Shaking Your Locks

[unbreakable]

SHAKE LOCKS NOT BABIES!

haha, couldnt resist.

I can honestly say Ive never done this, mainly because I never thought of it.

[Legion303]

Like most of the others here, I'm in the "I used to, but not anymore" camp.

-steve

[Afisch]

Its one of those things that i only do if the lock isn't opening when i'd expect it to, wouldn't class it as an aid to picking.

[xayandevorak]

I've never thought of this, but I see how door locks wont work, as well as padlock affixed to a hole/locker/wall somewhere.

[fuzz]

never tried it, doubt i will either. . .

[sk337]

I used to do this, but recently I've started mounting my locks when I pick. I've found that having them mounted rather than in hand helps me when I'm actually working on a door, plus it seems like most competitons have them mounted too (though those are a loooong way off).

[ObiWonShinobi]

SHAKE LOCKS NOT BABIES!

haha, couldnt resist.

I can honestly say Ive never done this, mainly because I never thought of it.

You NEVER thought of shaking babies?
Well, it IS illegal... and I imagine the drool would fly everywhere...
MESSY!

but seriously... yeah its harder with mounted locks.
('cept maybe with a bump hammer?)

but at times when gunk has clogged the lock, the springs are
not quite strong enough on their own....
and bashing them a little releases tension so you can relax and pick.
(yell like a caveman when you do it for extra effect.)

[ady1989]

I used to shake my locks a lot. I later learned to tell how much I have picked and how much I have to go by pushing on the pins with a hook pick. If it moves freely it's probably set. If there's spring resistance or it got stuck somehow, it's time to either reset all pins and start over or loosen tension until the problem is solved. Try and practice feeling each individual pin with a pick in order to determine it's condition.

[Jaakko]

If there's spring resistance or it got stuck somehow, it's time to either reset all pins and start over or loosen tension until the problem is solved.

You really should read thhe Locksport International guide about lockpicking to get you a basic knowledge.

If a pin feels springy, the it is not set and not binding. You always must search for the binding pin, i.e. the pin that feels a little bit jammed and push on it until it sets. Then you start looking for the next binding pin.

[ady1989]

I really should brush up on my terminology. I had the right idea but being tired at 5 am I didn't word it well. My bad. I can SPP well, I'd say I got out of the noob stage and into the amateur. When I said the pin being stuck, I meant stuck stuck, like in the case of an old and worn lock (I have quite a few of those around), not binding. Come to think of it, why the heck did I mention resetting the pins if there is spring resistance... Again sorry, I was tired.

[Wrenchman]

I've never done it as a part of a Lockpicking process! But I have done it
just for the fun of it, you know, as a newbie trying to discover! You can
also hear if there's a broken spring in an open lock(unmounted) but that
is also it, it is not something that can help you pick a lock, IMO!

Wait, I'm having a flashback, I do have a vague remembrance of shaking
a padlock in the act of picking, yes, now I remember, I used to do it all the time!



Wrenchman

[FFVison]

Can't say I have ever tried this, and I can't say that I would find it all that reliable anyway. If you shake a lock and you hear rattling of the key pins, it could just mean that there's a false set. Basically the only thing that shaking a lock will tell you is that, if you don't hear anything, the pins are either all down in the plug OR they are overset. If you hear rattling, it MIGHT be a set pin, or it could be a false set, or it could be a keypin that's binding and being held at the shearline by (probably too much) tension. I'm not ripping on anyone's technique, I'm just saying that I don't see the use in it.

[Jaakko]

Again sorry, I was tired.

No worries, I just wanted to get it right as some beginner(s) might read that and think "oh well, lets reset and start over"

[ObiWonShinobi]

Can't say I have ever tried this, and I can't say that I would find it all that reliable anyway. If you shake a lock and you hear rattling of the key pins, it could just mean that there's a false set. Basically the only thing that shaking a lock will tell you is that, if you don't hear anything, the pins are either all down in the plug OR they are overset. If you hear rattling, it MIGHT be a set pin, or it could be a false set, or it could be a keypin that's binding and being held at the shearline by (probably too much) tension. I'm not ripping on anyone's technique, I'm just saying that I don't see the use in it.

Never done it to listen for a set, I dont trust it to be loud enough anyway.
I do it when its overset and gunked up and the springs are not strong enough
to push the pins back out because of the gunk.....

If that is the case...a key wont work either...
pushing a key in puts all the pins up to the highest point that the key
can touch..... and then they dont fall back down.

Not saying it makes picking faster...... but it is NESSESARY sometimes
but just SOMETIMES... not all the time.
Otherwise you gotta wait 2-3 weeks for a breeze to reset it,
or an earthquake.....

or the sun AND moon in perfect alignment on the OTHER SIDE of the planet
to add enough gravity to pull them back down.

[Schuyler]

As Rai pointed out - just cause you can hear them shaking doesn't mean anything is actually set.

Be careful with it.

I do occasionally do this myself and have showed it to other people. It's an encouraging sound for a newbie picker, makes you feel good to think you've got something going on in the lock, but of course, your fooling yourself as often as not.