I know, playing with lockpicking is one of the most exciting things you can do. It’s that special moment after all your analyzing and studying when the pick enters the keyway and you feel that initial give in the cylinder. You then apply tension, turn the cylinder slightly to pick another pin, back off on pressure to let the spring tension push the cylinder back up and repeat… turning the piece of metal holding your bike, or house door, or whatever lock you want to open.

Silky Terrier Dog Breed Playing Aro... Silky Terrier Dog Breed Playing Around

It is an exciting moment, but it’s also one that sooner or later will lead to problems. I can’t count how many times I’ve seen people who simply didn’t notice they accidentally drilled a little hole in the cylinder right where they place their tension wrench. Or, even worse: how many times I’ve seen them drill a full-on hole and start using a rod to move the pins!

The correct way to use a pick is not that you have to apply pressure but just touch it on one of the pins, let gravity push the pin down and feel the small give before you take your tension wrench out. The pick is normally pushed in at a very slight angle to its original position. So, when you lift the tension off: there’s still enough energy left to push the pin against spring pressure back up and thus lock it in place. The next pin gets picked that way.

As soon as the cylinder is at the last pin you lock it in place with your tension wrench and aim to pick that final pin without letting too much energy out of the system. As you only have one shot there’s no reason not to use an extension or a torque wrench. Things can get very complicated if you don’t manage this, so that’s why you should probably do this on a practice cylinder if you have no training with lockpicking.