Tension wrench position

[brianheagney]

Hi all,
I suppose it's obvious that I'm very new to lockpicking (2 months?).

I ordered the Sparrows Lock Picks Night School set to learn from, and so far it's been an okay experience. I was very very stuck for a while.

Long story short, I decided to use a tension wrench position that I had specifically heard NOT to do (from some youtube tutorials) and it turns out thats the only way I am able to actually pick these locks consistently.

I suppose my question is: Is this actually not a proper way to hold the tension wrench? Does it matter? I saw videos that suggested this could lock up the barrel somehow. But again, it's the only way that works for me so far. If the wrench is vertical, there is absolutely not enough room to maneuver around to pick.

Thanks for any thoughts.

[demux]

What you've pictured there is called bottom of the keyway tension. There's nothing wrong with that if it works for you (actually, my opinion is there's really no such thing as incorrect tensioning if you're getting opens with it). The bit about locking up the plug applies if you spin the plug 180 degrees from its normally locked position and the driver pins drop into the bottom of the keyway slot. This has nothing to do with how you tension the lock and everything to do with how far you spin it after it's picked. If you're going to spin it more than 180 degrees, make sure you have something in the bottom of the keyway that goes all the way to the back to hold the drivers (and any master pins) up inside the bible. Hint: a tension wrench is probably not long enough, no matter how you place it.

[Kaesekopf]

This tension wrench position has an advantage with Schlage C keyways, in that the wrench becomes a platform for your pick, I find it helpful. But you obviously need the right sized tensioner

[Midnight Philopicker]

the way you have it there should be fine, but what you are talking about is when you end up prying the core apart rather then tension the core with rotational force. It can happen if the warding makes the tensioner bind up against the housing