New to Picking - What type of locks should I start on?

[MBI]

I am relatively new to Lock Picking but I have studied the MIT Lock Guide and I have a good theory of pin tumbler locks. I have also purchase and recieved the 22 piece Southord C2010 Pick Set, the only problem is what type of pin tumbler locks should I start on? Please Help!!!

[Olson Burry]

Cheap ones.

[MacGnG1]

kwikset double deadbolt to start.

[barbarian]

Yep cheap ones...

Try to look around and see what is available near where you live. Look at discount stores, walmart and places like that. Maybe even used locks from a recycling place or yard sale. Depends on what is near you. Try to get a deadbolt to start with, rather than a padlock. It's better because you can take it apart and learn about locks. Plus you can start with two pins and move up from there.

Pretty much any questions you have are already answered in the stickies at the top of each section. Lots of fun just browsing through them. Plus you pick up extra info and not just the answer you wanted...Bonus.

Resist the temptation to pick a lock that is being used. You can damage it so easily. So just don't do it.

[phippoD]

hello welcome to the site

id say anythink you can get your hands on realy which would be cheap ones probably or if you r like me and stingy about buying a lock look at old doors and you might score a free lock that way

[nostromo]

Flea markets are good sources to buy old keys and locks.
But even CHEAPER is going to your freindly neighborhood junk yard, the kind where you can wander around.
Pick up a pile of windsheild wiper inserts, practice your picking on a whole bunch of different locks (trunks, doors, golve boxes), and on doors that already have the inside trim ripped out, you can easily remove the lock itself.

I took one of my students (I teach a Non Destructive Entry course for Law Enforcement) out to a U-Pull-It yard today for some one on one car entry practice, and he was able to pick up quite a few pieces and parts for a few bucks. We actually found a couple of cylinders on the ground where people had pulled a trunk lock or disassembled a door.

Scrounging in the cars we also found am Abus Discus padlock (no key), a chrome wire Multiple Care Opening Tool and unbeleivably, a display stand with three new-condition lever locks! The guy charged us five bucks for the lot. Wa-HOO!

[mr_chris79]

any pictures of the lever locks please Nostromo?

[blade_runner]

I'm not sure where you're from, but I started picking on cheap five-pin locks I'd removed from door handles and dead bolts. You can learn to re-pin (see this thread Repinning) on these and you can remove all the pins except one and slowly increase the difficulty of your lock. There's a sticky thread on that somewhere too. I also like hardware store brand padlocks. They're a little cheaper than the master or similar name brands, but the quality is the same (or sometimes better) and they're likewise easy to pick. Again, you can start on the smaller three pin locks and then work on five pin locks.

Finally, go anywhere where there are lockers that you can put your own lock on (gyms, pools, etc) and ask them if they keep the locks they cut off, or if they'll start for you. These places inevitably have a policy that runs something like, "If you leave it locked over night, we're cutting off your lock and keeping your stuff." Tell them, you want to melt down the brass for sculptures or some such lie if they're reluctant to give them to you.

[WDPaladin]

Definitely start with a deadbolt. Around here, they're around 5 bucks for a Kwikset, and you can repin them in a variety of ways which makes it like a couple of locks in one depending on the pin variety you get. Welcome!

[apb]

Habitat for Humanity Restore

[5thcorps]

As a beginner definately only start with stuff that is available locally. If you start out with kwikset than invest in a small repinning kit so you can change it around. Then practice with that one lock for months or until you can open it with any bitting. Then move on to a schlage.