Trouble with "feeling" individual pins.

[YamiZee]

I've been practicing lock picking a lot lately, but as a beginner I've had lots of difficulties. I've been able to rake my practice lock open pretty consistently, but picking it is another story. Every once in a while I've been able to do it, buts it's been more blind than I'd like. I've read a lot so I think I understand the concepts, like binding order, false sets among other things, and how they feel. For example a pin should easily go up and down if it's currently unnafected, be harder to push if it's binding, and be unpushable past a point with the pin being loose to move if it's set.

The thing is I can't feel. I've been using a standard pick but it's hard for me to single on a single pin. I'm usually touching at least 2 and my pick often gets stuck inside the lock strangely. My pick isn't the smoothest and my lock isnt brand new and has been used regularly before (4 pin master lock for my bike) so there's some friction happening inside the lock. I've tried other locks but it's more or less the same. I have hard time being able to tell which pin I'm picking if it's not right at front. Its also possible I'm not using a proper technique, but I don't feel like I'm doing too bad in that respect. I just can't tell due to the lock not being very spacious on the inside.

Basically I have trouble feeling individual pins inside the lock due to friction inside the lock and little space inside the lock to move the pick.

Any advise on this matter?

[billdeserthills]

Sand paper your finger prints?

[kwoswalt99-]

Maybe use a thinner pick, and get rid of some of the resistance. You could also sand it down. What type of tension wrench are you using?

[GWiens2001]

Heard a trick a few days ago from a friend who is a safe tech. He was shown (many years ago) a way to improve his sense of touch.

Take one of the hairs from your head. Open a magazine or a book about half-way. Place the hair in the center of the page. Turn one page so the one page covers the hair. Work on feeling the hair (where it is, and the shape of it) under that page. Keep doing that until you can reliably feel the hair under the page. Then put it under two pages. Then three pages...

He says it is amazing how much more sensitive your touch will become. Plan on trying it soon.

Gordon

[kwoswalt99-]

Heard a trick a few days ago from a friend who is a safe tech. He was shown (many years ago) a way to improve his sense of touch.

Take one of the hairs from your head. Open a magazine or a book about half-way. Place the hair in the center of the page. Turn one page so the one page covers the hair. Work on feeling the hair (where it is, and the shape of it) under that page. Keep doing that until you can reliably feel the hair under the page. Then put it under two pages. Then three pages...

He says it is amazing how much more sensitive your touch will become. Plan on trying it soon.

Gordon

Hmm... Reminds me of a certain fairy tale. I tried it, and it's pretty difficult. I can imagine it being a lot more difficult if you have callouses.

[AngryHatter]

When I think I am having issues with distinguishing pins I'll pull the pick and compare how deep I am to the set screws above the stacks.
"Oh, I am on the third stack."

My issue is telling if the stack is bound or not. But I can feel by depth what pin stack I am touching.

[jbrint]

Im a new picker too and whats been working really well for me to count pins is with no tension at all I sink a sharp slightly hooked pick all the way to the back of the lock in the bottom of the keyway. Push the pick up and drag it frontward until I hit the first pin in the stack. Slip the pick under the pin and push up (does it move? Pin. Is it solid? am I on the pin stack or something solid in the lock? feel around a mm in front or back direction until I find it. Continue dragging frontward following the contour of pins until I hit the next pin, then push it up and verify if its lock or pin. I do this until Im back out the front of the lock. This has really helped me overcome my previous issue of finding those shallow pins hidden behind deeper pins and also gives me a better sense what pick I need to use to open the lock.

[Science]

It might be the way you are gripping the pick. I recently learned that it is much easier to feel binding pins when holding the pick very lightly, as it is easier to feel the slight differences in feedback in between the pins.