Setting Pins

[MrAngry]

This is probably a dumb question, but given a specific lock, will the order in which its pin set be constant under normal conditions?

I'm picking a 2-pin lock now, and I don't always take the pins in the same order, I just hit whichever is the most difficult to pick up and it seems to work so...

[MrScruff]

There are no stupid questions, only stupid answers.

If literally every factor you could control was the same each time you picked a lock then yes, the pins would bind in the same order, but reality is like a drunken llama: unpredictable. I find it's best to assume you're going in blind each time, always try to find the order even if you know it.

[Dpruente]

my take on this, is general, yes, if you pick the same lock twice, using the same tension as before, then it will have the same binding order. However, as soon as you start changing tension, things can change, also, when you reverse picking direction, you reverse the binding order theoretically, but due to the nature of the pin holes, this does not always happen. for example, if you have a two pin lock that sets 1-2, and the reason is that the bore for cyl. 1 was cut too big, then it's possible to have the reverse order also be 1-2, not 2-1 like you'd expect. Don't worry so much about binding order, concentrate on feeling each pin and finding the one with the highest coefficient of friction. once you've set that, move on to find the next highest, and so on. the binding order will work itself out if you keep track of it.

[gilduran]

I've got a few locks that "almost" always pick in the same order, or at least start with the same couple of pins. But, there are a few that don't always keep to the same order in which the pins are set. Like Dpruente said, it's best to go in blind, and not over think which order the pins "should" be set in.

...the binding order will work itself out if you keep track of it.

This is probably the hardest thing for me to do. I've tried many, many times, but I almost always get mixed up somewhere in the lock as to which pins are set. Thankfully, if I use a light enough tough, I can generally figure out which pins are already set, and I usually remember which pin I set last.