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Bump Keys

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Discover our range of bump keys, perfect for locksmiths, covert entry professionals, and lock enthusiasts. Made from high quality blanks, these keys fit a wide variety of locks, often allowing for quick and easy opening without damage. Our collection includes a variety of lock brands, including the most common residential and commercial locks that you're likely to encounter in the field.  We offer starter sets for beginners, complete with guides and practice locks, and advanced options for experienced users. Remember, these tools are for responsible use in line with local laws. Shop now and unlock the simplicity of bump keys!

Frequently Asked Questions

A bump key is a specially cut key that is used in the execution of a kinetic energy attack that often can result in the opening of a pin-tumbler lock almost instantaneously, with very little evidence and near-minimal potential for damage. Not all locks are susceptible to bumping, but the vast majority of padlocks and door locks tend to be vulnerable to this covert entry tactic.
While we are not lawyers and we certainly aren’t *your* lawyers (who are the folk with whom you should speak to get the best answer to a question like this) we will say that in general, lock-opening tools (from picks to bump keys) are often treated as instruments under the law that are legal to own as long as you aren’t using them to do other illegal things. Thus: a pick set or a bump key set are legal to have if you’re doing penetration work or even just learning about locks and their functionality, but they become “burglary tools” if you have them with you while committing a crime like breaking and entering. Again, you should seek your own legal counsel to be sure of the specifics here, but a number of public interest groups have undertaken large research projects to examine and publish laws relating to lockpicking and lock bypassing throughout the USA.
Historically, there has only been one bump key that can fit into a given make and model of lock. That’s broadly still true, but some developments from Red Team Tools have made it possible to use certain special keys of ours in multiple different locks. Generally, a bump key’s suitability comes from two separate but equally important factors: the shape of a target lock’s keyway and the position of the target lock’s pins. A key cut on a Schlage blank is not going to pass into a Yale keyway, this much is well-understood. But also, a 5-pin bump key cut on a Schlage blank is of limited use if the target lock is a 6-pin Schlage. There are some ways to “cheat” a little bit if you want to carry fewer keys in your kit, however. Red Team Tools produces and sells certain “Super Bump” keys which are cut on top-level, multi-section blanks so that they often can be inserted into a variety of lock models within a given manufacturer family. The use of our bump key bands (included for free with all of our bump keys) allows further extensibility, giving you the ability to have a 6-pin bump key but operate it in a 5-pin target lock. You can learn more about our “Super Bump” keys here.
Bump keys are typically thought of as somewhere in between a manipulation attack and an outright bypass attack… while lock bumping does entail interacting with a lock’s pins and inner workings, the fact that bumping can be executed so rapidly and with a high chance for success makes it a popular “first attempt” method that many attackers opt to explore before trying tactics that require greater finesse and more time up against a target door or padlock.
Locksmiths have been using bump keys for decades, but typically such methods were employed on workbenches during the disassembly and servicing of a lock when the original key had been lost. When it comes to performing lock bumping in the field, one of the first presentations to talk about this publicly was from Barry Wels and Han Fey in 2009. This talk demonstrates a great deal about how bump keys work and how they can be used. In short, a bump key is inserted into a target lock and then struck with a blunt tool (often a specially-made bump hammer) to drive it slightly further inward, imparting force to every pin stack simultaneously. If the user then attempts to apply a very slight turning force upon the key at the right moment, the lock’s plug may rotate and the lock will be open. It’s all about the timing.
It depends what you mean by “damage” in this context. Is the use of a bump key likely to result in a failure of a lock’s internal mechanisms, such that the lock becomes broken and fails to operate correctly, even with the proper key? No. That is very unlikely, even if someone hits a bump key especially hard. However, if you deliver repeated blows upon a bump key – particularly one that is not cushioned by one of our bump key bands – the front face of the target lock can become scratched or dented where the shoulder of your key is striking the plug surface. This leaves evidence that a bumping attempt was made and can reduce an otherwise surreptitious attack to one that is merely covert, increasing your chances of alerting the target that something is afoot.
If you’re an absolute beginner to bumping, you don’t need to immediately purchase one of every single bump key in existence. Start by acquiring keys to locks that you can source easily for practice. In the USA, that means Kwikset or Schlage door locks and Master Lock padlocks. Our Kwikset “Super Bump” key or our Master M1 Bump Key are good choices. If you do a lot of commercial work in the field, opting for a Schlage “Super Bump” or a Yale “Super Bump” depending on whether you’re based in North America or Europe, respectively, are also good choices.
Bump keys are just one of the many tools that can live in your arsenal when you’re doing covert entry field work. If you’re under tight time pressure and bumping isn’t working or isn’t feasible, many of our other bypass tools can make equally short work of your entry attempts. Door shimming or loiding tools like our Traveler Hooks or Bypass Bands and Shove Knives are must-have items in most field kits. While it’s a little large, the Under Door Tool is devastatingly effective on most lever-style door handles in commercial occupancies. Padlock Bypass Drivers can often quickly spring open unshielded padlocks made by American Lock, Master, Brinks, Abus, and many more.
Let’s be clear right up front: not all locks can be bumped. Some types of locks, such as the Kwikset SmartKey system and the Corbin Emhart to name just two, are not susceptible to this attack at all. Other lock systems, while technically vulnerable to bumping, make use of such a wide range of keyway profiles that sourcing and milling all possible bump keys can become infeasible to all except the most dedicated attackers. However, if you have a conventional pin tumbler lock and would like to do all you can to make it resist bumping attacks, it is often possible to service the lock in order to make it more robust. The installation of “Anti-Bump” Driver Pins in one or preferably two chambers of a given lock will often frustrate the proper function of a bump key to the point that the attack becomes impractical.
Yes! Check out Deviant Ollam's 2015 ShmooCon talk about bump keys and the latest developments on this topic at the time. VOLUME WARNING: This video is rather loud.
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