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Help Getting Started

Picked all the easy locks and want to step up your game? Further your lock picking techniques, exchange pro tips, videos, lessons, and develop your skills here.

Help Getting Started

Postby Shadowx » 5 Jul 2005 16:17

I have never really picked a lock before and want to know if anyone here could teach me the basics. I am starting on a cheap screen door lock I think it is a Kwikset or whatever and I think it has 3 or 4 pins. I would appreciate it if some one could tell me what to use to pick the lock because I don't have a picking kit and also how to make simple picks if I need to(Am I wrong to assume you can use things like knives and small nails/ needles to pick locks). Thank you for your time and yes I am new here.
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Postby Grudge » 5 Jul 2005 16:34

Shadowx, don't expect a one-on-one tutorial in picking locks. LP101ers all have busy lives (if nothing else, busy picking locks :wink: ). Go to the section title Lockpicking101 FAQs and General Information. There is everything in there you need to get started. Then learn how to use the SEARCH button (or get the Google toolbar and do a 'site search'). You won't get much help until you start asking questions about what you have learned from those places.
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Postby Shadowx » 5 Jul 2005 16:53

Ok well I just read the basics so I want to know how do you know when you have set a pin? Is the slight turn of the plug all that gives it away. Also will scrubbing work on most locks such as my front door?
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Postby CobraOne » 5 Jul 2005 16:53

Shadowx,

No problem bro I will help you, Sometimes some of us forget how it was when we started picking.

To anwser a few of your questions....

Yes, you can make your own picking tools, I myself have made a pick out of a old hacksaw blade.
And yes you can pick that little lock with a needle, just takes more time in doing it.

But in all fairness just look over some of the posts made here and you can pick up a few tricks here and there.

Good luck and have fun picking......
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Postby Shrub » 6 Jul 2005 6:47

Stay away from all the paperclip, needle etc suggestions as its a waste of time for you to start learning the feel of proper tools again when you realise they are worthless,

Search for and read the how stuff works site and then the MIT guide then move on to the article Matt Blaze has on his website (linked on here somewhere),

After reading them any questions you have will have already been answered so just type the question in the search bar and see what comes up, if 10000 threads come up then just knock the non descriptive words out of the search and try again, with various combinations you will find the answers you require.
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Postby geno » 7 Jul 2005 0:11

Practice on unimportant locks. You'll face that wratch of your mother or wife if you folly up the front door lock. :wink:
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Postby Grudge » 7 Jul 2005 6:09

Shadowx wrote:Ok well I just read the basics so I want to know how do you know when you have set a pin? Is the slight turn of the plug all that gives it away. Also will scrubbing work on most locks such as my front door?

Sometimes you can actually feel the plug turn, other times you just feel a slight 'click' from the pick as the pin is lifted into place. Once a pin is set, you won't be able to feel the spring push the pin down any more (to me it feels 'loose', that is, it slides up and down freely when moved by the pick).

Scrubbing, or raking, does work on a lot of simple locks. Without knowing anything about your door lock, I can't say how likely it is (also sometimes even an 'easy' lock won't rake open, no two locks are alike).

If you haven't found it already, Google for the MIT guide it has a lot better description of all of this than I just wrote. Also, just like the other posters said, getting a practice lock is a good thing, it makes long picking sessions a lot easier. Plus, when I was first starting, I was trying my back door lock and the core pop right out of the knob, scared me to half to death, but it popped right back in :oops:. I doubt that would happen to you, but it is a lot better to use a lock you don't actually depend on.

It sounds like you are off to a good start. Keep reading and practicing! :D
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Postby rayman452 » 7 Jul 2005 11:00

look for MCM on these forums. Its MCM alongw tih soem numbers, but he offers some excellent advice for newcommers. I highly recomend him.
Dudley Cracking Team Initiator And Leader
ke ke, now Im special...
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Postby Shadowx » 7 Jul 2005 14:28

Thank you all for your help, how long does it usually take to pick say a standars front door lock with 4 pins? Also how long should I expect it to take for me to learn how to pick a lock like this consistantly. Also I love cobras and snakes.
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Postby sublime progie » 7 Jul 2005 17:27

i would suggest reading the MIT guide. look for it on google. Also if you want to make your own picks i would search this forum for pyros videos. when you search make sure to use the basic code AND to only pull up the posts that have all of the words you are looking for. As for my preference i buy my picks and i have been happy with everything i have bought. start basic as you will only usually use a few different picks to pick most locks. i started with the 5 piece set from southord.com. the one that comes with the little book. The best advice from i am sure anyone here is just to practice. practice. I personally like practicing on padlocks because of their portability, but that has the downside that you dont get the same position as you normally would if you had to pick something. Welcome to the forum
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