Lock Picking and Lock Bumping News — locks

WHY LOCK PICKERS NEED LOADS OF LOCKS! It's Kind of Obvious Really Hello Lock Pickers. Locks are our game, they're our bread and butter, they are to put it simply, the object of our passion. And yet, of all the items in a lock pickers repertoire, locks seem to be well down the list.  What I mean is, it's not unusual for a lock picker to have two or three pick sets, a set or two of rakes, a selection of wrenches in double figures, a pick gun, some bump keys and....5 or 6 locks. A 5 Pin 'real' lock...

Hello Lock Pickers

One of the most common emails I receive (apart from the endless 'Thank you for a great service and super-dooper, ultra-discount lock pick' ones, of course) is one of the many variations on the 'Will these picks open this lock?', accompanied by a blurry picture of an old rim-cylinder, padlock, bike lock, or tubular lock on an old safe. This email - if you know anything about lock picking is as simple as it is complicated to answer. For instance, were it a 6 pin cylinder, generic keyway, then yes, sure, a set of rakes, a pick gun, a pick set - even Mica - can open that lock. But it depends on a lot of things out of my control. What condition is the lock? Is it full of sand (locksmiths who live in hot countries by the beach - even cold countries near the beach - will know the amount of trouble sand can cause locks), is it full of bent and/or damaged pins where you (or someone) has tried to force it, snap it, drill it, etc. Without knowing the state of the lock I don't really know what will certainly work on it, and I never could. Assuming the lock is in perfect working order, what are your abilities as a lock picker? You may have bumped a couple of locks, you may have had a few lucky rakes (and as much as I love raking, isn't all raking a little bit lucky? That's the beauty of it, surely?). In many walks of life a small amount of success can give us a false sense of our own abilities, and then, faced with a new lock, you think 'I can do that!', I'll just send a photo to the nice people at UK Bump Keys and they'll send me the CORRECT lock smith tools.