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Regular ACL training sessions 2021

2025-03-21T20:11:26+01:00By |Categories: All posts, Trainings and seminars|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

ACL TRAINING SESSIONS IN KARLOVY VARY – NOW OPEN TO THE PUBLIC! Great news for castle lovers! ACL trainings are now open to the general public after prior registration. We have already organized spring and autumn trainings (2019-2020) in Prague with public participation and we are preparing trainings for 2021. This time in Karlovy Vary. Come and experience the fascinating world of lockpicking! If you enjoy solving puzzles and have patience, we can help you open your first lock. This might be the first step on a long journey towards becoming a champion in lockpicking competitions or a specialist in [...]

Looking Back at 2020 – What Happened and What Didn’t?

2025-03-21T20:12:03+01:00By |Categories: All posts, Interesting, News and events|Tags: , , , , , , |

2020 IS BEHIND US?! WHAT HAPPENED & WHAT DIDN’T? Exactly a year ago, we counted down, “three, two, one… and soon it will be 2020,” stepping into the new year with excitement and big plans. However, none of us could have predicted what would happen in the spring… Despite everything, those 366 days flew by. We can now divide 2020 into the pre-COVID era and the COVID era. What We Accomplished At the beginning of the year, our chairwoman Nikol Ivanovová and the Czech Republic’s 2nd vice-champion in lockpicking, Karel Burian, appeared on the TV Seznam show Rozstřel. [...]

Lockpicking in the Czech online world (COVID-19 pandemic 2020)

2025-03-21T20:12:39+01:00By |Categories: All posts, Interesting|Tags: , , , , , , , |

WHAT’S HAPPENING RIGHT NOW? LOCKPICKING GOES VIRTUAL As we all know, we’ve had to retreat into the virtual world for a while. But there’s a silver lining—our community is growing stronger! Lockpickers are training more, and thanks to online platforms, we’ve made even more friends. This article highlights the achievements of lockpickers during the COVID era in both the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Lockpicking in the Digital Space We share photos and videos in our Facebook group “Lockpicking nás baví”, which now has nearly 200 members. Some are newcomers who have only been practicing lockpicking for a year but [...]

Trainings in lockpicking 2020 are behind us

2025-03-21T20:12:51+01:00By |Categories: All posts, Trainings and seminars|Tags: , , , , , , |

A FEW TRAININGS HAVE BEEN MADE IN LOCKPICKING, BUT WE ALSO OPENED SAFES We organized several trainings in lockpicking, for the public or the association Narnie from Liberec. We also had a Czech-Hungarian training in Prague, where our colleagues not only from Hungary but also from Poland visited us (FB photo here). During this weekend meeting, we opened non-destructive safe locks and much more. Our trainings in lockpicking for the public were supplemented by basic theoretical knowledge - terminology of locks and lock systems, as well as the subsequent composition of the cylindrical insert. >>> PHOTO GALLERY HERE <<<  

Wendt Open House 2020

2025-03-21T20:13:10+01:00By |Categories: All posts, News and events|Tags: , , , |

EVERY TWO YEARS IN THE SAME PLACE – WENDT OPEN HOUSE Once again, the Wendt Open House 2020 took place in Bergheim, Germany, at A. Wendt GmbH (Zieh-Fix). This event is held every two years at the end of winter and focuses on innovations in professional opening tools, automotive electronics, and various seminars. It also includes a competition in impressioning. As members of ACL and representatives of Locksmith CZ, we attended not only to observe but also to test the latest professional decoders for automotive locks, safe locks, and specialized manipulation tools for opening lock cylinders. All the [...]

Mladá fronta DNES – Special Edition (February 26, 2020)

2025-03-21T20:13:41+01:00By |Categories: All posts, Interesting, News and events|Tags: , , , , , |

The DOMA magazine issue, which is included every Wednesday in Mladá fronta DNES, was published on February 26, 2020, and is available only in the Czech language. You can find the full magazine issue here.

“All Locks Can Be Opened,” Say Lockpickers in Rozstřel

2025-03-21T20:13:53+01:00By |Categories: All posts, Interesting, News and events|Tags: , , , , , |

“ALL LOCKS CAN BE OPENED,” SAY LOCKPICKERS IN ROZSTŘEL Nikol Ivanovová, the chairwoman of the Association of Czech Lockpickers, sees lockpicking as a competitive sport. She was joined in Monday’s Rozstřel interview by Karel Burian, the second vice-champion of the Czech Republic in lockpicking. Lockpicking is the art of opening a lock without damage and without using a key. “I come from a family of locksmiths, so my father taught me the basics, and it felt natural to me,” Ivanovová explained. Together with Burian, she discussed who is legally authorized to open a home lock. The answer? Either [...]

Home Security – What Should We Do?!

2025-03-21T20:14:09+01:00By |Categories: All posts, Interesting|Tags: , , |

PROTECT YOUR OWN PROPERTY – AND YOUR NEIGHBOR’S TOO! Last year, 6,500 homes, apartments, and cottages were burglarized. Recently, the media has reported about a highly organized gang operating in Central Bohemia, and authorities have yet to catch them. In today’s world, good mechanical security alone is no longer enough – it needs to be combined with electronic security systems. Saying, “It will never happen to me, I don’t have anything valuable at home!” is the wrong approach. Even if a burglar enters your home and steals nothing, the psychological impact of knowing that someone invaded your personal [...]

Regular ACL training sessions in Prague 2020

2025-03-21T20:14:35+01:00By |Categories: All posts, Trainings and seminars|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

REGULAR ACL TRAINING SESSIONS IN PRAGUE – NOW OPEN TO THE PUBLIC! Great news for lockpicking enthusiasts! ACL training sessions are now accessible to the general public with prior registration. We have already held spring and autumn training sessions (2019) in Prague with public participation and are preparing monthly sessions for 2020 as well. Come and experience the fascinating world of lockpicking! If you enjoy solving puzzles and have patience, we can help you open your first lock. This might be the first step on a long journey towards becoming a champion in lockpicking competitions or a specialist in developing [...]

A reminder of 2019 or what happened and did not happen

2025-03-21T20:14:50+01:00By |Categories: All posts, Interesting, News and events|Tags: , , , , , , |

YEAR 2019 IS OVER?! WHAT HAPPENED AND DIDN'T HAPPEN?! Three two one .. and in less than a minute the year 2020 is here. The previous 365 days have gone so fast and the same thing awaits us in 2020, but one more day?! Funny, but again there is a leap year with us. Before we fine-tune and debug our annual report of the Association of Czech Lockpickers, let's recall 2019 what made it special and what we did. An important change was that we organized regular lockpicking trainings where the public could participate. In the total number [...]

Trainings in lockpicking 2019 are behind us

2025-03-21T20:15:06+01:00By |Categories: All posts, Interesting, Trainings and seminars|Tags: , , , , , , |

THROUGHOUT YEAR 2019, TRAINING SESSIONS IN LOCKPICKING WERE HELD Throughout the spring and autumn, we organized lockpicking trainings that were open to the public and held in Prague. We were visited by many future lockpickers, but also curious people. Next year we will focus more on the terminology of locks and lock systems, besides the disassembly and subsequent setting up of the cylinder will be the part of our trainings. Several dozen future lockpickers, enthusiasts or curious tried lockpicking. >>> PHOTO GALLERY HERE <<<

Christmas Lockpick Party and Christmas Mini-Competition in Lockpicking 2019

2025-03-21T20:15:35+01:00By |Categories: All posts|Tags: , , , , , , |

Every year we organize ACL Christmas party in Sokolov not only for our members but also for invited guests. This time there were unbelievable 30 people, not only in the field of lockpicking, but also in the field of locksmithing (locksmiths and representatives of foreign companies Urban Alps AG, Keyprint Security Ltd). At the party there were of course home-made potato salad and chicken cutlets, rather maxi giant cutlets. There were also homemade cookies, which were not only in the shape of stars, rounds or trees, but in the shape of small keys or gingerbread and many other [...]

The challenge how to open a cemetery chapel in non-destructive way?!

2025-03-21T20:15:43+01:00By |Categories: All posts, Interesting|Tags: , |

THE CHALLENGE HOW TO OPEN A CEMETERY CHAPEL IN NON-DESTRUCTIVE WAY?! There are only 186 inhabitants in the village of Vrbno nad Lesy (as of 1 January 2019) and the oldest mention of the village dates back to 1143. The mayor of the village Mr. Radomír Volek asked us if we can help with opening the door from the old cemetery chapel and also make a key. We did not hesitate and accepted this challenge, part of the team of the Czech Lockpicker Association (a team of professional locksmiths) went on a journey to the North to [...]

EVVA Training Autumn 2019

2025-03-20T07:23:34+01:00By |Categories: All posts, Interesting|Tags: , , |

On Wednesday, October 30, 2019, all-day professional training took place at EVVA in Barrandov, Prague, which was divided into three parts and some members of the Czech Lockpicker Association were there. First, Mr. Koudelka, CEO, introduced all of the participants to the company's product portfolio, namely mechanical locking approaches (MCS, 4KS, ICS, EPS, FPS) and electronic locking systems such as AirKey or Xesar. These electronic access systems are characterized by high security and ease of use with a smartphone. In the second part, Mr. Ladislav Kratochvíl (president of AZKS - Association of lock and key services) introduced [...]

LockCon 2019

2025-03-21T20:16:03+01:00By |Categories: All posts, Interesting|Tags: , , , |

Finally, we visited the well-known event LockCon, which took place from 25 to 27 October 2019 near the German border at De Berckt Castle in Baarlo, the Netherlands. This event is organized annually by Toool (The Open Organization Of Lockpickers), which dates back to 1997. It is a combination of lockpicker not only from the Netherlands, but also from the US, Great Britain, Belgium, Norway and Australia. The event is open only to invited guests, so this is a closed lockpicker community. >Countless lectures and workshops were held throughout the extended weekend and of course there were competitions. On Friday [...]

Don’t write on the social networks where you are in now, the advice of the Association of Czech Lockpickers

2025-03-21T20:16:22+01:00By |Categories: All posts, Interesting|Tags: , , , |

DON'T WRITE ON THE SOCIAL NETWORKS WHERE YOU ARE IN NOW, THE ADVICE OF THE ASSOCIATION OF CZECH LOCKPICKERS Nikol Ivanovova is the head of the independent organization of the Association of Czech Lockpickers, which associates fans of nondestructive overcoming locks as a sporting discipline and hobby. "It pays to pay extra money for a better security cylinder," Ivanovova says in an interview with Metro journal. We are after the holidays, but people are still leaving for their holidays to the sea, they are approaching the mountains. It is also business travel time. How can people protect their [...]

10th Czech Lockpicking Championship 2019 – Eugene Ivanov Memorial

2025-03-21T19:54:11+01:00By |Categories: All posts, Czech Lockpicking Championship|Tags: , , , |

LOOKING BACK AT THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CZECH LOCKPICKING CHAMPIONSHIP 2019 The 10th Czech Lockpicking Championship 2019 is already behind us, so let's see how it went. This year was held on September 13-15, 2019, in Nová Živohošť (Benešov District, close to Prague). The competition was attended by a total of 35 competitions not only from the Czech Republic but also from Germany, Austria, Hungary, the Netherlands and Italy. We also had as special guests our friends from the USA, Scotland and Poland. This year our own electronic time-keeping button system was used for the first time and [...]

The foreword of the organizer – 10th Czech Lockpicking Championship 2019

2025-03-21T19:57:41+01:00By |Categories: All posts, News and events|Tags: , , , , , , |

OUR PLAN, OUR LOCKPICKING CHAMPIONSHIP, OUR FUTURE 🏆 The date of the event is coming slowly but surely, this year we have really challenged ourselves! We want to organize a grand event and fit a lot into one weekend. So, what will the extended weekend of September 13-15, 2019, look like? What will the 10th Czech Lockpicking Championship bring? What did we plan for you? FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 On Friday afternoon, we will begin with safecracking of keyed locks. We don’t want anyone to miss the official opening of the event, so it will be [...]

Czech Lockpicking Championship 2019 – Downloads

2025-03-21T19:54:50+01:00By |Categories: All posts, News and events|Tags: , , , , , , , |

Here you can download the bulletins about lockpicking 2019. Bulletin 1 - Basic information Lockpicking 2019 Bulletin 2 - Preliminary schedule + Workshops Bulletin 3 - Competition disciplines and rules Bulletin 4 - The foreword of the organizer

Tips and advice on choosing the right picks and tension tools

2025-03-21T20:16:47+01:00By |Categories: All posts, Interesting|Tags: , , , , , , , |

TIPS AND ADVICE ON CHOOSING THE RIGHT PICKS AND TENSION TOOLS Lock picks are an essential part of every lockpicker’s toolkit, as well as for professional locksmiths. The easiest way to purchase lock picks is through online stores, as they are rarely available in physical shops. In the Czech Republic, we recommend our partner, Locksmith CZ, for high-quality lockpicking equipment. However, we do not discourage anyone from buying cheaper Chinese picks from third-party sellers. While these may be more affordable, their quality is often subpar, especially when it comes to craftsmanship and handle ergonomics. If you take lockpicking seriously, investing [...]