Combination padlock problems....

[Will__]

I put a combination padlock on one of my bags.
Can't remember the combination! How can I get it off without a hacksaw? Any ideas? Is there a trick?
Thanks

[IndieSinger]

While we're at it, I recently forgot the code to turn off the house alarm. Is there any way of disabling it and getting in so that I can make off with the telly? :-p

[sft42]

You could do worse than having a look at this page: http://www.howstuffworks.com/inside-lock.htm

[incitatus]

feel it. if you rotate each dial singly and waggle the lock bar you can normally feel the lock position as more waggly than the rest. then repeat till done

[woofgang]

I did this one to a three number lock. I rented a good movie and sat dowm and started at 111...took about an hour...always used memorable combinations after that

[IndieSinger]

So what you're saying, incitatus is if you wiggle the actually horse-shoe lock in a saccadic manner on each number, you can actually feel which one is the most lose? That's fantastic information! I imagine it only works on the cheaper locks, but well worth remembering - thanks!

[brawburd]

Indie, pardon my ignorance, but what on earth does saccadic mean?!

[IndieSinger]

As if you don't know! Oh I'll just nonchalantly drop in the fact that it means "jerky" or "twitching". Some oddball taught me that recently.

[Will__]

cheers for your answers. I used the "sit down in front of a good movie" approach and luckily for me the number was 161. That should mean something to me I'm sure but my mind these days is like a big metal thing with holes in. Now I've changed the number to something else I can forget even more easily.

Ta