Just Got Into Picking - Need Some Help

[roboman]

Howdy y'all. Be gentle with me 'cause I'm a newbie to lockpicking. One night I felt like getting into it so I went onto Southern Ordnance and bought a pick set and a practice set of locks.

The practice set comes with five locks. Each one having a different number of tumblers. The easiest has one, the next one up has two, then three, then so on.

Well, truth be told I used a regular half-diamond pick and raked all five locks open within five minutes. I thought it seemed surprisingly easy, so I went out and bought a "Best" brand padlock from Wal-Mart. I've been fussing with the thing for quite some time now and have yet to get it open! I know the rule of thumb is practice practice practice, but how can I if all picking seems to be doing is pressing, twisting, pushing, and pulling?

Can anyone give me some advice? The five starter locks were very simple and now I can't get anything else open!

[Exodus5000]

Picking Southord practice locks and then trying to pick a Best brand lock is kind of like beating kindergardeners in basketball and then trying to beat the Detroit Pistons.

Try an easier lock go to wal mart and buy yourself some padlocks from their lock shelf.

[roboman]

The best lock was originally bought at wal-mart to begin with. What brand do you recommend? Good to know I don't just suck at picking though

[digital_blue]

Masters are generally pretty easy and widely available. Just about any lock in the $10-$20 range is a safe bet for a beginner. It's hit and miss though. When I was first starting out I would buy a new lock, hoping for a challenge. Sometimes I got a challenge and sometimes I didn't. Cheap deadbolts are good too because you can remove pins yourself, swap pins around, add security pins, etc.

db

[Sabin37]

Master locks are a good start.

[Sabin37]

You beat me to it digital_blue.

[digital_blue]

I'm like the ninja.

[roboman]

Crap, I just looked closer at the lock and it's actually a "Brinks" lock. Should this make it any easier or harder?

[vector40]

Robo, do you have access to a Dremel or other grinding tool?

[Exodus5000]

Brinks is easier, but it is still not the best choice for you. Look into all things "master" lock.

[Geek142]

Hey roboman

The first ever padlock i picked was a zenith then a master and now i am picking a small lockwood so just start out with easy locks and move up

Cya

[roboman]

I went to Wal-Mart and grabbed a Masterlock. I picked it in about 5 seconds. Holy shit that was easy!

[digital_blue]

Cool, now you can move up in the world. BTW, not all masters will necessarily be that easy. But go for a cheap deadbolt now. These are fun because, as i said, you can make it more challenging once you've defeated it. And if it's too hard, take a pin or two out.

Congrats on your progress!


db

[roboman]

After picking two Masters successfully I went back to the Brinks and got it in a minute or two. I'm going to stick with this level for a while before moving up....

[GateTwelve]

Good God, I'm fairly good at picking (still low on the chain for this site, however), and I still hate opening brinks deadbolts. spool pins. And the two most absent minded, key forgetting friends I have, have brinks. Ah, the world of irony.

I have had better luck with the two bests I bought than the brinks locks, so I would advise you to stay away from them. But that might just be my own personal problem.