Resident Evil 3 Bolt cutters and Lockpick locations: How to cut chains and find the Lockpick carry case
How to find two key items to help you explore everything from the early parts of the game.
Finding the Bolt Cutters and Lockpick will help you explore many of the locked cases, lockers and doors in Resident Evil 3's opening couple of hours.
These are two key items you must find to continue your journey soon after you put out the fire with the Fire Hydrant - so if you want to avoid specific progression spoilers, simply continue playing and you'll happen upon them.
That said, if you want to know where they are ahead of time, this page can help.
On this page:
Looking for something else? Visit our Resident Evil 3 walkthrough for more help.
How to cut chains with the Bolt Cutters
Once you have put out the fire with the Fire Hydrant, you can walk down the alleyway. At the end is a door to a Garage.
The Garage is a safe room with a Typewriter, item box and most importantly, the Bolt Cutters. These are used to open the chains we've been seeing all around - including to the door next to this room.
If you want the Shotgun right now, it's available - so backtrack to the Subway Offices and crack it open. Otherwise, it can easily wait until later - so open the door in the Garage using the Bolt Cutters to continue.
After the cutscene, investigate the File next to the dead U.B.C.S. soldier for the Training Log, as well as the Shotgun Shells on the table.
Next, go upstairs to an outside area. Turn right to find a body with some Handgun rounds and the U.B.C.S. Suicide Note File.
Go the other way, and you can find the Electrician's Note File on the wall.
This will explain how you can shoot sparking generators to injure anything around it. There is one just down the next ally. Dogs will come from the far side, so you'll want to shoot it just as they pass it.
The timing is difficult, mind, but even if you miss, you can just sprint through this area and through the gate at the far end. (The only thing in the dead end is a crate with some Gunpowder, which isn't worth the hassle.)
Enter the red door to arrive at the Subway Power Substation. There are some zombies on the ground floor and another coming down the stairs, and with the confined space, we recommend you shoot and clear them. There are some supplies in the corner locker, and a Red Herb at the top of the stairs.
The door on the upper floor leads to the Control Room. This is a safe room, with an item box and typewriter to use. There's a Hip Pouch storage on the right to increase your inventory space, so make sure you grab it.
There's also a Bobble Head in the upper corner, above the storage unit, so shoot it while you're here.
When you're ready, grab the Fax from Substation Chief File on the left. It describes having to activate the four breakers, followed by the main power switch.
Meanwhile, there are four screens in this room with what looks like a different maze layout on each. You don't have to remember these - so leave out the door when you're ready.
Our full Resident Evil 3 walkthrough explains every aspect's of Jill's, including the Shotgun location, Bolt cutters and Lockpick locations, how to reset the Circuit Breakers to restore power in the Substation, find the Drugstore safe code solution and Aqua Cure clue, Police Station Safe, Locker codes, Hospital safe code and courtyard box for the Magnum explained.
Lockpick carrying case location
Head out the door and down the steps. Grab the Green Herbs: They Work! File from the outside shelving, as well as two Green Herbs next to it, and another File, the Substation Internal Memo, next to the locked gate, which describes another item we need to find - the lockpick carrying case.
Thankfully, we don't have to go far to find it. Continue along this outside area to the corpse in the corner, which is carrying the case. Investigate it in your inventory, rotating it round to the front, until you can open it up and get the Lockpick.
Be sure to continue round the corner to open the crate with some Handgun Ammo, too.
Head back to the gate and open it with your lockpick.
When you do, there's a cutscene, and the task of removing a Parasite. After that, we have to reset the Substation Circuit Breakers.