this is the lock-picking lawyer and
today I wanted to talk about
lock-picking tension now let me start
out by saying that skillful tension is
in my opinion more important than
skillful picking particularly when it
comes to the more advanced locks it's
also far more difficult to master and
it's probably because we tend not to pay
as much attention to it as we should I
think that's a big mistake tension it
seems to be glossed over in most picking
instructional materials and when it is
mentioned the advice is always this use
the lightest tension possible and that's
a piece of advice that I disagree with
now I want to talk about two general
topics today first we're going to talk
about tension tool selection and
placement in the key way and then after
that I'll give you some substantive
thoughts on how to tension locks on the
first topic this might seem basic but
bear with me for a moment
to be able to select the best tension
tool for an application for any
particular lock you first need to
understand what a tension tool should do
and shouldn't do it has two main
purposes it has to turn the core and it
has to transmit feedback to the picker
on the flip side what should it do well
it shouldn't get in the way of the pic
there's other do's and don'ts but for
now we're going to stick with those
three main items and we'll take them one
by one first the tool needs to turn the
core okay every tool is capable of that
so there isn't much to say here second
the tool needs to provide feedback now
this is no small thing most of the
feedback from a lock comes to you
through the tension tool so it's really
important the tools that provide the
best feedback are inevitably the
thickest and the stiffest that's why you
always see me using tools like this
that's the 50,000th pry bar and it's
about the thickest and stiffest tool
that I have now it's also why you almost
never see me using a tool like
this tool is designed to flex and to be
springy which is the exact opposite of
what we want you ask a mechanical
engineer and you ask them what's the
best way to dampen the transmittal of
vibration and they'll tell you mounted
on a spring so why would you want to put
a spring in between the lock and the
picker when you want to feel every
subtle bit of movement and vibration
this tool also appreciably I mean and it
degrades the transmittal of feedback so
much that frankly I'm not sure why
they're so popular
instead when circumstances call for the
use of a wiper insert I usually use
tools like this and that is because
they're tensioned and you tension them
in the sideways direction and it's much
much stiffer and it transmits feedback
much much better now
you also can't select a tension tool
unless you know where you're going to
put it now if you've watched my videos
for long you know that I usually prefer
top of the keyway tension but there's
nothing dogmatic about that my goal is
to put the tension wrench in a position
that complements my picking in other
words I need to keep the tension tool
out of the way of my pick on top of the
keyway tension does that beautifully
let's take a look at this lock okay this
is a master lock key way most of you are
probably familiar with it now this is
where you're going to stick your pick
all the time right down here that's
where you're going to maneuver it in the
bottom of the key way so I don't
understand why you would want to put a
tension tool down there when that's
going to take up most of your picking
room what you should do or what I do at
least is I put it at the top of the key
way and then that leaves that whole
bottom of the key way still open for
picking also I guess while we're looking
at this another benefit of top of the
key way tension
is that there is no possibility of
binding the core now look at where we
put this tension tool it's right on the
bottom and this tool can drag on the
lock body if it drags there it can bind
the core up and that is a big problem
for your picking you obviously don't
want that now there are circumstances in
which I use bottom of the key way the
most significant is when I use the
tension tool as a platform off of which
to pick and this a bist Italian is a
good example of that I mean this is a
huge key way if we just stick a pic in
there I mean it's almost too low in the
key way and what I did when I was
picking this is I put my tension tool
right there and what that did is created
a nice little platform for me to to
lever my pic off of and they could pick
very very nicely through that key way
now there's also locks where it just
doesn't matter where you put it and the
quick-set kw1
is a great example of that I mean most
of the time when you're picking these
you're placing your pic right here and
so it doesn't matter if you use top of
the keyway tension or maybe if you put
your attention right there in either
case it's totally out of the way and
four locks like this I generally use top
of the key way anyway
just because it's what I'm accustomed to
now sometimes top of the key way tension
is very difficult because the key way is
very very tight and this evil lock is an
example of that and take a look at this
key way I mean absolutely no room for
for a tension tool up there at least
anything of normal size and you also
need on this lock the bottom of the key
way for picking and that's why it's
important to always have a good
selection this is something from the
peterson flat 5
and it's a little springier than I would
like but in the case of this lock its
what fits the bill and you really can't
pick it without something like that okay
okay on to our my thoughts on tension
one of my largest frustrations with the
lock sport community is that we don't
pay enough attention to tension and if
the instructional videos out there are
any indication our understanding of how
to use tension is pretty bad and I think
this needs to change so my hope for this
video even if you disagree with my
advice is that we start to pay more
attention to our tension strategy and
start to discuss it now before I get
into the substituted vise let me start
by saying that I'm only getting in a
given overview here I may make videos on
different or more advanced tensioning
topics in the future but for now that's
beyond the scope of this video and this
video is probably going to be long
enough as it is
so the accepted and most common advice
out there regarding tensioning locks is
that a picker should use the minimum
tension required to pick the lock and
that may work best for some people but
definitely not for me this advice is
always kind of struck me as one of those
emperor has no clothes situations it
seems like everyone is saying one thing
when the exact opposite is my experience
my method attention can be summed up as
follows use the heaviest tension
possible for each particular lock notice
that I didn't say use heavy tension I
said use the heaviest tension possible
I'll explain what that means in a moment
but let's first talk about why I favor
heavy heavier tension and there's quite
a few benefits of heavier tension that
are seldom discussed first and most
importantly it massively amplifies our
feedback
it turns what might be a subtle little
clique into something that can be heard
across the room so it makes pin setting
more distinct the more feedback you get
the easier the lock will be to pick
second there's no question about which
pins are binding because the heavier
tension causes them to bind so much more
firmly now for some locks particularly
with those with with better tolerances
and there we go the sergeant's a good
example the pins in there when you're
putting small amounts of tension on it
for lack of a better term everything's
mushy inside it's really hard to tell
what's binding what's binding the
hardest but if you crank that tension up
all that goes away when I was first
beginning I was having real trouble with
sergeant locks but once I learned to
increase the tension these locks
instantly went from being difficult for
me to pick too easily and quickly
pickable and it was literally an
overnight transformation third it allows
faster picking because you'll likely
bind multiple pins here we all know that
most of the time spent picking is spent
hunting for the pin that needs the work
when you bind multiple pins at once this
wasted time is decreased fourth it helps
prevent over sets and this isn't this
isn't just because of the feel and sound
of the pin setting and that being more
distinct but it's actually physically
harder to over set the key pin even if
you're trying to over set it fifth have
your tension keeps pins from moving when
you maneuver your pick through the lock
that's especially helpful on tight
little key ways here's one this abus ici
75 look at that
tight tight tight little dimple key way
this lock is darn near impossible to
pick unless you use heavy tension when
you're moving your pick through there
because it's you can't avoid helping
that you can't help but to hit pins and
you're going to move them without
wanting to
so with heavier tension
you bind the pins up harder and you can
keep them from moving finally it allows
for sound picking up serrated pins in
other words you can listen for the
difference between the click of a
serration and that really sharp shear
line click once you get the hang of this
it really takes a lot of the mystery out
of serrated pins if you're interested
check out my video number 97 I talk
about this a little more now let's move
on to the practical application of of
heavier tension now recall that I
previously said I use the heaviest
tension possible I didn't say use heavy
tension and let me explain what that
means first you have to know that your
tension can't be so heavy that you bind
the pins and keep them from moving but
this means something different for
different kind of locks for a lock with
standard pins I keep my tension very
high when I find a binding pin I loosen
up just enough to allow the pin to move
once I set it I crank that tension back
up and move on to the next pin now
obviously this means that you're going
to have to use more picking force and
it's a little harder on your picks but I
think those side effects are more than
worth the benefits
now how about security pins well use the
heaviest tension possible means
something entirely different there with
these types of pins variation of tension
becomes even more important and I'm
sorry to say more complex even when I
vary the tension however I use the
heaviest tension possible for each stage
of picking the lock now I can't do this
for every kind of pin but let's break it
down for spools the most common security
pin what's the tension advice that
everyone uses for spools use light
tension well yes and no the truth of the
matter is that it's a heck of a lot more
complicated math
let me take you through my process first
while moving from pin to pin and while
centering your pick on the pin that you
intend to pick I use heavy tension this
keeps you from moving pins you don't
intend to move then I lighten up just a
bit when I'm first attempting to detect
the spool now you need to keep the
tension pretty high to ensure you don't
accidentally move the pin I'll still
still allowing enough give to detect the
feedback if you think the pin is a spool
use slightly lighter tension and confirm
it once you detect the spool you need to
set it here you're going to have to back
way off tension to allow the counter
rotation the exact amount of tension can
depend on the strength and thickness of
the pick you're using the stronger the
pick that fits your key way the heavier
the appropriate tension and picking
force but here the tension and picking
force are very high but in balance and
in doing this I keep complete control
over that pin finally and this is very
important at or near the apex of counter
rotation but before the spool sets I
increase the tension and this does two
things first
it prevents you from over setting the
pin and second it helps other pins it
helps prevent other pins from dropping
when you set the spool now with practice
this entire process happens in a couple
of moments from those descriptions I
hope to have conveyed two things to you
first tension is not static it needs to
be varied particularly when you're
dealing with security pins but also with
standard pins and second that I'm using
the heaviest tension possible for each
stage of the pick in some cases the
heaviest tension possible might be
relatively light like when you're
allowing for counter rotation but then
we crank the tension right back up as
soon as we can so we don't lose all the
benefits that we just talked about
okay I think that's enough for now this
video is getting really long over 15
minutes what I'd really like for each of
you to start thinking about is how
you're using tension pay close attention
to what you're doing it's probably
second nature to most of the advanced
Pickers out there so they don't even
consciously realize what they're doing
but once you take note of exactly what
you're doing
share it with others because if we're
going to advance the knowledge of our
community we really need an informed
discussion of tension strategy my way of
picking may not be the best but we'll
never know until we take note of what we
do and start comparing our methods
that's all I have for you today if you
stuck with me this far thank you very
much if you have any questions or
comments please put them below if you
like this video and would like to see
more like it please subscribe and as
always have a nice day thank you