*LIGHT* tension

[vector40]

Folks,

I had a thought (!) that I wanted to share... but first, an intro.

The use of light, light tension -- as light as possible as a general rule -- is almost axiomatic in lock picking. Why?

I do have a point, but humor me here, see if you can give an answer.

[Grudge]

I think there are a couple of reasons the 'light tension' manta is chanted so often:

1) Newbies sometimes over-torque, which binds the pins and they can't get anywhere.

2) In higher security locks (spools, mushrooms, etc.) a light touch is often required to open it. Heavy torque covers up the feedback you need to 'feel out' the shape of the security driver.

However, when I was just starting out, I got bit by the 'light tension' dogma. All I had was a few padlocks and I didn't realize you had to overcome the cylinder spring before you can put turning pressure on the pins. So I couldn't get the pins to set .

[Shrub]

Yes, as said, it is a common problem that newbies put too much tension on when first starting out, myself i went the other way as all i kept hearing is to not have heavy tension so i never put enough on!

I was involved in a thread a while ago on trying to set a standard to suggest for newbies and i think the best we came up with at that time was to have a tension wrench of commercial dimensions (not one 3 foot long) and use an elastic band on the end to actually put the tension on,

You can always get one of the automatic tensioners if having problems,

So wahts your idea vec?

[raimundo]

NO dark tension, you nubies

[helix]

If you need light tension, you say to a new guy,
"EXTREMELY, VERY, MINUTLY, SLIGHT tension!!"

This you do, knowing that you just need a little tension, in the same way
that you tell someone to be 'really, really quiet' knowing that they WILL
make a noise, but not so loud as to exceed your Db limits.

If you ask someone for a hundred dollars, they will only have fifty.
So you ask that same person for two hundred, and they only have a hundred.
Great! That's what you need.

If the speed limit is 60, it is because it is safe to drive 80 but no more.
Now if we just wrote 80 on the sign, people would go 81. On a road
that is '80 but no more', 81 is not safe!

At the end of the day, I guess that when you ask someone to do a
perfect job of something, you'll get a good job done, which is what you
wanted anyway and if you just came out and said, "I want a good job
done" you'd get only an ok one. Not what you were after.

Does it boil down, that the average person is so lazy, that we change the
way we make our rules, ask for favours, communicate and decide how much effort something needs?

I think so.

We're accustomed to asking for awesome things, expecting just something good.

[Grudge]

NO dark tension, you nubies

Yes, Luke, don't succumb to the dark side of the torque. (sorry couldn't resist).

[pick_maker]

yes, too much dark torquing and you'll go blind. anyway

I have an Abus 90/50 padlock and the interesting thing about it is it has no cylinder spring and also the mushroom pins. I tried different types of picks and pin tactics- NADA. Everything but my tension technique.

Then I realized it was the only padlock in my collection without a cylinder spring and I had been applying the wrong methods so tension was the aspect to be explored. This lock made me understand what litght tension means. Rake, rake, rake with a breath of tension and increased downward raking and it opened. The pick turned out to be a false key, I discovered, and that probably helped a bit.

[Grudge]

The besides the ABUS diskus lock, the Master Titanium series also don't have a spring. Handy for picking because they have more of a deadbolt 'feel' without the bulk. Anyway... Vector this thead is about to wander off into Thermite and Mazola, what is your point?

[Shrub]

And dont forget that if you push on the end of the wrench it will produce a lot more tension if you was to insert the same force on the end closest to the lock.

[fugi]

it's not that you need light tension to pick, it's that you need minimum tension. light tension implies that you exert very little force, minimum tension means that you use what you need to make the pins bind and no more. light may be minimum, and when finding minimum you always start at light.

[vector40]

Point, point, point... ah yes, I did have one.

Isn't it true that using less rather than more tension is essentially done just to make it easier to lift the pins?

Isn't that the whole deal? And yeah, I'm talking about single-pin picking. If you put too much torque on, it'll be a bear to get the pins to move at all, but when you DO (which you will, unless it's REALLY too much and you bend your pick or something), it'll pick just fine and normally -- in fact, somewhat easier, perhaps, because the feedback will be as obvious as a dancing panda.

You may flex the plug and bind more pins than you oughter, given enough torque, but there's nothing wrong with that, is there?

Eh? Eh?

I'm just wondering if light-as-possible tension isn't one good technique, but no more or less valid than others.

[Grudge]

The Brinks re-keyable padlock (the one you can repin to your house key, not the shielded shackle) has a cylinder spring in it that could slam a screen door shut, so you *have* to use a lot of tension. And even though it has spools, it has terrible tolerances. Soooo I can get by cranking up the tension until you can actually hear the pins 'ping' when they reach shearline (not kidding). But you can't try that on a decent lock (which at my skill level is a American or Brinks shielded shackle).

That has nothing to do with the ease of lifting the pins. Their serrated pins and spool/mushroom drivers REQUIRE a soft touch otherwise the serrations will grind into the shearline or the spool will hopelessly tangle up. Fugi was dead-on when he called for using the 'minimal tension' to pick a lock. You might get by on some without tension troubles, but learning to lighten was critical in my progress. At least that is my 2 cents on the subject.

[vector40]

Bah, forget security pins. Newbies learning the "rules" won't be messing with them anyway.

[pick_maker]

minimum tension- isn't that derived by trial and error?

If I never picked the lock ever how do I know what minimum is?

[Grudge]

minimum tension- isn't that derived by trial and error?

If I never picked the lock ever how do I know what minimum is?

That is only partially true, you need to apply increasing tension until the most bound pin sets. Then you use that pressure as a starting point for picking the lock (you may have to increase or even lower the tension for later pins). However getting used to the feel of pins setting takes practice. Regulating the tension (it is easy to drift and pretty soon you are way over, if you are like me) also takes practice. So, it basically boils down to experience and practice.

Why should a newbie care? Well because you will get stuck at a certain level unless you learn good tension tool technique. At least that has been my experience. I just couldn't get locks like the Brinks shielded shackle without learning more about tension.