james bond - The Phillosoph Blog

When you start a new hobby, it is highly likely that you will buy a number of items that ultimately are seldom used.

This is certainly true of lock picking. One of the first purchases most beginners make is a cheap set of picks, often Chinese made.

I was no exception to this, although I had already decided I wanted a set of Bogota rakes too.

Such cheap kits are actually a useful step on your learning curve. These kits have a wide variety of designs. and give you a chance to experiment and discover what kind of picks and turning tools you like.

As I have gained better and more suitable collections of tools, that Chinese kit has seldom been used.

Like others, in my early days I also acquired a number of items that I have seldom, if ever, found an actual use for.

Lock Picking Legend recently posted a video on comb picks.

I won’t bother to explain how comb picks work, since the following two videos clearly explain this, as do many other videos and pages.

I have a set of comb picks. Comb picks top my list of lock picking gear I have never needed.

Even the perspex practice locks are immune to comb picking.

As Lock Picking Legend notes, unless you frequently encounter very old, low quality locks, your comb picks are going to sit unused. Comb pick sets often come with a high price tag, so save your money and put it towards some Bogotas, or one of my books.

If comb picks are one of the things I would not buy if I had my time again, what would I get?

I have talked about my Serenity Plus collection and the Polaris Rakes elsewhere.

Today, I am going to share a look at what I think of as my “EDC kit”. These are the items I am most likely to have with me if I encounter a lock that requires opening.

As part of my usual duties I sometimes encounter items that have been locked that should not be, or more commonly, locks for which the key has been misplaced.

I do this, however, with caution. Some colleagues are likely to shift the blame for the lock not opening to myself.

Central to my EDC collection are a pair of Bogota Rakes, shown beside their home-made carrying sleeve (far left). This latter item may be pinned to clothing if I want to keep the picks handy.

The set consists of a single hump Bogota and a triple hump, both with handles designed to also function as turning tools. I recommend you get the “euro-twist” versions so the handles point away from each other when you use both to open a lock.

The handles of these Bogotas have been “bowed” so they can be used as turning tools in a wider variety of keyway widths.

Sometime in their history, the handles got bent at ninety degrees and shortened from about 27mm to 15mm. I have been able to bend them back to close to the original angle of 60 degrees. In hindsight, I should have left them alone, since a longer 60 degree turning tool might be handy for recessed locks and tulip knobs.

Most locks I have been called upon to open in real life have succumbed to raking using the Bogotas.

Often the key (pun intended) to picking a lock is how you apply the turning tool. My kit therefore includes a couple of turning tools in addition to the Bogota handles.

This article suggests creating a tapered thickness turning tool of 0.7 to 1.5mm thickness. I do not currently have the materials for this, being mainly limited to wiper blade inserts of about 0.4mm thickness.

That said, the turning tool I have used most is the one on the far right of the photo, which was made from wiper-blade insert. It has proved to be both useful and versatile.

The longer (13 to 14mm) nose is bent at ninety degrees to the shank and slightly bowed. The corners have been rounded off. It is approximately 2.7mm wide. With the ends bent, it is a little over 60mm long.

Since I tend to favour raking, I tend to primarily use bottom of the keyway (BOK) applied turning tools.

The shorter (6 to 6.4mm) end is also rounded off. The width has also been reduced to just under 2mm, the shank starting to be reduced just before the bend.

This shorter hook may be used as a TOK turning tool or a BOK for small padlocks.

I should probably add a SERE pin to this kit, since it may also be used as a turning tool for very small locks. I have a SERE pin elsewhere in my EDC, but another in this kit would be handy

The other turning tool at the bottom of the main photo is taken from a cheap Chinese set, and is a round 1.5mm section rod with flattened 2.9 to 3mm ends, 0.7mm thick. This is a handy tool for wider keyways.

The Bogota rake is usually the first tool I reach for when attempting to pick a lock. In most cases so far, this has been all that is needed.

Many of the locks I have encountered that have resisted the Bogota have opened with a snake pick. Not surprisingly, I like to have a snake pick in my kits, and my EDC kit is no exception.

This particular snake pick was taken from a “James Bond Credit Card” set. These kits also include a city rake. When they work, city rakes work very fast, so I decided to include the city rake too.

As I have noted elsewhere, the credit card kits vary a lot in quality. The first I brought was very nice, while the second had much thicker picks, with a poorer finish. Some grinding, filing and sanding made them more useful.

Drilling a hole in them, however, proved surprisingly problematic. Turned out these “poor quality” picks were made from very tough steel! It took at least an hour using a low-rpm carbide bit and oil.

Having read Christine Holler’s lock pick recommendations in this article, I wanted to add a cycloid and sinusoid rake to my kit. Luckily, UKBumpkeys has started selling individual Polaris rakes. I decided on the No.4, four-hump cycloid, and the No.7, five-hump sinusoid.

I shortened the handles so the tools were all about 75mm long.

I then went about adding a hole. I had little doubt the Polaris are made from high quality material. Given the trouble I had had drilling the snake and city rake, I tried a different approach.

Since these picks had thinner handles, I was able to hole them using a punch and hammer. These holes were then enlarged using the conical grinding stone of a Dremel Tool. This took a fraction of the time that drilling the others had taken!

My local hardware store had no idea what a tubular rivet was. Fortunately, I remembered some brass tubing I had. I cut a short length and a few minutes work with a ball-peen hammer rivetted the four picks together.

Lock picking requires a light touch, so it is not unusual to drop tools when working in the field. To counter this I have added cord loops to a couple of tools.

The two turning tools are supposed to be joined, but the wiper blade tool usually works itself loose. I have left them apart since it makes a clearer photo.

“It's Christmas in heaven

The snow falls from the sky

But it's nice and warm, and everyone

Looks smart and wears a tie”

The previous blog on neutral and natural colours touched on the topic of capsule wardrobes.

Not all of your clothing can be tactically orientated. You will need some clothes for formal occasions and other instances where you have to “dress-up”.

As a change from the norm, and to compliment my other articles, I would like to offer some personal opinions, specifically on the topic of neck-ties.

It has been many decades since I have had to wear a tie for work. Tee-shirt and cargo trousers is a more usual look for me.

When I do have to smarten up, people are often surprised at how well I “scrub-up”.

I will admit part of this is probably shock, since they are used to me dressing otherwise. Being tall and with long legs also helps. I would like to think part of my successful transformation is attention to detail.

Half a dozen years of wearing school uniform taught me that wearing a tie does not automatically make you smart or presentable. Even if you are James Bond!

Let us start with a bad example. A still of Sean Connery as James Bond in “Diamonds Are Forever”.

• The one thing about this tie that I do not have a problem with is the colour.

Wearing a tie stylishly is about contrast. How well does your tie compliment or clash with the other garments you are wearing? In later scenes, Bond adds a cream-coloured jacket to this outfit and the pink looks really good with this.

In previous centuries pink was regarded as a strongly masculine colour. A confident man can wear pink and make it work for him. I imagine any woman that comments on Bond's tie colour opens herself to the full Bond charm and wit!

• The obvious flaw with this particular tie is that is looks too short and too wide. Bond looks like an infant dressed up for a wedding.

The Bondsuits website explains this look was deliberate, this being a fashion or trend of the time. This reminds us that style is something distinct from trends and fashion. Just because something is claimed to be fashionable or trendy does not mean it should be followed blindly. Have the confidence to reject what you dislike or what feels wrong.

• Ties work best if worn with a jacket, waistcoat or jumper. Bond is seen here without his jacket and the tie seems to just hang there, not sure what it is doing. Literally, “at a loose end!” If you really must wear a tie with just a shirt, try wearing it GI-tuck style.

• Notice how the tie is irregularly creased where it enters the knot? I recently learnt this is called a “dimple”. Much to my amazement, some people put this in deliberately! Ludicrously, it is even claimed to be elegant and stylish. In my opinion, it is not. The dimple makes the wearer look inexperienced and that they have poor attention to detail. It looks sloppy and slovenly. We may also add “affected” and “pretentious”.

If you cannot tie your tie without a dimple, try a different knot or different tie. Dimples are for bums and mugs.

Fashion follows blindly. Style selects and rejects what is stupid, looks bad or is impractical.

Another bad example. This time, the uniforms in the series “T. J. Hooker”. Not even a young Heather Locklear could swing this look.

• Primarily, the duty uniform of a police officer should not include a tie. Ties should only be worn for funerals, formal occasions and parades. To avoid a choking hazard most cops wear clip-on ties. Clip-on ties are the antithesis of style. All the arguments for wearing a clip-on are better arguments for not wearing a tie with the daily uniform.

• The tie is worn without a jacket or other outer garment. This looks sloppy and the bottom will dangle into wounds when giving first aid.

• Remember I told you the secret to a stylish tie is contrast? Virtually no contrast for a tie the same colour as the shirt.

• I am undecided on the pros and cons of women wearing ties. The tie tends to draw attention to the bust, which for a female police officer is probably not a good look.

The GI-Tuck

US Army regulations in the 1930s and 40s were that the second button of the shirt was to be undone and the tie tucked into the space between the first and third shirt-buttons.

Civilians can experiment with tucking it lower.

The required knot specified in regulations was a four-in-hand. This is a slightly asymmetrical knot, so a tucked tie may sit differently depending on which side the fat part of the tie was when the knot was tied.

Another thing to experiment with! Or use a symmetrical knot such as the full-Windsor.

A bit of trivia: The four-in-hand knot is actually a buntline hitch. This, in turn, is a variant of a clove hitch. Remember this any time you need a reminder of how to tie a four-in-hand.

The Placket Stripe

Some police departments evidently think the centre of a shirt needs to be made more interesting. Officers in shirtsleeves are made to wear untucked ties.

A more practical alternative to a tie was used on the TV show “Space Precinct”.

As can be seen, the placket of the shirt has been made as a stripe of a contrasting colour.

It is rather surprising that the fashion, law enforcement and military world has not made greater use of this idea!

If you want to be minimalist, you probably only need two ties:

Black

As I grow older, my list of friends decreases. Black ties are the ones that I have worn the most often in the past few decades.

You will be wearing your black tie for funerals, so it should be suitably sombre and conservative.

On an additional minimalist note. If you own only one suit, have it a dark colour such as charcoal or black. This will be suitable for funerals. With a different tie and accessories it can be used at weddings and most other occasions.

When wearing a suit, avoid putting you hands in the trouser pockets. This ruins the look you should be aiming for.

Burgundy

The burgundy tie is my go-to tie when I want to look good. Burgundy is a rich, dignified colour that goes well with a wide range of other colours.

A useful style rule of thumb: If your burgundy tie does not go with your shirt, change the shirt!

Given how useful and versatile a burgundy tie is, it is worth spending a little extra and getting one that you think looks really good.

Other Colours

If you wear a tie regularly, you may wish to add a few others to your wardrobe.

A dark blue or navy tie is a good solid choice, if not as snazzy as the burgundy.

Being neutral colours, grey and silver ties will go well with many other garments. A colleague of mine had a grey tie with needle-thin diagonal stripes of silver. It appeared to glitter in pubs with low lighting. I wish I had brought one back then.

A grey-blue, such as RAF-blue, is another useful neutral shade for a tie.

With bright or primary colours, exercise a bit of caution. Some politicians feel obligated to wear ties in their orange or red party colours. This often looks harsh.

While sand-colour is a useful neutral, most brown shades should be avoided for ties.

Patterns and Combinations

There are just too many ties in different patterns and colour combinations to deal with in any depth.

When in doubt, remember that subtle and understated is often the safer path.

Personally, I would to avoid horizontal lines and checks.

If you often appear on camera or video conference, bear in mind that some patterns will cause interference on the image.

Sadly, in many workplaces the tie is still the symbolic corporate dog-leash. Boldly coloured and jokey ties are often a token gesture of defiance while in actuality rigorously conforming.

Like a baseball cap worn backwards, the joke tie or similar is often a sartorial warning sign that the wearer is trying a little too hard.

If you have to wear a tie, make it work for you so that it actually does make you look smarter.

Other Details

I have three white pocket squares. One has dark blue trim, one has black trim and one has burgundy.

I have one shirt that needs cufflinks. I have one pair of cufflinks, which match my best burgundy tie.

If you use a tie-clip, ensure that it is as wide as the tie at the level where it is worn. A paper-clip on the narrow end of the tie has a similar effect to a tie-clip.