Yesterday, for the second time in two weeks we got locked out of our Airstream. Something is going on with our deadbolt that’s causing it to slide into the locked position while we’re driving. The deadbolt only locks from the inside with no option to unlock it with a key.

Not sure why this is happening all of a sudden, and we plan to investigate before our next drive day, but luckily we are experts at breaking into our house. Yesterday marks our third successful break-in. The first time was when a strong wind slammed the door shut causing the lock to pop closed. That was when Tim first devised this clever break-in plan. After that we hid an extra key and figured we would never need to break-in again. When the deadbolt locked itself last weekend we once again put operation break-in into effect. This week it happened again and it only took us mere minutes to break-in. We declared ourselves experts and Tim said, “This would make a great blog post.” Why yes it would. So here goes. How to break into our Airstream in under 5 minutes:

Step 1: Very gently pry open the kitchen window. This window has no screen because when we replaced the kitchen sink faucet it blocked the window crank. Tim moved the crank and now the screen no longer fits properly. He’s been saying for two years that he’s going to fix that screen. So glad he hasn’t yet.

Step 2: Disconnect the window crank bars. If you place a screw driver in just the right spot on the bar hinge you can pop out a little metal piece and release the bar.

Step 3: Reach in and arrange the bars so the window is propped open.

Step 4: Make your break-in tool. We used the top two sections of our telescoping flag pole with a mini crow bar taped to the end. A small spool of wire acts as a spacer between the pole and crow bar. Use lots of tape.

Step 5: Carefully slide your break-in tool through the open window. Push it in the direction of the door.

Step 6: Have your lovely assistant stand next to the window opposite the door. Follow her hand signals as she guides the break-in tool to the left of the deadbolt. When she says go pull the tool to the right and slide it open.

That’s it! In under five minutes you have just broken in to our Airstream.

Disclaimer: Since this method requires some special circumstances (crank out windows + a missing screen + materials for a homemade break-in tool) it’s not likely to help other people in a similar situation. But if this does happen to you, and any of this post helps you out then we’ll be happy to take the credit. Also, please don’t break into our Airstream.