Padlocks are great but...

[Johnny P]

Does your house have an attached garage with a cnnecting door? f so, there is probably already an entrance lock on it.

Just practice with that lock first, then replace it with another different brand, re-key those locks to a more difficult configuration and on and on.

This way you're practicing with a lock already on a door and not practicing out in the open where a passing squad car can see you and maybe give you a hassle because you're picking a lock - even though it is you own lock. Who wants to spend time producing ID every time a squad drives by?

[MaximumCheese]

My other "favorite" is the opposite of yours - the glass storefront door with a bottom rail lock. You pretty much have to lie on the floor to work it...

Haha, yeah, and chances are the keyway is pointing downward so you have to insert your wrench at a horribly awkward angle.

My first "real life" experience involved my girlfriend's cousin being locked out of her house. The lock in question was a LH mounted generic 5-pin Kwikset ripoff from Ace hardware, so it wasn't that big of a deal. The kicker, though, was that it was about 15 degrees outside at the time. I could seriously attempt to pick for a few minutes at a time, and I wasn't successful. I ended up having someone helping my by holding a space heater and pointing it directly at my hands, and only then could I make any meaningful attempt at picking it. Once my hands returned to normal temperature, I opened the lock in less than a minute. The moral of the story: if I ever do this professionally, I'm moving to a warmer climate.

[Jaakko]

Does your house have an attached garage with a cnnecting door? f so, there is probably already an entrance lock on it.

Just practice with that lock first, then replace it with another different brand, re-key those locks to a more difficult configuration and on and on.

I think that you have just forgot the lock picking rule that you shouldn't pick locks you or someone else relies on.

[raimundo]

I have mentioned before that picking in cold is possible with hands inside mittens and picks projecting through the fabric to the lock, well there wasn't much winter this year, but the cold came at the end, right now the temp is 19 fahrenheit, and the wind chill is O. I have started using those iron oxide handwarmers inside the gloves, this is the first winter I have used them and after about half an hour to start up, it does get nice and warm., thought I'd mention this after the post from the guy who was outside but still had access to wd40 and a space heater 4 his hands.

[TruLuV305]

Johnny p, its no prob cuze i am a cop and i got my car parked in the front driveway