What tools do you bring besides picks?

[silent_snake]

Hi Guys. So I just got my first Southord MPXS-14 set in the mail today.

I tried picking one of the doors on the side of my house to the garage, but when I started, I noticed the plug was very corroded and hard to turn, even when using the key.

So my question is do you guys carry anything extra besides your picking tools for old/difficult locks? I was thinking about adding a small can of spray lube or WD-40 and a small flathead screwdriver to turn the plug after it's been picked to my kit. What do you guys think?

P.S. actually opening my first lock when trying to pick it was certainly exhilarating. I could really get into this.

[adrenalynn]

Welcome to the forum!

WD40 will make a lock worse in the long run. It will attract gunk into the lock and make it sticky.

You need a "dry lubricant" where the carrier evaporates off. Locksmiths will generally use graphite based lock lubricants. Commercially I've used both graphite and teflon.

You should NEVER pick a lock that's in use. The risk of damaging the lock and destroying it is too high.

[sir locksalot]

yup you can get a graphite gun online they are very good but very messy

[MarkC]

It's always a good idea to carry lots of different tension tools, a plug spinner, and lubricant. I use Lock Saver instead of graphite. It's wonderful stuff and well worth the money.

Mark

[lock2006]

Welcome to the forum silent_snake
like Adrenalynn said you should never pick a lock that's in use
just go to home depot or local hardware store and get some
deadbolt like Kwiset or Schlage and practice on this locks
as far as what tool to carry, don't carry to many tension tools
just carry a couples of them for different keyway.
hope this helps.

[adrenalynn]

I also like to carry C4 and a K12 rescue saw. Just for those times when I forgot the graphite...

[vmikulich]

Hi Guys. So I just got my first Southord MPXS-14 set in the mail today.

I tried picking one of the doors on the side of my house to the garage, but when I started, I noticed the plug was very corroded and hard to turn, even when using the key.

So my question is do you guys carry anything extra besides your picking tools for old/difficult locks? I was thinking about adding a small can of spray lube or WD-40 and a small flathead screwdriver to turn the plug after it's been picked to my kit. What do you guys think?

P.S. actually opening my first lock when trying to pick it was certainly exhilarating. I could really get into this.

What you carry really depends on what you do. For example when a law enforcement agency makes entry they do not generally use picks to open the front door. Picks and tension wrenches come in handy when opening filing cabinets, keyed safes, or desk drawers during a search warrant. Most trained police detectives will also carry a plug spinner and lubricant for these items and maybe a peterson knife for brief cases. I'm thinking the plug spinner would be the most useful item to have after the lubricant in the case described above.

Picks are used when the suspect is unable to open the items because they are not present, not cooperative, or in custody. But picking only comes into play when it can't be open some other easier way so lots of other items are carried for entry and search.

On a high risk warrant the "ram and pick(not a lock pick)" are used on front doors almost exclusively. On other types of warrants such as financial crimes where a department is making entry into a business they might carry a lever tool for opening doors or they might use something that looks like a shove-it tool from Southord. Again they aren't doing this for a hobby like most people on this site. They strictly want to get in fast and do their job.

Locksmiths seem to carry lots of tools like this too in their truck when working from what I've seen. Are their any working locksmiths who would like to chime in about what they carry minimally when called out to open a business or house?

[silent_snake]

Thanks for all the help guys, I'm definitely going to get some dry graphite lube and lock saver now.

Thanks to what MarkC and vmikulich said, I think I'll get a plug spinner too, but I'm curious if they really work. Recently, a friend let me pick some locks at his workplace that were really difficult. I know they were masterkeyed, but I still think that they may have had a few security pins, due to the fact that that it took me 15+ minutes to pick it.

It took me 10 minutes to pick the lock on the outside of the building, but when he showed me the door to his office, it took a good 15 minutes to turn the plug, and then when I did, I realized I turned it the wrong way.

Another 15 minutes later, right before I was about to give up, I had the satisfying feeling of the last pin snapping into place and having the plug turn the correct way. Obviously, I'm still very new and inexperienced with lock picking, but I've read the stories on this forum of guys running into locks that couldn't be beat with their current tools.

Would a plug spinner be a good investment? Is there anyone here who has one, and does it work successfully on a regular basis? The cheapest one I've found is this one:

http://www.lockpickshop.com/A5-PGS.html

But I'm afraid that it may not work on something like the lock I ran into at my friend's workplace. I'm thinking something like that may be a waste of time and money, and it may be worth it to just go with something like this one:

http://www.lockpickshop.com/PLUG-SPINNER-SOP1.html

What do you guys think?

[adrenalynn]

I think the last thing you should be doing is picking locks that are in use. The risk of destroying them is far too great.

[thelockoutguys]

first like they have said get your practice locks..Second hand stores, goodwill ect have them dirt cheap...you can pick up for usually around $1 for standard household lock sets. I once picked up a hole bucket full of padlocks for a dollar. The guy took my dollar and laughed because no of them had keys and i smiled and walked out the door..The other mentioned is getting a good plug spinner...Without a doubt this a must have tool if you are serious about getting the lock open in front of you without wasting time. I have a few different brands but the hpc button spinner is my favorite.. But it is very pricey between $50-$60. You can get a basic one for @$25 that will still do the job..or there are plenty of posts here on how to fabricate your own..You also mentioned using a small flathead screwdriver to turn the plug after its been picked? Just curious but ive never used anything other than my tension wrenches..

[silent_snake]

first like they have said get your practice locks..Second hand stores, goodwill ect have them dirt cheap...you can pick up for usually around $1 for standard household lock sets. I once picked up a hole bucket full of padlocks for a dollar. The guy took my dollar and laughed because no of them had keys and i smiled and walked out the door..The other mentioned is getting a good plug spinner...Without a doubt this a must have tool if you are serious about getting the lock open in front of you without wasting time. I have a few different brands but the hpc button spinner is my favorite.. But it is very pricey between $50-$60. You can get a basic one for @$25 that will still do the job..or there are plenty of posts here on how to fabricate your own..You also mentioned using a small flathead screwdriver to turn the plug after its been picked? Just curious but ive never used anything other than my tension wrenches..

Well, I guess I never realized how risky it is until now, so I'm sure you guys will be happy when I say I picked up 2 Masterlock padlocks at walmart the other day.


But, for the particular lock I was working on (the side door to get into the garage by my house) the plug was very corroded.
In the set I'm using right now, I've figured out that out of the 4 tension tools in it, they're made of 2 different gauges of material total (2 thicker metal, 2 thinner metal).
I didn't find this significant until I realized that that the tension tools made from thicker gauge didn't fit into some locks.

In the case I had with my garage door, only the tension tools made from thinner metal would fit, so I could pick it and feel the plug turn, but trying to continue turning the plug would cause the tension tool I was using to bend/break.

I guess since at the time I wasn't using any sort of lubricant, it made sense to just grab a screwdriver and turn the plug the rest of the way. Since browsing this forum, I've become more gentle, and use lube to try and clean out the lock when I grab one up that's a little sticky or stiff.

But I still don't think I'll take the flathead screwdriver out of my set, because I know when it comes to deadbolts, the plug can be hard to turn not just because of corrosion, but because the door may not be fitted to the frame properly, causing excess friction, or the door and frame themselves may be old/rotten and not fit together very well. I'd just rather save my tension tools and use the screwdriver.

[thedominator7a]

You could probably use the credit card method to unlock the door or you could make a strong tension wrench out of an alen key to turn the plug and use as a tension/ torque wrench.

[straightpick]

You want a good plug spinner. Buy the one made by Rytan, between 25-35 dollars, depending where you buy it. Best one I have used, simple twist and no over spinning.