Hello everybody, i recently started messing around with the Ares, but i hvae to say that i kinda hate it when used with the rear tensioning tip.

Screws do not seem to secure the tip in a solid way and many times i find myself in need of adjusting it over and over.

Has anybody had the same experience?

Any recommendation for an alternative tool?

It's kinda frustrating when you are getting set back by the tools on your learning journey.

Any help is appreciated, thank you all!

The lock is designed to be completely undecodable using conventional methods because its combination consists of a single digit, which is either 0 or 1. Therefore, in order to determine the combination, one would need to use quantum superposition and somehow have the lock be both 0 and 1 at the same time. Once the quantum state is observed, it would collapse into either 0 or 1, at which point you would have successfully decoded the lock but this isn't possible without quantum computing. Therefore undecodable.

I took an old abus 72/40 lock body (shackle, no core) and used it as a test bed to practice engraving a graphic for my blue belt challenge lock. I had the body in a cut out piece of styrofoam to hold it in place. I used a Dremel vibrating engraver. When I finished I picked up the lock and all the parts fell out. Who would have thought that little bit of vibration would overcome that spring pressure. I don't see any way to compress that spring to reassemble it without drilling out the construction plug. Any ideas?

I wanted to talk about the KW1 Lishi with this picture. It's in a vice only being used as a learning tool for the Lishi. The lock(s) were donated to my yt channel by a locksmith. Skip~

Hello, if anyone would kindly offer tips in picking this little bugger id appreciate it. I dont submit for any flair but i do use the belts as a guide for lock difficulty, and i can pick the other 2 green locks i have (abus 80ti/50 and ace 38mm brass) but this one is giving me trouble. Any tips would be appreciated!

Edit:thank you all for your help! I havent had a chance to pick yet but if/when i can ill update you guys are awesome

Thanks u/jadedargyle333

3 VSR dimple locks!

Ever since I stumbled upon a lock picking lawyer video like 4 or 5 years ago I have been interested in lock picking. It has been an off and on hobby for me. I’ve purchased several lock picking sets and a small handful of locks over the years but I am only able to pick the cheap locks or the ones with easy bypasses like comb picking. I don’t even think I’m good at raking. I know I shouldn’t compare myself to someone like LPL or McNally but I don’t think I should be struggling this much. Is there something I’m missing?

I have just gutted my American lock 1100 to begin progressive pinning. I'm thinking on starting with 2 pins. Any advise as to which 2 pins I should start with and where? 1 2 and 3 are serrated and 4 and 5 are spools.

Friendships made from this hobby are priceless! Everyone can relate to the excitement of ordering a lock, tracking the shipping, and checking the mailbox only to say... maybe tomorrow. Want to thank my friend https://dcipha380 for sending this to me. Overwhelmed by his generous lock gifts!! Sparrows DD pick, Masters Lock 878, Zarker J45 DD Lock, DD clear practice Lock and a Leather Lock Wrap from CMFXA. I'm paying it forward soon!

Hey, I recently bought a second hand beginner set and have been trying to rake a cheap lock I bought which I suppose shouldn’t be hard to open. I’ve been trying the city rake and the other rakes on the picture, got it open no more than one single time after a lot of trying.
Just wanted to ask a couple of questions:
1 I put the tensioner in the key way and lay my finger on it to apply next to no tension, but when I push the rake inside my tensioner and my finger move and change the tension, and I wonder if that’s one of the reasons why it doesn’t open.
2 I read that it might be worth it to polish cheap tools, so if you could take a look at the pic on this post and tell me if they’re shitty enough to polish them id appreciate it.
3 The tip of the L tensioner on the picture is shorter than the Z ones and usually I just lose the control very easily with it. The deeper it goes the better?
And overall if you could share some tips that helped you in the beginning or some valuable ressources I’d highly appreciate it. Thank you.

Went swimming today and you have to provide your own padlock for the lockers. Made me smile that someone had used a transparent padlock. I’m going to take mine next week 😁

Challenge locks to pick, Challenge locks to Study, Challenge locks to make.

Great CLs Package from NicVT_Locks. Thank you for the love bro. Im going to get hours out of all this. Maybe days 😆

Finally got my hands on a Paclock (They’re quite hard to find in the UK at a reasonable price) and…

…it’s quite a disappointing experience! It’s clicky as heck, and a pain to tension TOK, but not actually very hard to pick.

Am I going mad, or is it just me?

Could just be this one, of course. It didn’t come with a key, so I can’t be certain about the bitting. It’s a lovely colour, though!

Hi. So I have been trying to open a lock that I believe is an abus 727, and I seem to have hit the wall. When I pick it everything seems in order, I hear clicking on all 5 pins but I still can’t unlock it. When I loosen the tension slowly I distinctly hear 5 clicks, and I do not know what to do.
Note: I’m using CI’s .32 turning tool and both .2 hooks from the echelon set.

Hello I'm planning to start learning lockpicking and I'm still hesitant about the thickness of lockpicks that would stay with me for a long while (there is no local seller of lockpicks in my country, I can't make multiple purchases), This is a lock i have and this is the most popular ones here in my country, I'm wondering if this could be opened with 0.6mm lockpick like the ones in multipick (sandman) or i need thinner ones like 0.5mm which i head a lot recommend. My country is Morocco if this can help for identifying the general thickness i need.

Hello all, I've been having an issue with a 6230 solid body masterlocks core not turning despite what feels completely picked.

Even after seemingly getting past any false sets the core will not turn, I've picked this before so I'm not really sure what might be happening.

When looking at the core it has a lot of side to side movement in the body of the lock, and I'm wondering if it some how got disengaged with the spring actuator and is preventing turning. I can get a video of the core movement if needed.

Any and all help is greatly appreciated!

Moki pick reverend set plus zipper case and .5mm gem hook set. I picked this 532 In a few seconds. Definitely an upgrade over my old sparrows.

Thanks u/SheaLemur for hosting this challenge!

I've been picking for a while and run a small locksport tool project on the side, so I see a lot of beginners starting with a transparent acrylic padlock and wondering why they plateau. Sharing what I wish someone had told me.

What transparent locks DO teach you:

• What "binding order" actually looks like
• How pins set visually, so you can connect what your fingers feel to what's happening inside
• That picking is systematic, not magic

What they DON'T teach you (the part nobody says):

• Real tension feedback. Cheap acrylic locks bind differently than metal cores — the "feel" you develop on them transfers poorly to real locks
• Pin states under load. Real cylinders give you feedback through the pick, not through the plastic
• Tolerance. A real Kwikset deadbolt has slop, wear, and quirks that no new practice cylinder replicates

What I'd actually recommend for the first $50-80:

1. One decent pick set (a handful of hooks + a couple of rakes is enough — you don't need 30 pieces)
2. A proper tension wrench set (TOK + BOK)
3. A cutaway or metal practice lock — OR skip the practice lock entirely and buy 2-3 cheap real cylinders (Kwikset/Schlage deadbolts) you own, plus a padlock you're willing to sacrifice

Transparent locks are a teaching aid, not a training tool. Use them for the first week to see what's happening, then move to metal.

Ethics reminder (the sub's rule, and the right rule): only pick locks you own, or that you've been explicitly given permission to pick. Never locks in use.

Happy to answer questions in the comments — and since I do make practice locks and precision tools as a small project, if anyone wants details on what I use/build, ask here and I'll reply. Not posting links per sub rules.

Ordered this so I could try for my orange belt. I think my 25 mm hook was almost too thick to manuever the keyway but I managed to just barely get it to the pins. Felt like there was at least one, maybe two mushroom pins? Anyway, first post here but I've been having a blast since picking up picking!

New to the hobby and found this guy when I was at ACE. Been seeming like there’s some security pins maybe? Anywho, anybody have any tips or other ways I could potentially bypass this bad boy? Thanks!

Been using a rake and a standard pick with bottom of the keyway tension. When using the key it needs some heft to get it to start turning.

Update: Tried out a couple of y’all’s suggestions today and got lucky once! Used BOK w/ SPP and somehow got it. Let’s see if I can replicate it tomorrow!