Top 10 Reasons Why You Can’t Pick a Lock

This is my Top 10 reasons why you can’t pick a lock. Did I miss any? Let me know in the comments! 👍😃😃

thank you, i live very far up north and our keys break a lot

Having a REAL issue with a Papaiz CR40 at the moment. The irritating thing is, I've picked it before about half a dozen times and I just can't get it to pop, been at it for 3 days! I'm varying the tension, I've tried all manner of tools and tension wrenches, tried it in a vice and out of a vice, and still getting nowhere (I think its probably an overset, but I don't know). The one thing I haven't tried is a monkey's paw, but I don't have one. Any ideas? I've gotten a bit obsessed, so I'm going to stay away from it for a bit I think, lol.

@mcnallyoffcial

My first attempt was a failure

I rake a lot of locks. Most of the time the locks i have to pick are cabinets that my tools are locked in at a job. They are cheap wafer locks? I don't know really.

that last reason is not about lock picking ! that is a piece of invaluable advice that can be applied in many different aspects of life.. so many times it go at something and your fighting itvand its frustrating.. reconize that, walk away and come back later. give your brain a reset.. when you come back youll finish the task plus it might even feel like it was almost effortless

Number one reason im not picking that lock?

I have no locks or tools to do so....

This guy is awesome 👌 he knows his stuff no doubt I was glued to my seat listening to him. I just starting learning lockpicking. It's been a challenge and so much fun. Can't wait to learn more. Love these videos

#8 definitely bit me with a Masterlock 140. I've also hit #10 & 11 before!

R*

Also because you don’t know how to feel the pins…

.

How can I know in wich I have to aply the turning force because It seams like its different on every lock

absolute begginer here, a friend brought a lock and some paper clips (can't buy picks in brazil) to school and thaught me the basics, was able to pick my first lock but another friend brought some diary locks that i just cant get open. After watching this i think its a mix of wrong tools (not much i can do about that hahaha), tension (I'm still struggling with that, need more practice) and just a lack of skill as i still cant quite tell where the pins are, which are binding, if i set them or not, etc. This definitely helps a lot, i will open that lock!

Edit: oh, it also has a very small keyway, which combined with the wrong tools is a big problem. I'll figure it out though! A few friends were able to open it so im sure its possible :)

its 1 am and ive just seen the bonus reason. maybe its right

Great tutorial! What is the model of that big, ugly multilock in between the two smaller locks?... i love it! I'm new to lock picking and am quickly getting the hang of picking standard pinned locks, but am losing my mind on a master lock 2240. According to lock wiki, this lock has spools in it, which makes sense bc i often fall into false sets. It also can't be gutted, has a spring tensioned core, and has extreme bitting as with your orange lock. I accidentally picked it once, but don't know how i did it and it's driving me crazy. I'll use your advice and have at it again with a deeper hook after i practice on a mortoise cylinder loaded with spools. Thank you sir

I bought a lock pick set, watched one video, and was able to break into my own house in less than 30 sec. That was a huge eye opener for me on how easy it was for that type of lock. But if i hadn't watched videos like this, id have been at the door for hours.

At what point do you give up and get the angle grinder out?

I have managed to pick some (crap) rusty ones in a few seconds but some at 10 minutes.

Would 10 minutes be enough to just say.... nuts to it bbbbbrrrrrrrrrrrrrrtt pop.

WOW. THANK YOU,

My lock mouth is rotating i can't keep it steady

Bought myself a pratice lock set, the pad lock while the key it comes does make it open, using every picking tool made me question a lot. After watching your video and others using every technique I seen and heard it just wont turn, the binding is just odd. just a quick rake of all the quick strikes & leveling the pins either get stuck or they're loose. Using the prying tool too much will cause them to get stuck plus strain your palms muscles, not enough wont bind any. The only feel and clicks i get are pins going all the way through or not binding (no sweet spot), moving slowly doesn't fix the issue either.
However Pin 1,2,5,& 6 are the only issues ; pin 6 is the starting point lifting until you feel a blockage, too much pressure will push the core pin all the way, doing it slowly will sometimes look like it levels but the moment you lower your pick the pin just drops. When it does sit still at level two things happened, 5,1,&2 core pins will be pushed too much from the neck of the pick or all other pins except 6 will just be loosed, no bindings.
It's a cheap padlock anyway so i believe it's best assume the pratice lock is busted. The others locks from the set work fine.

Question. I've just bought a basic pick set from Sparrows. I notice that the z wrenches have a long side and a short side. Is the short side for top of the key way picking? I can't think of another use for it.

Just how do I know the right tension?!
Not even getting the practice one open.
Although I got a wide variety of locks open, by luck I guess?

Omg I didn't even know what warding was.. I was trying to pick it. Once I figured it out it was easy. Thanks!

10th point:
I had a similar issue with an Abus 85/50
Raked it and got a 90° turn but the damn thing wont open...
After 20 succsesfull turns and almost destroying the warding with my tension wrench I realized that the shackle just needed a little push to open
The shackle just rusted to the lock body...😂

I have been learning the art, every day for 60 days since I retired as a precision engineer, mainly from you tube videos.
For me , I made the break through when I used little tension.
Also the city rake became my “go to pick” . It’s so satisfying when you hear that “crunch” sound and you know , only one pin to go.
Always use a loose worn lock to learn on, never learn on a tight rusted up solid lock.

Excellent video. I always learn new things from your videos. Thank you.

Been trying to open a Masterlock No. 3 for an hour now, with a paper clip tension tool and a bobby pin bent to work as my hook. Let me tell you, maybe trying a real lock on my first go is a bit much. But I’ve tried various levels of tension but I can’t get the pins to set, they just pop back down.

I’ll probably buy a practice lock before I lose my sanity.

I think, in your explanation of the last two items, you could have told the story/myth of Hodini and the jail pick.

"Or youre just a fool"

I got my lock pick set from covert instrument and it's been a pretty terrible experience trying to learn how to pick a schlage or kwikset lock. Can't even most of the time get the pick more than halfway into the core before it's snagged up on one of the damn pins. The hardest part about lock-picking is knowing what this so-called binding order is. How the fuck does anybody figure that out. But doing this for three weeks and haven't been able to so much as pick a single lock with them. I've tried this hundreds of times in a Schlage core on my closet door and I can get every single pin to go stay pushed up for buying or whatever you call it into the core in numerical order. So what is this binding order people are talking about I can get them to stay in The Binding but the lock won't unlock.

Reason 11- The lock has spool pins that tilt sideways to prevent them from being raised high enough to reach the shear point when trying to bind them with a tension wrench. That's why they're also called security pins.

Dude I've been trying to pick this lock for hours. I'm an idiot

idk tried for a month three different locks got nowhere this is a dumb boring hobby.

I opened my first lock today! I haven't gotten my pick set yet so I used paper clips for tensioner and rake.

or like me, you use a paperclip

Having the keys there is kinda like cheating.

Nope I give up, can't even open a f**ing practice lock.

Thanks! I lowered the tension I was using and it opened right up. I didn't think I was putting too much pressure down

outstanding! well done

This was my personal problem but on the clear lock. I was adding tension but it was on the little jutted out part only but when I shifted to the bottom of the core it worked WAY better

Oh my god there's an American 5300 that's been giving me hell and I just realized that the shackle was pushed up against the table with the vice 🤦‍♂️

Anyone here buy the cheap Amazon pick set with practice lock, watch several beginner vids, and still have yet to pic their practice lock like me?😄

I know it's a couple years old at this point but thanks much for this video.

I am brand new to this hobby and after watching this, it's very nice to have a rough idea of what is the possible cause of, as well as the solution, if my current lack of skill and experience causes me to face the same or similar stated hurdles.

I recommended this and a few other videos of yours to a friend who's also just started the hobby. I best described them as being so helpful because it's much like being given the individual answers to a test and even in advance to taking it, but with one caveat, you have to show your work on how you got to those correct answers you'd been given. However, it is a test on a subject where most of it's questions are about a topic that you are just beginning to learn about, and only possess the most basic working knowledge on, but with the answers in hand and those basics, you can still show your work of how you came to the same answers... So thanks again.

Ran into my first check pin lock today and I couldn't get it. Gonna have to keep working my way up to it

Me currently falling for 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11.
i just started picking recently, keep having to refresh my sharpy lines on the side of my pick lmao