Brute Force: Wedging Doors

[Psychlonic]

Wedging
An offshoot of prying, this method requires the use of wedges as the name implies to force a door to separate from it's frame. This is most easily done on a door that swings inward, but can also be used on outward swinging doors in some cases. Expect this method to produce several loud popping noises, and of course you'll need to carry wedges (see equipment section) and some form of hammer most likely.
The best place to set your initial wedges are at the top and the bottom of the gap between the door and the frame on the opposite side of the hinges. Unless you feel like attempting to rip the hinges out of the frame with wedges. When you've got the tip of your wedge in the gap, begin to hammer it as far in as possible. Remember, this is going to make quite a bit of noise, so if there are people nearby this is extremely dicey. When the wedge cannot go further, go to the opposite end of the gap you're on and drive another wedge in. Keep going back and forth closing in towards the center of the gap with more and more wedges.

If the door swings inward, it's likely the door will simply pop open on it's own. In this case, just pick up your wedges and continue the operation. Outward swinging doors though aren't going anywhere with those wedges, but now you should have created a sizable gap to manipulate the knob and any deadbolts which may be present with ease. Once this is done and you can open the door, remove your wedges, and continue.
Note that this can also be used in tandem with other techniques. Placing wedges can make prying or ramming easier if absolutely necessary.
It should be added that wedges work quite well in this same manner on vehicles as they do on buildings. Plastic wedges can usually pop the door open quite easily. If you want to attempt to minimize surface damage, cloth is to be placed over the gap and driven in along with the wedge. You can also gentle tap a wedge into the gap between the door and window on certain vehicles if you want to get more room to use a slim jim. Just don't force it, lest you break the glass.

Some things to avoid:
- Don't place wedges on the half of the door that the hinges are on and expect to accomplish anything.
- Don't accidentally hit a brittle wedge on the side. If you snap a wedge off in the gap, your choices are either leave evidence, or slowly remove the pieces. Both suck.

Some unorthodox ideas to ponder when all else fails in a must-complete scenario:
- Wedging can be used to create a large gap in order to easier insert magnets for disabling magnetic switches. This is quite risky, as you run the chance of simply popping the door open first, though.
- A thinner, hardened metal wedge has the potential to cut deadbolts and doorknobs away when used with a heavy hammer. Just remember this is a loud application with limited uses, and won't be easy.

Wedging is yet another simple technique that works, but at the cost of needing bulky equipment, producing high volume noises, and possibly obvious evidence of your entry method. If at all possible, you should choose an alternative. Keep in mind that if only a knob is present, a door which can be effectively wedged can probably also be effectively carded.