I'm trying to figure out if in general heavy tension or light tension is the way to go. I'm a big fan of TheLockPickingLaywer on YouTube and obviously he is a great picker. His video on tension claims that you should use the MOST TENSION possible for each lock, and each stage of the picking. Also, I'm a TOK tension guy, and I'm not a fan of using conventional torsion wrenches that aren't TOK.
This means use heavy tension and slowly release tension as your pushing a pin up or going through serrations until you get the right click noise to shear. I'm a big believer in this, or at least I was. Lately, I've been using super light tension and I'm able to pick the same stash of locks that I have. I am still able to pick them with heavy tension though, I can't figure out which is better?
Sometimes I feel like I can only get feedback from heavy tension, other times I swear butterfly light tension gives me more feedback. What's the right answer here? Is TheLockPickingLawyer correct in his concept of using heavy tension?
I don't think it's a question of which is better but more what is better for the specific lock your picking. Sometimes you will need just feather light tension and sometimes you will need to use very heavy tension. An example would be a Bilock you would want to use light tension but on an Assa Twin I find it better to use really heavy tension. However I would agree with LPL in that most cases you want to use as much tension as you can. Using heavier tension will generally provide you with more enhanced feedback and help prevent pins dropping after you've picked them.
LPL is VERY good, I would adjust Tension for each lock, If one doesn't work, adjust. He may mean Highest Tension needed, Not highest tension possible. Good Luck
greengrowlocks wrote:I don't think it's a question of which is better but more what is better for the specific lock your picking. Sometimes you will need just feather light tension and sometimes you will need to use very heavy tension. An example would be a Bilock you would want to use light tension but on an Assa Twin I find it better to use really heavy tension. However I would agree with LPL in that most cases you want to use as much tension as you can. Using heavier tension will generally provide you with more enhanced feedback and help prevent pins dropping after you've picked them.
Thanks for your help guys. TLPL from my experience has been right about tension. Use as much as possible for each STAGE of the pick. If you're getting counter rotation on a spool, well, you'll HAVE to release some tension, but keep as much on as possible. What this means for me is pushing on the TOK bar to the point where it wants to bend on my .40 one, but I don't let it bend obviously.
If I need less tension I adjust. Yes, when you use a lot of tension it seems to have all sorts of advantages including a louder click, better feedback, and the benefit of pins already set will be less likely to drop.
greengrowlocks wrote:I don't think it's a question of which is better but more what is better for the specific lock your picking. Sometimes you will need just feather light tension and sometimes you will need to use very heavy tension. An example would be a Bilock you would want to use light tension but on an Assa Twin I find it better to use really heavy tension. However I would agree with LPL in that most cases you want to use as much tension as you can. Using heavier tension will generally provide you with more enhanced feedback and help prevent pins dropping after you've picked them.
Thanks for your help guys. TLPL from my experience has been right about tension. Use as much as possible for each STAGE of the pick. If you're getting counter rotation on a spool, well, you'll HAVE to release some tension, but keep as much on as possible. What this means for me is pushing on the TOK bar to the point where it wants to bend on my .40 one, but I don't let it bend obviously.
If I need less tension I adjust. Yes, when you use a lot of tension it seems to have all sorts of advantages including a louder click, better feedback, and the benefit of pins already set will be less likely to drop.
Hi, You're not gonna like this, and you're totally free to disagree, but I'm gonna say that it is very bad to tell people here to use as much tension as possible, and as a new picker I think you are teaching yourself bad habits. If your metal tools are bending, you're doing it wrong, it's that simple. I have had the same tension wrenches for 12 years and they are straight as an arrow, and I can open all sorts of locks with them, no heavy tension needed. and I will add that when I first started I had no one to give me any advice so my first Southord pick set was bent or broken within a month because I was such a brute and so heavy handed. Now I know better.
Lock picking tension/torque/turning force is not the same brute force as trying to unscrew a lug nut from a car tire or unscrew the lid on a jar of pickles. Perhaps the need for more rotational force is something you're finding with a particular lock and maybe you need to get some other brands and types of locks, or maybe this is an issue with you saying you're putting as much tension as possible on the wrench, but maybe if we saw you in person or picking on video we would say that you're only using medium tension. I can't tell from just reading something, I'd have to see you picking.
Here's the issue with inserting a wrench and pressing on it with as much force as possible: now try to insert the pick and actually lift a pin. you probably cannot lift the pins at all, and if you do manage to push them up, you may break or bend the tip of your pick, and you will for sure scrape some brass from the pin as it grinds its way up the pin chamber. None of this sounds like good picking form to me.
if you have a Master padlock No. 3 and a key for it, put the key in and turn the key half way before the shackle pops open. that will let you feel what I would consider the right about of torque you should put on a tension wrench, nothing harder than that. You can also put a wrench through the key ring hole on the master lock key and press the wrench in order to turn the key, this will have you some good feedback of how hard to press on it.
Just out of curiosity, could you post a photo of you holding a lock, pick and tension wrench, we may be able to help your form if we notice something unusual. From all the people I have taught in person, one of the more common things is people press the wrench against the face of the lock thinking they are doing something useful, and the other very common thing I see is people wrapping a finger around the wrench and pulling down on the wrench to rotate the plug instead of using 1 finger to push DOWN on the wrench.
How many fingers do you have on the wrench when picking, and are your fingers close to where the tension wrench is bent? half way down the handle? or at the end of the handle?
Here is an example video I made in 2010, how does this compare to the amount of tension you use?
This guy explain beginner lock pick holding very well:
In this video Bosnian Bill mentions using heavy tension, and I respect him a lot, but have to disagree with jamming on the tension wrench that hard. My problem is that when he says heavy tension, I know what he means because I've been in the game long enough, and once in a blue moon I may test a lock by tensioning it from medium to hard, but I could see a new picker use wayyyy more than needed when they hear the words heavy tension.
I believe this is the video in which Lockpicking Lawyer disagrees with light tension:
I'm gonna chat with him to better understand where he's coming from, preferably over some bourbon, but I think it's gonna come down to the lock you are picking and what works for you. Squelchtone
stratmando wrote:LPL is VERY good, I would adjust Tension for each lock, If one doesn't work, adjust. He may mean Highest Tension needed, Not highest tension possible. Good Luck
This is the key I was missing, very well said stratmando. This is my worry, beginners thinking that they have to exert the highest tension *possible*
stratmando wrote:LPL is VERY good, I would adjust Tension for each lock, If one doesn't work, adjust. He may mean Highest Tension needed, Not highest tension possible. Good Luck
This is the key I was missing, very well said stratmando. This is my worry, beginners thinking that they have to exert the highest tension *possible*
Thank you Squelchtone
To me, highest tension possible means right before breaking? I'm just saying.
I've been making Bottom of Keyways tensions work forever, after watching LPL,BosnianBill, others for a while, TOK seems good. I am currently waiting on the " Flat 5" Makes sense, gives more room, I considered picking, the important part, others say Tension. Ordering these tools to eleminate wrong Tension Tool as a factor?
Hey guys. Yeah some locks I can't pick with heavy tension very well, but when I can I will. TLPL's video seems spot on. I can't stand bottom of the keyway tension in general since it's in the way of your pick. TOK is so much better when possible.
Very few locks require extreme tension. LPL has been doing this for a minute and knows how to feel a lock. Until you get the feel, start light. Especially with security pins.
I've noticed I've got into the habit of ramping up the tension as I'm picking. It's probably a bad habit, born of frustration but it's so hard to not do.
[One day, I'm going to apply for the Advanced section, just to see if I get accepted....]
mattc wrote:I've noticed I've got into the habit of ramping up the tension as I'm picking. It's probably a bad habit, born of frustration but it's so hard to not do.
I do that, too. It is a bad habit.
Gordon
Just when you finally think you have learned it all, that is when you learn that you don't know anything yet.
