How am I doing?

[mcp]

Hey!

I've actually been browsing around this site for a couple of years now. I believe I posted almost 2 years ago now actually. (In April, hah...just found my post) I was really looking forward to getting started back then but money and time seem to be tough to find while in college. Though I'm still in school I have finally(!) been able to purchase my first set of lockpicks. It's taken a while but then again, I've had quite a while to figure out in my head what exactly is going on inside those little locks.

I picked up the set this morning and so far today have opened every lock I could get my hands on. I purchased a cheap deadbolt kwikset lock at the same time and have managed to take that apart and repin it a couple times, but I seem to be running out of challenges already. I know there's a world of frustration waiting out there for me but I have yet to hit it. It takes about 3-5 seconds to pick my kwikset locks (admittedly very cheap locks) now with any of the picks in my set. I guess what I'm am looking for is some direction towards a readily available "tougher" set of locks to start practicing on. I'm looking forward to really getting into the hard stuff eventually but I'm sure I'll have to work my way up to it as I doubt it will all come so easy.

Thanks for the replies (and sorry for the long post...I seem to be long-winded!)

-Matt-

[LockNewbie21]

Good job man. Well i would suggest the shielded brinks 6 pin padlock. I just got one and its a trick and a half it will put your skills to work.


Andy

[Octillion]

Good job man. Well i would suggest the shielded brinks 6 pin padlock. I just got one and its a trick and a half it will put your skills to work.


Andy

I wouldn't go there just yet. Get some kind of cheap brass padlock with spool pins, a small one with 4 pins would be good. Play with that, pin by pin picking, until you get the feel of what happens when you hit a spool pin, and how to properly set those pins. Something like that you should be able to open in under 10 seconds. From there, move on to some higher quality locks, with more pins, and serrated bottom pins like the Brink's shrouded padlock.

[mcp]

Hey, thanks for the tips. I work at a place that has a ton of padlocks turned in at a lost and found...my boss said it'd be cool to borrow 'em one at a time until I get bored of that. Exciting...except I noticed that they are mostly all the same lock (Master) that everyone seems to buy. I'll have to look in the box to see if there's anything interesting there.

On a side note, I am a little glad that I have had nothing else to pick around here today. Out of necessity all I could really pick was my one practice lock over and over again. Because of that I've rearranged the pin stacks numerous times and tried to see how little tension and pressure (on the pick) I could use to get it open. I didn't realize how much I wasn't feeling earlier even though I was still getting the locks open. I guess practice is a good thing after all!

-Matt-

[Octillion]

I guess practice is a good thing after all!

Its the only way.