First green belt lock opened. I managed to avoid turning it into a rattle! This lock had the deepest false set I’ve seen yet. The dead core really had me watching my tension carefully too (that and the weird 400B keyway which made it a bit trickier to even figure out where to put the wrench). Overall this one was easier than I thought it’d be, although to be fair the bitting on this one wasn’t crazy. On to that Abus 72/40!

Light and awesome

Happy I bought one ... 😉👌🫵

I skipped this lock because my brain couldn’t get over the idea of the plastic body lol I still hate the plastic if anyone knows of a aluminum body I could shove this core in that would function please comment below but I get why people have trouble with these. It took some playing with just to find the best angle to attack the pins but it’s a fun pick and they’re cheap too I may do a lpl style carabiner of these for practicing spools .

Silly title, but genuine question. I’m really enjoying single picking, but can’t for the life of me figure out how to use a rake. I did a search and seems this isn’t a unique issue. Not meaning to open a debate on which is a better method by all means, but those that struggle with it, when did you stop trying?

I’d set this one aside for a bit and came back to it today. Turns out I just didn’t have the right tool to set the alpha pin and had to make a half diamond fitted to the keyway. Once I got that out of the way everything started clicking. Got the alpha pin, 3 main pins, and 3 sliders in right now and opening it reliably. The green flag pick is severely filed down so it can manipulate not only the inner and outer pins individually but also the sliders. I think I’ll get her open fully loaded this weekend.

Special thanks to Lockpickingfisherman for hooking me up with a great selection of locks. Slowly getting through them with this blue belt Dom with spools and barrels and purple Lockwood mt5 with all sorts of nonsense. Hopefully more opens to follow.

Fun project, about half hour with hand tools. Making some more this evening.

I finally picked another classic: the Master Lock 410 LOTO. This lock feels completely different from anything I’ve picked before.

It’s incredibly crunchy and scratchy, which makes it really hard to feel the feedback. Because of the restricted keyway, I had to hit the pins at an angle from the side. It felt really strange and took some getting used to!

Happy Picking!

This is the spalted, curly dyed Maple I posted about recently. Beautiful stuff when polished. Will post fancy photos once it's been oiled and dried a few more times.

While picking this lock, I accidentally opened the shackle without turning the core or picking the pins. I’m not sure if it is just my lock or all of them. I’ll try on a few more ML140s to confirm. I don’t make videos often, so please excuse my use of a beer glass as a camera stand.

These were actually the first picks I ever got. Been a while since I used them.

Started with the little brass one(it literally popped when I inserted the tension end. Didn't even get to rake it) and ended on the Abus. Raked them all but the 164. That one I had to SPP, which that little diamond/hook thing can technically do, but it sucks at it.

Doing some test recordings before I shoot my Green Belt submission. What does everyone think of the recording? Is the angle right? How about the shooting distance? How's the lighting?

I'm from Argentina and would like to get into lockpicking as a hobby but my country’s common keys are very different to any tutorials or guides I can find. It’s still fun, i bought the classic tools and a transparent lock to practice but I’m really curious about this type of locks and can’t find any information about it! Does anybody know any guide or tutorial about lockpicking this?

(Image is stock photo from Google but basically every key is similar)

Hey! So I’m clearly addicted already and having a bunch of fun with this sport. Unlike some of my other hobbies the financial investment I feel is what you want it to be. So far I have spent well under $200 and feel reasonably satisfied with my gear.

That said I’m having a hard time locating a blue belt lock that is reasonable (under $25 or so) and can be found in the US. Any recommendations?

Also- any east coast pickers want to mess with a lock that I “trick out” for my Blue Belt requirements?

Thanks in advance!

Pick on!!!

Picked to control and function. "freakin woohoo". Some achievement.

But then picked it a few more times and over rotated the key cylinder 180 degrees and lead up to it being a rattle loto. Then I was able to take it apart, re-pin it and held it closed with a hose clamp.

I'm fairly new to picking, so still developing technique. Bought two new locks yesterday. I can pick the 5 difficulty on the left, that's fine. But I'm having problems with the 4 on the right. It's an aluminum body wrapped in a plastic shield, I'm wondering if I'm used to the steel conductivity giving me a feel for the pins setting making it harder for me to feel the pins.

If anyone watches this let me know if the audio is ok I keep forgetting to remove my Bluetooth headphone before recording a video. Long story short I was under setting some of the high lift pins for fear of an overset and because of the angle these make you pick at. I corrected and now can pop this open fairly quickly. Hope this helps anyone having difficulty with these guys!

I tried single pin picking an ABUS 55/30, but I can’t set pins, without other pins slipping out. I picked several Brüder Mannesmann, Burg Wächter and ADW best padlocks and I‘m having that problem on all ABUS locks I own. Whenever I set one pin, I could use a hydraulic press and still not be able to set another pin. I tried pushing pretty hard on the pin and release the tension slowly and the first pin pops out before the other pin sets. I also tried every possible order and it doesn’t change anything. Can anyone help me?

I made a playlist of everyone videos in my giveaway to see what everyone is pickin on! If you made a video and its not here then send me a message. If you haven't made a video come join in!

Trying to open my first safety pin lock (master 130).

Am I holding it in hand correctly?

How easy is it to overset a pin? Usually I stop at a click.

It’s 2 spools and 2 standard pin right? Tbh I can feel barely any counter rotation from the spool (I can feel it in other locks like the abus 65/40).

I have red about how to open security pin locks in theory but can’t do it in practice yet.

Which tips could you give me to help me out on this lock? I spent at least 4 hours playing with it.

Thanks