Spools make picking easier

[Gordon Airporte]

Is it just me, or is this anyone else's experience? Once you know how to detect a false set and probe for spools, locks with spools are easier.

Compared to the gap between upper and lower pins, the cut-out in the spool offers a much larger target when manipulating the stacks, which gets you a false set. Even in locks with spools in every chamber, I somehow always get at least a couple fully set with the first false set. Once I have a false set, it's rare that the spools will actually do their job and make it impossible to set them without fallout - usually it's just a matter of finding whether to set them back-to-front or front-to-back.

With regular driver pins you have to aim for that tiny gap with each stack, and risk oversetting. It's all much touchier.

[Exodus5000]

Agreed. An example would be a Brinks Shrouded padlock. As soon as you get a false set it's real easy to pick after that.

Truly security pins are designed to defeat novice pickers, once you learn how to detect and set a spooly then thats 99% of the battle.

I talk big, but I'll admit I've been humbled by security pins now and then, I'm speaking in generalities mostly.

[bembel]

I like Abus for that reason.

[LockNewbie21]

Heck yea i thoght that as well, there very predictable when you can read them

Thats my medeco are semi easy ina not so easy kinda way the false notches once oyu get what the feel like binding you can read them.

[Gordon Airporte]

Agreed. An example would be a Brinks Shrouded padlock. As soon as you get a false set it's real easy to pick after that.

Yeah, I would have been able to open mine much earlier if I'd been more careful about checking if the first pinstack had a spool in it.

I talk big, but I'll admit I've been humbled by security pins now and then, I'm speaking in generalities mostly.

My brass Brinks padlock is the only one I can think of where the spools consistently cause problems. It looks like American locks are one of the few to really increase security with simple pin alteration (as opposed to more involved high-security mechanisms). I wonder why serrated key and upper pins aren't more prevalent.

[f0ku5]

Also spools can cause major problems on heavily warded locks (e.g. Gege or Evva). You have to be very careful to be able to push them all the way down (or... up cough) while at the same time following the warding with the pick. Often all other pins unset during this.

[mrdan]

I would have to say that the brinks shouded was a nice training ground for me because once I learned what to feel for (false set) and how to proceed, I have found a whole new world of picking that I couldn't get before. This lock also taught me the art of S.P.P. I used to rake or jiggle and that worked until I was confronted with spools. Now I too find it to be a fun thing when I find security pins.

[11mike11]

Im working on an American lock 1105 and i seem to just keep getting it to false set, I cant seem to find which pin(s) have a spool. It's actually driving me kinda crazy So for now spools make it harder to pick for me

[subnoizchild024]

yea i have a american lock series 50 that has been driving me crazy for a while now and i still cant open it.

[RangerF150]

Yeah I got a Euro profile lock with five pins, four of which are spools.
It's about the easiest lock I have to open!! Only problem is sometimes I go round in circles as the spools drop out, but even then its not a real problem.
I still open it in seconds, I use it as a confidence builder when I have a bad night and can't pick nothing !

[Eyes_Only]

Try mixing serrated pins along with the spools. You'll get the hang of it after a while and the serrated pins are just as easy as a spool to identify and set but it can be frustrating at times if combined together in a higher tolerance cylinder like a schlage.

[Deathadder]

I do agree, to some extent. While spools make it easier to SPP, I am not so good at raking them open. With regular pins, I can rake open lock that is unknown to me in about 30 seconds, with security pins, I try raking, only to find out that it has security pins in it, then I have to tell which ones are spool, and SPP those. I don't know if its just me, or if everyone else is as bad at raking security pins too though .

[raimundo]

The brinks while it shares the keyway of the american does not have the counter tension spring at the back of the plug, this spring is significant in makeing dificulties for the pickers.

[11mike11]

Well I finally got what you were saying about spools making it easier. After taking apart the lock i put in one serrated pin with 2 spools pins so i could get a feel of what the spools feel like and how to set them. After doing that for i bit i could feel what you were saying about the spools making it easier. I put back in the five pins and bam! got it right away

[BobbO45]

I too agree with spool pins being easier to SPP. I think Deathadder is right though, that spools make it harder to rake a lock open. I just found out that the first lock I ever picked had spools in it and that explained a lot. Once I learned to feel for those pins I could open the four pin lock in about the time it took me to say 1..2..3..4, it was great! (That is, after I figured out how to do it. Before I figured it out I was quite frustrated figuring I had a lock with all non security pins)