New user and newbie saying hello!

[yenemy]

Hi, I just recently got interested in lock picking for recreation -- I love puzzles, working on manual dexterity, and practical skills like this, so I'm surprised it never dawned on me that lock picking combines all three.

At any rate, I am the quintessential newbie, doing a lot of reading and no picking yet -- my slimline SouthOrd set (sadly ordered from lockpickshop before I found the sponsored link here) is sitting about 100 miles away, and I'm keeping busy reviewing the MIT guide, the exercises here, and thinking about how to approach the various practice locks I've obtained.

So I thought I'd take the opportunity to register here, say hello, and ask opinions on whether the practice locks I have are suitable for someone at my level (i.e., zero). I'm leaving the U.S. in a week or so -- I live overseas at the moment -- so I'm trying to get a little "practice set" together to use while I'm away. Locks will be plentiful where I'll be, but I'd like to practice on new locks from a known brand, so I have a more predictable base from which to start.

I purchased 3 locks, hoping they represent a "scaling up" in performance.
- A 3-pin "Fortress" padlock -- apparently made by Master -- from Target, model 1825DTGT. I intend to try this one as soon as I get my hot little hands on my picks.
- A 4-pin Master 142DCM, again from Target. I don't think this one has any extra security features, but I can't find anything definitive on this. I guess I'll try to find out once I get a pick into it!
- A 5-pin Kwikset deadbolt I got on sale at Home depot. I don't expect I'll be able to open this any time in the near future, but I think I'll enjoy being able to try getting a feel for the pins on this every once in a while after working with the tiny padlocks.

[oORusHOo]

You probably should have posted this in the "introduce yourself" thread, but it's great to have you here all the same :]

I would personally recommend you buy a few regular locks (double-sided 6 pin ones for doors), and pop down to a locksmith shop and ask to buy some pins.

As long as it's a lock which has screws so you can take the pins out easily and one at a time, this will do you for a good long while, as you can change the combinations of the pins, different numbers of pins, add spool pins etc.

As for tools, your SouthOrd set will probably do you well for a long long time. My first set which i still have today was a MPXS-62 - and i probably only use 5 of the picks! Having a good variety of tension wrenches is really a must.

Anyway, good luck mate!

[yenemy]

Whoops; sorry about that. I looked for an introduction thread, but guess I was in the wrong sub-forum to begin with