Art of Lock Picking

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Improvised Lock Picking

Picking a Lock Without a Tension Wrench

Discover lock picking without a tension wrench: create DIY tools, understand tension mechanics, and develop skills with alternative techniques.

How to Bump a Lock: The Beginner's Guide

In this lock bumping guide, we are going to learn how to bump a lock using a bump key. With this lock picking technique we can quickly open the majority of pin tumbler locks within seconds.

What is Lock Bumping: A Detailed Introduction

Lock bumping, also known as key bumping, is a lock picking technique that uses a modified key called a “bump key” to quickly and easily unlock a pin tumbler lock. In this guide, we’re going to tear it all down to the nitty-gritties and look at how bump keys work and how they open locks.

An Introduction to Paracentric Keyways

In this guide, we'll define exactly what a paracentric keyway is, study some examples to drive the concept home, and then look at two lock picking techniques that will help you defeat your next paracentric keyway!

How to Pick a Master Lock

In this guide, you'll learn the basics of lock picking and how to pick a Master Lock, as well as a few other methods that don't require lock picking tools!

Which Way Do You Turn the Lock?

When we are approaching a new lock what direction do we turn the lock? Do we turn them clockwise or counter-clockwise? Let's find out!

The Lock Picker's Plague: Oversetting and Undersetting Pins

Oversetting and undersetting pins occur when a pin is lifted to a specific position that can fool a picker into believing that the pin is set when it’s actually not. But good news! With a little knowledge of identifying, fixing, and even preventing these little predicaments, your sanity will be safe.

3 Powerful Lock Picking Training Exercises

Just like a professional fighter who refines the smaller parts of their craft—such as breathing or footwork—we too can train our fundamentals. The purpose of this guide and these lock picking training exercises is to isolate and refine areas in which many new lock pickers struggle.

4 Ways Lock Picking Can Damage Your Lock

There are many ways in which lock picking can permanently damage a lock. Several common ways include breaking the springs, eroding away internal components, or even breaking your pick in the keyway. For these reasons, and more, you should never pick a lock that is currently in use.

How to Pick Small Locks & Tiny Keyways

Struggling to make it fit? Whether it is a small padlock or a tiny keyway, this guide will help you fit and maneuver your tools within the tiniest of spaces!

An Introduction to Security Pins - Lock Picking

Security Pins: A Beginner's Guide

Security pins disrupt the feedback that we have come to know and understand, but also provide us with some additional types of feedback that not only SCREAM to us that they are security pins, but also guide us in easily picking them. Ironically enough, once you understand these crafty little pins, they can actually make a lock very easy to pick.

What Is Binding Order? The First Step of Lock Picking

Finding the binding order is one of the first steps to picking a pin-tumbler lock. But what is binding order and how do we determine it? Let's take a closer look!

Jgor's advice on how to get better at single pin picking.

Improving Your Single Pin Picking Skills - By Jgor

Want to learn how the North American Lock Picking Champion Jgor, got good at single pin picking. Check out this guide on his advice on getting better at single pin picking!

What is Lock Picking? The Good, the Bad, and the Not So Ugly

The art of lock picking is no exception. It is a craft that seemly everyone wishes to venture in, but at first glance are discouraged by the fog of mystery and vagueness surrounding it. So let’s lift the veil and look at lock picking in its purest form —unhindered by bias and mystery — so that we may take our first confident step forward in this exceptional journey that is lock picking!

What is Light and Heavy Tension - Lock Picking

Light vs. Heavy Tension: Benefits & Best Uses

So let's cover the characteristics of light and heavy tension, I feel it will give you a new foundation, a new paradigm, that will perhaps change the way you think about tension forever.

This Pick, That Pick - Types of Lock Picks Guide

Types of Lock Picks: The Overkill Guide

What is the purpose of this squiggly pick or that squiggly pick? Is there a big difference between this pointy hook and that flat hook? What are the best lock picks? But, most importantly, should you invest your hard-earned cash into all these different types of lock picks, and will they benefit your ability to open locks and progress your lock picking skill?Let's tackle all of these questions and then go into the primary purpose of many of these different types of lock picks -- their strengths, shortcomings, and when to best utilize them!

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Pin tumbler locks make up about 90% of the locks used in the world today. Because of this, learning how to pick these locks is one of the most crucial and important skills to develop while learning lock picking.

However, even though they are the most used type of lock in the world, they are also one of the easiest locks to learn how to pick.

The fundamental skills that you learn while picking pin tumblers will give you a strong foundation and understanding of lock picking that will easily transfer over to other types of locks!

Essentially, if you learn to pick the pin tumbler, you can easily learn to pick any lock!

This archive is dedicated to all of our guides, articles, techniques, tips, and tricks on everything about picking the pin tumbler lock!

If you are just getting started in lock picking, consider checking out our beginner’s guide on how to pick a lock!