Red Team Tools Review: 5 Physical Security Tools Every Locksmith Should Know About

Most tool brands start with a factory and a catalog. Red Team Tools started with a problem.

Deviant Ollam, a physical penetration tester and trainer who's taught at DEF CON and Black Hat, kept running into the same gap: the tools his students needed just didn't exist in the right form. Too bulky. Too obvious. Wrong size for the job.

So he started making them himself.

What began as handwritten PayPal orders to former students evolved into Red Team Tools, a small but serious shop that builds gear for professionals working in high-stakes physical security environments. The tools are lean, functional, and designed around one question: what's the minimum you need to do the job?

This review breaks down six of their standout tools, based on real-world use cases shared by Ollam himself during a recent deep-dive conversation with CLK.

1. The Devious Decoder Card (DDC)

Best for: Locksmiths, red teamers, and field operators who need to measure keys and decode pins on the go

The DDC is, in Ollam's own words, what you get when you ask: what if a full key gauge and pin decoder fit in your wallet?

Most locksmiths are familiar with large key gauges and separate pin decoder cards. The DDC combines both into a single credit-card-sized steel tool. It covers the most common North American keyways, Schlage, Kwikset, Master, and American, with enough room to decode pins using the built-in stair-step cut patterns.

Why it matters: Operators working in environments where they can't carry a full kit think a suit pocket or a back pocket can now measure a key, note the bitting, and return to the environment later with a working copy. No carrying. No explanation. No obvious tool bag.

The original version was made from PCB plastic (low magnetic signature, designed for non-permissive environments). The current North American version is sturdier for everyday field use.

International versions already exist: the DDC Oz covers Australian keyways (Gainsborough, Yale, Lockwood), and a European version is in development. An institutional version covering SFIC, Corbin Russwin, Sergeant, and Yale is also being explored.

Key takeaway: If you're regularly rekeying, decoding, or doing field assessments, the DDC replaces two tools with one that fits behind your driver's license.

2. Door Gap Tool

Best for: Fire door inspections, compliance checks, social engineering cover

This one surprises people the first time they see it.

The door gap tool is a compact, 3D-printed gauge used to check door clearances for fire code compliance. Wood doors and metal doors have different clearance specs (typically 1/8" to 3/4" depending on location and door type per NFPA standards), and this tool lets you check them in seconds.

For locksmiths doing commercial work or security assessments, knowing the door compliance code is genuinely useful. But Ollam is candid about another application: it gives you a reason to be in a building. Someone checking door clearances with a clipboard and a purpose-built tool doesn't raise flags.

Beyond cover use, the tool has found real traction in locksmith training programs. ALOA has started using the RTT door gap tool in classroom settings, trainers noted it outperforms older tools they'd been using. 

Key takeaway: Useful for compliance, even more useful for situational awareness. This is a dual-purpose tool at a single-purpose price.

3. Lever Handle Shrouds

Best for: Locksmiths doing commercial or hotel work, and anyone wanting to easily defeat under-door tool attacks

This is one of the simplest yet most effective physical security upgrades you can offer a customer.

The Lever Handle Shroud is a small, unobtrusive metal cover that installs over the lever handle base. It completely blocks under-the-door tool attacks that try to push down or manipulate the handle from outside the door.

In practical terms, Hotels and large commercial properties have ordered these in massive quantities (one hotel alone purchased over 850 units) after suffering repeated daytime break-ins. After installation, break-ins at that property dropped to zero. The tool is so effective that criminals simply move on to easier targets.

Key takeaway: Incredibly cheap, ridiculously easy to install, and solves a very common bypass method. One of the highest-ROI security upgrades available for lever-handled doors.

4. Lishi Standoff Spacers

Best for: Locksmiths who want to get more value out of the Lishi tools they already own

This is the most understated tool on the list and possibly the highest value per dollar.

The Lishi Standoff Spacer is a small collar that slides onto the blade of a Lishi 2-in-1 tool, creating a precise standoff from the face of the plug. That extra spacing allows certain larger Lishi tools to work correctly in locks that would normally require a different tool.

For example, if you already own an SC4 Lishi, the spacer can allow that tool to work in an SC1 keyway. Instead of purchasing another dedicated Lishi tool, the spacer expands the capability of the one you already have.

In practical terms, this means fewer tools to buy, fewer tools to carry, and more value from the Lishis already in your kit. For new locksmiths, or anyone trying to keep costs down, that's a big deal. A tool that costs a fraction of a new Lishi can potentially save you from purchasing another decoder and picker altogether.

The spacer is simple, durable, and easy to use, but its impact on your tool budget can be surprisingly significant.

Key takeaway: Small, inexpensive, and incredibly practical. If it allows one of your existing Lishi tools to cover another lock profile, it can pay for itself many times over. 

5. Quick Connect Impressioning Head + Tubular Lock Pick

Best for: Anyone doing impressioning work or tubular lock picking who wants compact, modular tooling

This one is Ollam's personal favorite, and you can tell.

The impressioning head and tubular pick are designed to attach to a standard quick-connect bit holder, the kind already sitting in most tool bags. Instead of buying dedicated bulky handles for each task, you use the handle you already prefer and attach whichever head you need.

The impressioning head includes:

• A built-in side peg for controlled torque during impressioning

• Integrated magnets that hold a small Allen wrench for adjusting key tension

• A compact parking position for the peg when not in use

• Generous key travel to accommodate different lock depths and bite angles

The tubular pick head converts the same bit holder into a tubular lock tool — built on a trusted U.S.-made design originally from Hard Case / Southern Specialties and refined by Red Team Tools — eliminating the need for separate stubby or full-size tubular pick handles.

The design philosophy here is important. Rather than making increasingly tiny handles that are hard to hold, the RTT approach says: your handle is already in your bag. We'll make the part that does the actual work. It keeps the kit modular and your carry weight down.

Key takeaway: Modular, clever, and honest about what actually takes up space in your kit. Best used with a quality bit holder you already own.

6. Deadbolt Safety Strap

Best for: Travelers, hotel security-conscious guests, anyone wanting a no-tech deadbolt backup

Created by Ron and Melinda Moore under the brand "Supergrip Lock," this tool nearly disappeared when the couple passed away during the pandemic. Ollam brought it back, the patent long expired, and credits them by name every time he mentions it.

The concept is remarkably simple: a heavy nylon strap with Velcro that wraps around the interior thumb turn of a deadbolt and anchors to the door handle, jamming the thumb turn in place. If the thumb turn can't rotate, the bolt won't retract, period. Even with a working key from the outside, the door stays shut.

This matters because:

• Under-door tools that grab interior lever handles are rendered useless; the bolt still won't retract

• No installation required. No drilling. No damage to the door

• Works in hotel rooms, Airbnb rentals, and residential settings equally

A head of housekeeping at a major U.S. hotel told Ollam that after equipping every guest room door with the strap, break-ins "dropped to zero." Before that, the property was experiencing multiple room intrusions per week.

Key takeaway: Embarrassingly simple. Genuinely effective. Worth keeping in every travel bag.

Final Verdict

Red Team Tools is filling gaps that the mainstream market ignores, the compact, discreet, dual-purpose stuff that experienced operators and serious locksmiths actually reach for.

Every tool in this review started as a real problem Ollam or his students encountered in the field. That shows in how they're designed.