Picking vs. Raking

[gstrendkill]

@Gelmar

http://www.joshnekrep.com/stuff/raimundo/bogota.html

[LeeNo]

think of SPP as walking and raking as running. You might be able to run on a very flat track and get there just fine, but you will find in a lot of cases, there are obstacles in the way preventing you from running, and you need to find a way to walk around them. Learn to walk and identify those obstacles, then learn to run, identify those obstacles, walk around them, and if need be, run the rest of the way.

At first, I thought you had the analogy of "walk then run" backwards because I think raking is much easier (for locks that will succumb to raking). Thus, raking would be "walking" and SPP would be "running" because it is much more difficult.

But then I read further and saw that you weren't using the analogy as a simple "walk=easy, run=hard" the way most people use that analogy.

I then "got it". Raking is more like running in the sense that you are simply sprinting towards a goal without having the luxury of time to really plan things out or adjust to conditions along the way. Looking at it like this, your post is spot on good advice and I agree 100%.

[Gelmar]

As far as non-padlocks go, I still have trouble using raking to open a lock entirely. But I find it shortens the amount of time I spend actually picking said locks. Like most picking it just requires that light, finnessing touch.

The bogota pick, by the way, does work quite well on the kwiksets. Thanks for the tip ^_^

[guest5999]

When I first started, without any practice and very little prior reading, I was occasionally lucky raking and rarely successful with SPP. That I was able to rake anything open at all is a miracle since it was kinda like a virgin on prom night: a lot of wiggling around with no idea what the hell you're doing and then eventually, BAM, somehow you lucked out and got the thing done.

But as I practiced more and developed my SPP skill, the feel and feedback I learned from SPP transferred to raking and significantly helped. Once your fingers develop that sort of motor memory, when raking, you start instinctively doing things like varying tension or pick depth without any conscious intervention. It's not just dumb luck that lets people rake a lock, on the first try, in less than a second.

http://www.toool.nl/competitie.wmv

[vmikulich]

I like to rake first and then pick if the rake doesn't get the job done. Raking works well and is easier to learn in my opinion. Plus it is usually faster, but it does fail on locks with high low pin sets.

[vap0r]

I'd suggest putting your rakes away for the first month until you are consistently picking five pin tumbler locks with at least one security pin. It is a very bad habit to get into, and hard to break. I do not recommend raking as a skill for a new locksmith to learn if you want to develop skill in the sport/trade.

[thedominator7a]

I find it easier to pick security pins with spp. And spp is the best and most effective way to practice, it will make you more aware/sensitive with the pins.

[raimundo]

Although lockpicktools ripped off that design while conning me with thier promises that were never true, they did not copy the bogota rake right, If you buy thiers, you need to spend an hour sanding it, as it has sharp edges all over it. On the real thing these are sanded smooth.

[Viggs]

I never liked raking, and I never spent any time doing it. I guess I'm just a control freak. Single pin picking let's me know at ALL times what the state of each pin-stack is in the lock. If I've over-lifted something, I know right away. And I waste no time letting go of the tension and starting again. I'm not trying to insult those who rake, because I know that many people are quite skilled at it. But, to me, raking always seems like blowing on a pair of dice and rolling them across the table.