Picked my first lock! By accident, kind of...

[MoonlightPhantom]

I found this site about a week or two ago, and i was interested in trying lock picking. I'm kind of paranoid about ordering stuff online because I think the UPS guy is gonna look through my mail, so I decided to use the DIY section to try to make a pick for myself. I only had a simple hand file at home, so I took that and a windshield wiper insert and got to work. I made a tension wrench easy and was filing down a hook pick, but it was a really tedious process so I would only do a bit at a time.

Anyways, to the point, I had my half finished pick, which at the time kind of looked more like a rake because of all the little divets I had filed out of it, in my car along with the wrench, when I came back to my apartment today and realized that I had lost my key . I was faced with having to wait for maybe 2 or possibly 3 hours until anyone else would get home, so I decided, what the heck, and went at it.

At first I tried raking, but after about a minute of luck I gave up there. I released the tension a couple times during that attempt and heard pins falling, but I don't know how to tell if they were overset or not. So then I decided to try for single pin picking, and hope that the pick was already made well enough that it would function properly. After about 2 minutes or fumbling with what I figured was the jammed pins, the lock suddenly jumped and I managed to turn it!

Definately not how I had figured I'd pick my first lock, I even have a couple of normal padlocks in my room taht I was planning to start with, but regardless, I've picked my first lock! I don't know what kind it is, it says BHP on the front and it's a simple deadbolt door lock. It was extremely satisfying, especially knowing that it had saved me from being locked out. So anyways, I wanted to thank everyone on this forum for providing me with the knowledge that helped me out. If it wasnt for you guys, I'd still be out in the street right now

[raimundo]

Now go back where you were and find your keys. this whole thing about new pickers losing their keys is some kind of freudian slip that happens. you start picking and start losing your keys on the same day. best to figure out where you lost your keys,
Hint, look in the car seats and under them, also in winter things fall out of your car where you park, swept out by coattails.
Also look in your couch, couches have keys, change, peanuts popcorn, jewelery, all sorts of stuff inthem.

[mtnbkr1]

Now go back where you were and find your keys. this whole thing about new pickers losing their keys is some kind of freudian slip that happens. you start picking and start losing your keys on the same day. best to figure out where you lost your keys,
Hint, look in the car seats and under them, also in winter things fall out of your car where you park, swept out by coattails.
Also look in your couch, couches have keys, change, peanuts popcorn, jewelery, all sorts of stuff inthem.

Happened to me yesterday

[alphadog23tn]

congrats on picking your first lock. i started with a pad lock, and it was complete beginners luck that i managed to open it as fast as i did, but i remember the stunned at myself feeling of having acomplished something i had. just as a tip, (and keep in mind i just joined, so i dont know for sure if someone has a post on here about it already) but the first picks i made were from saw blades cut down with a rotary cutting blade and filed into shape. it worked great! good luck in your endeavors

[mrlocks]

good work, well sometimes by accident we learn lots of things - best wishes for all your future endeavors

[digital_break]

Wow! Really nice... indeed. My first successful unlock was also by accident. I practiced like 6 months with no luck at all(not EVERY single day but 3-4 times weekly). The first 2 pins I was seeing and feeling fall correctly into place but the remaining 3 were hard. I figured my pick didn't reach the last pin or if it did, it probably messed up the first few. So I made different types of picks and kept on failing. I knew 5 pins were WAY too much for a beginner but still I kept on trying. So one day I got a 4 pin lock... didnt manage to open it too for a while though... but after a week I got frustrated after setting a few pins and still not being able to open it. So I went on a berserk at the pins... I wanted to break my pick in the lock and be trough with it. I wiggled not only back and forth but up and down, even tilted the pick a little AND OMG the tension wrench moved. Happy with my success I tried again... failed, tried to remain calm and failed again... so I went crazy on the lock again and this time I succeeded... at breaking my pick! Made a new almost like it... still wasnt able to open it again. Probably I month later I managed to open it (might be less). And shortly after the periods were even smaller untill I reached the point where I could open it every day... not from the first try but still. So kudos to you MoonlightPhantom for succeeding so early. I guess I just sucked at picking