Pin by pin woes

[Wolfy]

Help, Having trouble picking pin by pin with shallow and deep pins in the one lock.
Tried setting the longest pin first but it seems that it wants to be the last and it's 3rd pin in.
Any suugestions?

[Shrub]

Well you dont set the pins in order of height so that may be your problem,

Have you read the mit guide and Digital blues picking guide on here?

A lock picks by finding the binding pin first, this binding pin can be any of the pins in the lock,

To find the binding pin you put a little tension on the plug and gently lift each pin until one of them sticks and only one of them, you alter the tension to make less pins bind or increase it to make them bind, you get them to bind one at a time,

Once youve found the binding pin you set that and then look for the next binding pin and set that,

Locks dont bind in order and they dont bind by size

[Krypos]

about a million. the longeset pin isnt necessarily the first pin to bind. the deep hook is hardly ever useful (IMO) so the short hook is your best bet.

have you followed DBs single pin picking exercise yet? if not then go find that and then come post again after trying that out and lets see where you are.

best of luck.

[Wolfy]

Thanks people, Ill try that.
I have read the guide's.
very helpfull.A few pics and the third pin thats giving me trouble.
[IMG]
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k23/c ... 190061.jpg
[/IMG]

[Deathadder]

the deep hook is hardly ever useful.

pfft, i use the deep hook all the time. for ex. i have a 5 pin padlock and it has a real deep cut next to a real shallow cut, and the shallow one is a spool pin, so if i try to set it with the short hook it oversets the deep one. i think it is about my 3rd most used pick actually...however it doesnt work for most of the farther back pins...

[Wolfy]

GOT IT
The bloody thing was jamed.
Gave it a knock and it came free.

[sturmgrenadier]

Hey folks. Forums/website like LP101 are truly awesome as far as being a resource for the motivated enthusiast (even beginners) to find information/receive guidance on picking up the skills of the hobby. That being said, it is still not suited to helping people who just aren't grasping the intricacies of feeling, feedback and the mysterious (for me) 'binding' pin phenomenon. Maybe someday, (not holding ym breath), technology wwill advance to the point where an instructor, more knolwedgable picker can see and feel what a struggling pupil is sensing and failing to grasp. Distance reenacted, hologram projection, etc.... I know I sound like a broken record creaking when it spins past that annoying two inch scratch radiating out form the center, but: When I lever pin(s), I can sometimes feel them being impeded/resisted, but the feeling is identical(I cannot distinguish any difference). With the Master lock no.1, I can open it with some regularity but can't detect when pins 'bind' or 'set' until the cylinder starts to rotate and I know all I have to do is turn more andthe shackle will pop open. From what experienced pickers have told me, I'm just squeaking by because these padlocks are cheap and poorly constructed with wide tolerances for the necessary, proper torque applied and allow for more than one pin to be be raised at a time. I really think that all that can be said has been said by more experienced pickers so I'm not really asking for help this time. AS I've stated before in other threads, I truly do believe that some people are more blessed with sensory sensitivity and differentiation. This is a harsh reality for me; it's a lot like realizing that as a boxer, try and try as hard as I can, but I cannot 'learn' to have a better chin (One either has one or doesn't. But I can learn to throw a good LEFT HOOK with a lot of practice). Just a commentary (and a not very relevant one I suspect to the average picker).

[Gundanium]

practice, questions won't really help you in this situation, I mean, lots of practice is substitue to nothing pretty much, unless of course you're practicing the wrong way, but if it works, it's not wrong practice.
Holes in the lock if you're looking down at the top of a removed lock are not drilled perfect so they bind in different orders, but a good tip kinda to look for is, the hardest one to push up (if it isn't already set) is the one being caught between the plug and the housing.
l
l
l
l
l

pretend those L's are the holes drilled in the lock, that may help your mental perception a little.

[Gundanium]

I totally didn't think that would work, haha they came out in a straight line, here!

.o
o
..o
o
.o

Theres a line up made of Os

[sturmgrenadier]

Thanks for the visual and the perspective. I think what you said about 'the pin that is the hardest to lift is the binding pin' is the real 'rub' of it. One has to be able to distinguish between the (apparently) very minute difference in the amount of pressure/resistance being exerted by the pins, respectively. I don't know if this can be learned, but I haven't given up yet and will keep trying. I lever slowly, I've tried levering firmly and in one motion, but never really feels different. Is the binding feeling something (to you) VERY distinct as in you notice it every time if you are paying attetion and free of distractions/background noise? Or even i you are focusing, do you someitmes miss it and have to repeat until you sense it?

Alaska, eh? I spent two two falls and a spring up there, before retreating southwards. Climate wasn't really bad/a major reason why I left; I lived in Nome and Anchorage areas. In fact, many of my friends in Rapid City were surprised to learn that our climate here is nearly identical to that of Anchorage: windy, almost the same average December and June temperatures, not as much snow as an outsider might think, etc. Even up near Nome, I don't remember frozen locks having been any more of a problem. At any rate, greetings.

[Gundanium]

Yeah nome is pretty good visualization of what people think alaska is, so is anchorage kinda, i'm in southeast alaska, it's a lot like washington weather here, almost the same, cept better wildlife where I am, outdoorsy stuff. Barrow, that's the suckass place to live.