I've spent the last few weeks messing around with cheapo Masters and all the lousy Kwiksets around my apartment, so I went out and bought a decent padlock today: the Abus 83/45.

As much as I wanted to, I resisted the urge to disassemble it until after I got it picked the first time. Much to my surprise, I opened that little bugger up in about 10 minutes. Very satisfying to work with spools for the first time, and defeat them right off.

I need to tip the locksmith. I was expecting to open it up and find 5 smooth drivers, and then realize that I'm just lousy at this stuff, but there were 4 spools and 1 serrated driver. I had guessed 4 spools based on touch.

Put it back together and got it in about 5 minutes the next time. I kinda feel a little disappointed, because I thought this would take me a few hours. But, it's still very satisfying to pick something specifically designed to resist picking. I think I'll get it re-keyed for 6 pins.

What's a good next lock that's less than $40?

Thats very impressive, I am still working on opening master lock no.15 . But do you mind me asking were you bought the Abus lock?

Are you the guy who sold it to me? I picked it up at a locksmith shop in the San Fernando Valley.