MASTER PACLOCKS

[remaguire]

Hi everyone. To put this in perspective, I'm a rank amateur as far as lockpicking is concerned. I'm very much still learning. I have had some luck picking Schlage door locks, but mostly I've picked padlocks, for the most part Masterlocks. I'm also a police officer in Honolulu and, from time to time, I have occasion to respond to calls to help people open car doors, locks etc.

In the past month, I've responded to 2 calls where a citizen wanted to open a Master padlock. One was a Master #1 and the second was a #7. Since I have both locks at home (and they practically open themselves they're so easy) I said to myself, "NO problem".

Boy, was I wrong. No matter what I did, I could not get the lock opened. I tried to pick them and I raked the pins with NO success. I finally had to cut the locks off.

After these 2 incidents, I went home and practiced on my padlocks, thinking that I was doing something wrong. ALL of my padlocks opened within 10 seconds.

What could the problem be? Does the lock have to be placed in a certain position, that is, the keyhole has to be facing to the side or down etc?

Finally, I ran into a Master #2 lock. Once again, no luck in picking it. Is there something special about that lock?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Aloha from Honolulu

[copeman]

depending on the condition of locks it could be dirt/gunk in the cylinder or stuck pins, it could just be perfomance jitters thats just my two cents


copeman

[Tygart]

I am guessing performance jitters. Next time just relax and keep light tension on your wrench. Also carry some lock lubricant with you.

[freakparade3]

It could also be that you are practicing with the lock in your hand in the same position all the time at home. Picking a padlock that is hanging off something requires you to hold it differently, making your technique in picking very different. Try putting your locks at home on your bathroom towel bar (assuming you have one) and picking them that way.

[samfishers]

ill go whit to dirt in the lock too.


and i to got the same problms i sugest you take a locke that is repinable and you pin it whit 3 the 4...

*im still at the third pin for almost a month*

[JackNco]

all of the responses so far could be correct, but my first guess would be that with one of each lock you have learned to pick THAT lock. you know the pinning and the binding order even though you might not think you do. get a couple more and see if you can pick them straight out the packet.

All the best

John

[horsefeathers]

.......and that my friend is the difference between picking locks sat in the comfort of your armchair watching Baywatch, and dealing with weathered locks in situ come rain sleet or snow (ok - does it snow in Honolulu?). To quote "A Few Good Men...."That's the diference between trial law and paper law "

All the reasons given above are probably true, familiarity, lock condition etc.

As John said, get some new ones to play with and see how quick you first pick those.

regards

[Tygart]

Try and get some padlocks or any locks that has been kicked around for a while.

[Afisch]

I'm guessing if it wasnt simply that you were trying too hard being not in the comfort of your own home (maybe too much tension due to presure??) then the mechanical issue could be having a difficult pinning order, very small pins behind very large pins makes any lock more difficult, (for me anyway). This is the first time ive heard of someone calling the police because they got locked out.

[remaguire]

Thanks to everyone for the replies! You're probably all right, performance jitters. I'll just keep plugging along and as with most things, practice makes perfect.

By the way, we cops get called once in a while for stuff like this. Locked house doors, car doors, padlocks etc. Follks here in Hawaii call us police for lots of stuff that makes me scratch my head in wonder, but I still have to respond. I kind of like the calls to unlock stuff. I can get some practice in a real world environment and it's obvious I need more of that.

Aloha!

[quicksilver]

Just out of curiosity did you go to the Honolulu County POST certification? Mosts POSTs have an entry and egress portion of their curriculum; some of which are taught by local locksmiths.

That's where you can see all the John Falle videos you would ever want to (as well as the Tobias Government stuff). Particularly if you have an interest; they often make that stuff available to an eager student.

[JackNco]

Thanks to everyone for the replies! You're probably all right, performance jitters. I'll just keep plugging along and as with most things, practice makes perfect.

By the way, we cops get called once in a while for stuff like this. Locked house doors, car doors, padlocks etc. Follks here in Hawaii call us police for lots of stuff that makes me scratch my head in wonder, but I still have to respond. I kind of like the calls to unlock stuff. I can get some practice in a real world environment and it's obvious I need more of that.

Aloha!

This might sound quite ignorant and im sorry if it does its not meant to in any way. but i would imagine Hawaii would have a fairly small selection of locks that are common so a set of bump keys and a bogota Set might go quite far.

[quicksilver]

Actually the combined urban district of Honolulu and the rest of the larger towns in and around Pearl are high crime & mischief areas. The issues that surround Military bases are well known but actually there are a fair share of dope-fiends and general slime in the city. It surprised me. I have family that moved out of there principally due to the crime rate....They have a LOT of locks; just like any other city that size.
The whole mystique of Hawaii being an island paradise is not quite like it seems. Most people are shocked when they see it for the first time. It's like any other city & actually has more violent crime than many others of the same size.