Alice and Bob are in a tight situation; maybe they need to break into a closet, or maybe they have been locked up by the bad guys. Either way, a lock is blocking their... way. Bob's mind is racing. How are they going to get out? And what is that [[WrittenSoundEffect ''click!'']] he just heard? [[DoubleTake Wait a second]]... ''did the lock just open?!''

Alice holds up something. "My Handy Hairpin," she says. "Don't leave home without it."

When a resourceful character picks a lock, be they [[HandyCuffs handcuffs]], [[LockedDoor doors]] or [[SecretDiary secret diaries]], with a hairpin, you get the HairpinLockpick. Most often utilized by females as they are way more likely to have a hairpin actually on their person. Note that a hairpin ''can'' be used to pick some locks in RealLife, but only if you break it in half and use one piece as a torsion wrench, and one as the pick. Or if it's a ''very'' simple lock.

Subtrope to ImprovisedLockpick (pending).Compare MacGyvering and MasterOfUnlocking.
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!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Comics ]]

* Night Nurse in ''Comicbook/DoctorStrange: The Oath'' opens a door this way. The impressed Strange can only comment "You should wear your hair like that more often."

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Film ]]

* In ''FatalInstinct'', Ned once walks into his office to find [[FemmeFatale Lola]] waiting there for him. When asked how she got in, she says, "Isn't it amazing what a real woman can do with a hairpin?" Cut to the door, the lock of which has been completely destroyed.
* There's a subversion in ''ShanghaiKnights'' where Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is attempting to do this but Chon Wang gets impatient and shatters the door window with a lock, reaches in, and unlocks the door.
* Michelle Pfeiffer uses a hairpin to pick Jack Nicholson's handcuffs in ''Wolf''.
* The father in ''Film/HomeMovie'' teaches [[EnfantTerrible his kids]] how to do this. [[HoistByHisOwnPetard It comes back to bite him in the ass]].
* ''Film/{{Terminator}} 2: Judgment Day''. Sarah Conner uses unfolded paper clips to pick the locks on the straps holding her and the lock on the door of her room.
* ''TheSilenceOfTheLambs'': Hannibal unlocks his handcuffs with a pen clip.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Jokes ]]

* The cleaning lady asks the bank director: "Boss, could you lend me the key for the vault?"
--> Director: "Of course not! How did you get the idea?"
--> Cleaning lady: "Well, you told me to clean up ''everywhere'', and today I forgot my hairpin."

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

* In ''Discworld/TheAmazingMauriceAndHisEducatedRodents'', because Malicia believes she's the main character in an adventure story, she thinks hairpins are ''better'' at picking locks than actual lockpicks. Everyone else is very surprised when this actually works.
* In the ''DocSavage'' novel "The Lost Oasis," a woman tries to pick the lock on her slave collar with a hairpin after seeing Doc perform a similar feat. She doesn't have the necessary training.
* In ''HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets'', Ron picks the lock on Hedwig's cage with a pin.
* If NancyDrew didn't have those Industrial-Strength bobby pins, she would still be locked in many a closet.
* Subverted in ''ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents'', where the fallacy in this trope is pointed out, and Violet uses an electrical plug as a lock pick.
* Creator/StephenKing's ''{{Misery}}'' has a segment where the author-hero {{Lampshades}} that he fortunately learnt how to do this as research for one of his books. King gets to [[ShownTheirWork Show His Work]] by having the character show his work, it's a somewhat recursive book.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* On ''Series/BurnNotice'', Michael has noted that Fiona's hairpin is as good as a lockpick.
* In an episode of ''FlightOfTheConchords'', [[LoonyFan Mel]] uses a hairpin to open the bathroom door. While Bret's in the bathroom.
* In one episode of ''Series/{{Friends}}'', Chandler and Joey are trying to open a locked closet door. Joey asks Chandler whether he has a bobby pin; Chandler runs his hand through his hair, then says, "Oh, that's right — I'm not a 9-year-old girl."
* In an episode of ''Series/GilligansIsland'', Ginger says she [[SawItInAMovieOnce did it in a movie once]], and wants to try it on a locked chest. She doesn't get a chance to try it, though.
* In an episode of ''TheManFromUNCLE'', a captured Napoleon Solo steals hairpins from a female jailer with his mouth, and then uses them to pick the locks on his restraints.
* Maddie does it in an early episode of ''{{Moonlighting}}''.
* In an episode of ''{{Thunderbirds}}'', Parker uses one of Lady Penelope's hairpins to open a sophisticated electronic lock on a ''Bank of England bullion vault''.
* Used by Victoria in the ''Series/DoctorWho'' serial ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS5E6FuryFromTheDeep Fury from the Deep]]''.
* [[Series/TheWildWildWest Artemus Gordon]] utilizes this technique in "The Night of Sudden Death" when he's left locked in a cage by his partner.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* Nico Collard of the ''BrokenSword'' series knows how to pick a lock with a hairpin, and does so in most of the games. Being an IntrepidReporter, it's probably a useful skill to have.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Drakensang}} - The Dark Eye'', you can use hairpins to open chests.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' and ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'', Bobby Pins are your standard lockpicking resource. Fortunately, loads of them have survived The Great War intact.
* ''VideoGame/NoOneLivesForever'' has a lockpick disguised as a hairpin.
* More of a jewelry example in ''VideoGame/QuestForGloryII'', but the Hero as a Thief must use the decorative golden pin given to him by the Katta as a mark of friendship earlier in the game to pick the lock of a cell door. Actually, creative lockpicking is something of a recurring theme throughout the series for a Thief hero...

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Web Comics ]]

* The hairpin from ''Webcomic/ProblemSleuth'' is in the same category of items as keys: All their weapon counterparts are guns (pistol for key, Tommy gun for ring of keys, [[MoreDakka heavy machine gun]] for hairpin). It's also actually used as a lockpick during [[MarathonBoss the final battle]].

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* {{Lampshaded}} and {{subverted}} in one episode of ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'': Ron and Monique are facing a locked door, so Ron asks Monique whether she has a bobby pin. Her response? "I don't know; why don't you ask my grandmother?"
* Producing a hairpin to pick locks was one of the only things Daphne ever did of use in ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDoo''.
* In ''ThePerilsOfPenelopePitstop'' episode "Carnival Calamity," Penelope used one of her hairpins to open the padlock on the loop-the-loop ride.
* Done on a ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' WartimeCartoon about women in the work force. When a factory breaks down, a repairwoman goes into her toolbox and pulls out a bobby pin, which she uses to start the factory up again.
* Parodied in a ''RockosModernLife'' version of Hansel and [[strike:Gretel]] Debbie.
-->'''Heffer/Hansel:''' Hey Debbie, don't you have a hairpin or something?
-->'''Rocko/Debbie:''' No, but I have a key ''(pulls out of hair).''
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