Guides
Lock picking guides for beginners
Free, practical guides written while picking the same locks we sell: how a pin tumbler lock works, how much tension to use, what a spool pin feels like, which practice lock to buy next, and where the hobby is legal. Every guide links to the gear it talks about — nothing else.
How Secure Is Your Door Lock? Picking, Bumping and Snapping Explained
Picking is the attack people fear and the one burglars almost never use. Here is what really opens a European door cylinder, and how to read your own.
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Which Practice Lock to Buy Next: Clear, Cutaway, Progressive or Security Pins
Picks all feel the same after your first week. The lock on the bench is what decides how fast you improve — here is the order that works.
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Security Pins Explained: Spools, Serrated Pins and the False Set
The month where everyone quits: spool pins, false sets and counter-rotation, explained by feel — and the practice locks that get you through it.
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How a Pin Tumbler Lock Works — Explained Through a See-Through Lock
Key pins, drivers, springs, shear line: the whole mechanism in plain language, and the manufacturing flaw that makes every one of these locks pickable.
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How to Pick a Lock With a Bobby Pin (And Why It Usually Fails)
Two bobby pins, one lock, and an honest answer: here is the method, the three reasons it fails on real locks, and the cheap gear that actually works.
New to lock picking? Start with how to pick a lock for beginners, then choose a kit in which lock pick set to start with. Only pick locks you own — see legality by country.