybody do not apply to them personally. It is quite amazing some of the things people will leave in lockers and often never return for!

Usually we cut the locks off or break them, but this sometimes damages the lockers. Given my newly learned skills this year I intended to pick as many locks as possible. This would also increase my collection of padlocks to practice on.

For the last few months I have acquired lock picks, comb picks, master keys and several other items that might help with “the Great Locker Opening”.

Ironically, for the first time, most of the people have observed the rules and vacated their lockers. Only five remain locked. One has a keypad padlock. Three are very small padlocks and one is rather large.

I will deal with the “failures” first.  There is a technique for opening the keypad padlock. I was not able to get it to work in the limited time that I had so cut this one off. I was unable to open one of the small padlocks. The actual problem was the wide but very small key way. All of my turning tools proved to be too wide or too thing to engage. Those that would left no room to use a pick in. This was a very small padlock that was easily broken. It is a paradox that many of the hardest locks to pick are easiest to brute force.

The first success had an odd key way. Very narrow up at the pins but wide at the plug edge. Firstly I tried my usual “quick” openers. The bogota, the Octo-rake, the Warlock and the Worm. No luck! I tried one of my snakes and she popped open! I had brought my snakes for situations where the bogotas could not be used, so this vindicated that decision.

The second success also had a keyway much wider at the edge than the pins. It also resisted the bogota et al. I had a sudden inspiration that I should use a low jag. I selected the no.10 pick from my “Honest Wave” kit. The lock opened with a few seconds of rocking and jiggling. (Since then I have opened this padlock just by attempting to turn the plug with one of my longer Chinese turning tools. It also opens using my knife pick or by turning with a relatively thick pick such as my single hump bogota.)

This left the largest lock. At least there were no problems getting a turning tool in! I tried a variety of the usual picks but it resisted my seductions. For some reason I decided to try my half-snowman.

Many people dismiss ball picks as a gimmick. They will point out they do not do anything that more conventional picks cannot do. I don’t dispute this. My half-snowman was a novelty purchase, a bit of whimsy if you will. I actually could not find anyone selling a half-snowman so mine is actually a full-snowman with one side ground down.

I employed a technique known as “having a bit of a poke around”. You can imagine my surprise and delight when the lock popped open after a few seconds! (Since then I have opened this lock with other picks such as the Serenity bogota and the Sparrow Worm.)

I am quite happy with three out of four for my first “public” lock picking. The failure was more due to lack of a suitable tool than technique.

Several things were learnt her, some of which I will cover in later posts. The primary one is that I need a turning tool(s) that can deal with wide but small keyways. I have some ideas along these lines and will keep you informed.

Like any tool kit, a collection of lock picks tends to have a small number of tools that gets used for the majority of jobs. Interestingly, all three locks were opened by my “other” lock picks. I did not bring my credit card pick set with me for this, but might have tried the jag and the snake if I had. I have ordered a duplicate set and intend to add the tools to my Serenity Plus kit when they arrive.

It is quite surprising how often you drop turning tools! It can also be difficult to tell one from another when they are mixed together. Distinctively marking turning tools with paint, coloured tape or heat shrink may address both problems.

If you have enjoyed this article or it has been helpful to you please feel free to show your appreciation. Thank you.
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Soviet Camouflage Items.

Only a short blog today. I left my flash-drive at home so cannot work on the articles that I had planned.

I did come across this interesting page on Soviet WW2 camouflage techniques.

Notable was “Camouflage Net for Rifleman... is about 5 by 2 1/2 feet and weighs about 1/3 pound.” WW2 British Army/ Home Guard manuals show similar items staked out in front of entrenchments. A modern equivalent should be made brown so that it is more useful in urban, autumn, winter and arid environments. Such a net would serve many other purposes. Such nets could be placed over windows to prevent the entry of grenades or drones.

 

The other item that particularly caught my attention was “Camouflage Fringe…The fringe consists of a band about 3 yards long, from which grass colored matting is hung. On the ends are hooks for attaching the fringe on the object. The rifleman can fix the fringe on the helmet or shoulders. Five of these fringes are used to camouflage a machine gun, and six for an antitank gun.”

In previous posts I have discussed how a camouflage pattern garment is only the foundation for good camouflage. You also need to add 3D elements such as local foliage and bits of textiles to break up your distinctive shape. Problem is in some organizations modifying your gear like this is frowned upon. Similarly, attempting to camouflage your weapon is unpopular since everything has to be removed so the weapon looks nice on parade.

A partial solution to this may be a length of cord with some rags tied to it. Again this should use browns and yellows for versatility. Ideally there should be some way to add local foliage. Perhaps the cord should be two twisted strands so stalks or bundles of leaves can be placed between them. The only problem that I can see is that cords draped around the shoulders may get caught by vegetation. The camouflage cape is therefore a better solution.

If you have enjoyed this article or it has been helpful to you please feel free to show your appreciation. Thank you.
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Camouflage Hood and Article.

Langdon-Davies is a name that has often appeared in this blog, and rightly so. His book on fieldcraft is recommended reading. This book was a best seller during the war. In a previous blog I showed his suggestion on creating a camouflage smock from hessian. Recently I was reading a Home Guard manual published at a slightly later date and it was with some amusement I read a passage that said that due to a shortage of hessian it was no longer available for making “sniper suits”.
 

The book instead suggested that equal concealment could be achieved by attaching materials and foliage to the helmet, webbing and the arms and legs of the battledress. It also recommended a facemask made from a sandbag. Below is the relevant page. I’m aware that it is crooked. I chose to leave it this way to impress that camouflage measures should be irregular.

 

As per Langdon-Davies, paired eyeholes are avoided as being distinctive. The surface of the sandbag may be painted in contrasting, disruptive shapes. The skin beneath should be camouflaged with creams or other materials.

A British Infantry training manual from 1944 makes these wise observations:

(a) Fieldcraft is universal.-This is a war of infiltration into the enemy’s position-that is, war in which small parties, such as sections or even individuals, work their way through, relying on their own skill and on the power of their own weapons. Infiltration cannot be carried out unless you are an EXPERT in movement in the field, concealment, and surprise. One bad movement by one individual may ruin everything.

(b) Fieldcraft is offensive and does not mean using ground to cower in a hole out of the enemy’s fire. Ground must be used as a hunter uses it-to get closer to the prey whom he is going to kill. You must use your knowledge and cunning to outwit the enemy.

(c) Observation is paramount in offence; concealment is paramount in defence.-This is a war of concealed posts, of camouflage. You cannot kill the enemy unless you can find him. You cannot even start to attack him, if you do not know where he is. 

(d) Cover from view is not cover from fire (especially if you have been seen getting there).-Train yourself to get away from enemy fire unseen. Do not dart behind a bush and stay there; that is suicide.

These comments are still relevant today, although I believe these basic principles are often neglected. Infiltration is often now regarded as a specialist skill rather than a basic requirement for the infantry role.

As a bonus, I have scanned an article on Personal Camouflage from an 1980s magazine. This is a nice, succinct summary of how to use foliage and other 3D materials to improve your camouflage. Essentially the same advice was given in British WW2 manuals. Significantly, we seldom see such measures being taken by modern fighting men.

If you have enjoyed this article or it has been helpful to you please feel free to show your appreciation. Thank you.
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It's Not Easy Being Green.

In my last blog I quoted Tom Wintringham’s advice that the first lesson to learn was how to take cover. This piece of advice can be applied to survival as well as military personnel and has many aspects. It includes how to find shelter from the weather. It includes how to take cover from gunfire. It covers the difference between cover and concealment and it includes how to move between cover. Some of these aspects have already be addressed in this blog and future articles will cover others. Today I am going to share some reflections on concealment and camouflage.

In 1848 the British Army in India began to use khaki-coloured garments. “Khaki” is an Urdu word meaning “dusty” and the colour was a light beige, tan or dull pale yellow. The pioneer behind this was an officer called Hodson and it is notable that his early correspondence refers to the uniforms as mud or dirt-coloured, with the intent to make his troops  “invisible in a land of dust”. Some garments were made by dying white items with tea. Garments that won’t show tea stains are only prudent for a British soldier, of course! Many garments were made from a cotton cloth called “khaki drill” and this name is used for the colour, the fabric and the uniform items issued in it. The British army at the time was a major influence on military fashions and many other nations adopted khaki, particularly for tropical wear.

In 1902 the British Army adopted a new service dress. Woollen cloth is generally not suitable for printing with camouflage patterns, so a single colour was required. (bear in mind the term “camouflage” did not come into use until during the First World War). The colour chosen for the 1902 dress was a hue intermediate between brown and green. Some paint manufactures call this hue “khaki drab” but it is commonly referred to as just “khaki”. Incidentally, the term “khaki” has become virtually useless for describing a colour. Imperial Japanese Army woollen uniforms are described as “khaki” but are closer to an ochre than khaki drab. Just to confuse things further the IJA used khaki drill for summer and tropical wear.

The colour of the new 1902 British Army service dress was also used for the later battledress. It has been described as matching “the colours of heath and forests of the United Kingdom fairly well”. Most other nations adopted uniforms of a similar hue.

It seems to be deeply rooted into our psyche that nature and countryside is “green”. In actuality, a few days of military operations tend to render an area less verdant than before. Artillery, vehicles and boots soon create more mud than lawn. Green is also seasonal in temperate climates. Even in summer green is rare in some rural terrain such as rapeseed fields or ripened wheat. Hodson’s original idea of mud or dirt-coloured uniforms is more logical.

The selection of khaki drab was also based on the assumption that most fighting would be in rural areas. The Spanish Civil War indicated that urban areas would be important battlegrounds. Urban terrain negated many of an attackers’ advantages in aviation, artillery and armour.

Below is a suggestion of what battledress might have looked like if it had been designed for both rural and urban use.

That urban operations are not exceptional has still not fully penetrated the institutional military mindset. For several decades British troops in Northern Ireland wore dark green DPM. When the US Army tried to develop a Universal Camouflage Pattern at the start of the 21st century it chose the colours sand, grey and green. In practice UCP appeared to be several pale greys that blobbed out into a light man-shape that stood out against most terrain. Equipment such as webbing and pouches that will be used in a variety of environments also tends to be made with green predominating.

If we are choosing clothing for concealment it is most logical that we choose hues that will work well in both urban and rural terrain. Generally this means neutrals such as the duller, lighter shades of browns, beige, greys, yellows and pale blues. Lighter shades counter body-shading and in certain conditions will reflect light from surrounding terrain.

Should you choose monocolour or camouflage patterns? In some environments camouflage can attract unwelcome attention which can be counterproductive. Prudence suggest that you have at least one ensemble of mixed monocolours. In a rural situation natural materials can be added to this outfit to disrupt the shape and better fit in with your surroundings. If you are in an area where there is lots of green there are green things growing you can use. The WW2 Japanese were noted for their effective camouflage but did not widely issue any camouflage pattern items that I know of. Instead they used nets and natural materials over their green or khaki gear.

When buying items in camouflage patterns some prudence needs to be exercised. The primary task of camouflage clothing is shape disruption. The size and shade contrast between elements is far more important than the hues used. Many modern camouflage patterns neglect this fundamental, and often come up with all sorts of technical sounding snake-oil to defend this. The British MTP is a good example of a poor modern pattern. At more than a few metres the small colour elements merge and you see an obvious khaki drab man-shape, unlikely to blend with the background unless you get an exact match of hue and shade. Many older camouflage patterns tend to be too green and too dark for many environments, the latter made worse by body-shading. A good pattern needs contrast between elements and needs some of those elements quite light to counter shading and create the illusion of negative space.

You may be better buying some cloth or a garment of a suitable light neutral shade and adding your own pattern. See previous blog posts for ideas.

Below is a camouflage pattern and palette that I have been toying with. It is intended for both urban and rural use. In a verdant environment green can be added in the form of natural materials.

Any camouflage pattern on a cloth is only the foundation for your camouflage. You must add 3D elements too. Some of this is local and natural materials. If you are in a forest you might add bracken to your headgear, pack and shoulders. If you move into a wheatfield you dump the bracken and replace them with bunches of wheatstalks. 3D is also provided by textiles. Your cape or smock should include various scraps of fabric sewn to it that disrupt the shape and smoothness of the garment. These ideas have been covered in previous blogs.

The above advice comes with a caveat. Three environments occur to me where there may be alternate choices to the yellows, greys and browns suggested above.

The first is in snow, where predominantly white camouflage may be needed.

The second is in urban environments where red brick is the main building material. Many urban environments use a variety of materials so browns and greys serve well in most situations and do not look out of place near the occasional red surface.

The third is in rainforests, be they temperate or tropical. Brown-based items can work here if they are combined with local materials. This is, however, an environment where green-based camouflage patterns or pale green monocolours may be a more practical choice.

If you have enjoyed this article or it has been helpful to you please feel free to show your appreciation. Thank you.

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