welcome back to another episode of the
myth busting locksmith today i would
like to bust open the myth that you have
to have very expensive picks for picking
locks
and cheap ones do not work
now
as you can see before you although you
cannot see the whole selection but we
will go through it there is a wide
variety of picks so far
now some of these are very expensive and
some of these are quite cheap
but
if you speak to people they will say
that you need expensive picks to be able
to pick locks whether you are raking it
or single pin picking it or trying to
manipulate the lock and others would say
that cheap ones are absolutely rubbish
and they are no good whatsoever
now what i would like to introduce you
to
is a series of
the ones that i have
so starting off here these are
specifically for cars now i grant you
that yes these are very expensive ones
but these are laser-cut keys and they
are specifically for the volkswagen audi
group
and these are a very good set of keys
but specific for cars
this little one here
was very cheap and cheerful not quite
the standard of being out of a cracker
but a very good small set and it has the
basics in you have ones for raking this
is very good for padlocks single pin
picking these three
and this one for single pin picking or
raking
these ones here are very good because
they are useful for cabinets and
furniture drawers
let me just move you forward a little
bit
and i find that general furniture in
offices
these are my go-to ones because i can
get into most drawers
very very easily again not expensive
they were about three or four pounds to
buy
this series are bogota picks and these i
do like so if i
just show you a little closer
these ones have got
a variety of
points on the end of them from one to
two one here three here three here
and we have more here with four
and these are
a slightly higher end pick they are very
very nice and they are quite sturdy
quite strong but yet at the same time
they they're also very flexible which
you need in a lock
now i have to say these ones these ones
here
are
a very cheap and cheerful set off of
amazon but i really like them i've
always used them they are my go-to pick
on a lot of occasions and for the
simpler locks they are very very
effective
don't need to be expensive don't need to
be fancy these ones work very well
indeed
now moving along a little bit here these
ones bit of a funny shape one we have
the king the queen the
castle and the rook
a nice little set and rather fancy
in there
laser cut design of handle but again
i've never used these
uh
i've tried them in different places and
i've not found a lock so far that they
will fit in and have any effect on but i
am aware that there are locks out there
by assa abloy and others that these
would be perfect on because i've seen
the cut of the key and the type of the
lock on plant rooms and plant risers
so although i've not needed them and i
haven't found locks that will
benefit from using them
i know that they will at some point be
useful
now this small set comes in a set of
three one point two point and three
point i really like these they're quite
thick so i am restricted to what locks i
use them on but they're very good for
raking and bypassing
and i
have used them on a couple occasions but
not often because i'm finding the higher
security the locks are becoming the
smaller the hole and it's very very hard
to get them in
now this world one in the middle here
is much longer than the rest with its
blade it's a rake it's a simple worm
rake and it's a very effective one
and i find with long
locks or ones with six pins it's very
easy very effective but you've kind of
got to know
where you're going to use it
now
i did get pulled up on the other day if
i may move you across because somebody
had a padlock and they said it was a
warded padlock so there is something
within the mechanism of it that would
stop you being able to pick it too
easily and they said how can i pick it
with one of these because this just
looks like a comb pick you see it looks
like a comb
these are all a
series of ones that have
similar
but slightly different spacing and size
of pins
and
i got one of these and on a different
video i don't know if i've posted it but
i will have a look
i got one of these and in about two
seconds i popped open a padlock and said
that is how you use a cone pick on a
water padlock they do work it's knowing
the mechanism it's known the lock you
have to know how they work and you have
to know that you have the right pick and
the way to use it properly
now moving back across here this was not
an expensive set but i like it anyway
it's the classic made in china set but
they're really nice and they come
if i can hold it here for you they come
with
picks on both sides and they're very
good for raking locks
because they have many different
varieties
of
size and length and spacing of the teeth
so let's put that there for focus
and these are very good indeed and i
enjoy using those
quite effectively on lower security
locks
now when you are talking about dimple
locks
that's a whole other world but just a
touch on it to begin with
i bought a series of these and you have
left hand picks and
sorry left hand flags and right hand
flags because the flag faces the other
way and these are designed for single
pin picking so it goes in
and it goes like this and you pick one
pin at a time while applying tension
and that should pick the lock open
now i did attend the course and i took
these and i failed horribly i did not
get into any of the dimple locks
that i was trying to get into
and i came away very frustrated because
i learned very little and i did not
achieve what i wanted to achieve which
was to open a lock so as far as i'm
concerned it was a waste of time and i
failed
now
in the same family as the other ones
we have these these are very nicely made
nice
solid handles they're quite thin they're
quite bendy but very strong at the same
time again they are simple dimple picks
i have had very little luck with them
but i think it's because of the size and
the angle of the
the flag that i have not done well and i
know other people will come back and say
i've used them very successful very
happy but me personally haven't got on
with them
haven't been very successful
now this is a simple
thumb bypass tool
i've not managed to get into a lot with
it yet and i do not know why but
it is designed to go into a thumb turn
lock and bypass the cam
and the the pins
and unlock the lock by twisting the
thumb turn part of the cam the other
side
as i say as yet no success whatsoever
now if you want to talk expensive
these three and there is a fourth in the
series that got broken so it has now
been binned would have a grey handle
these are peterson picks
they were advertised about 30 pound on a
website i thought they're well worth
getting i went out and ordered them
and because they came from america i
made the classic mistake of not
anticipating shipping and handling costs
so of course a 30 pound set of four of
these
ended up causing costing me about 150
pounds
and i've not opened a single lot with
them i don't get on with them i think
it's because british locks when they
have thumb turns
they have some sort of mechanism inside
to protect them from being bypassed
easily with tools whereas american locks
do not
have that have this sort of setup now
again i know people are going to
disagree with me but as far as i'm
concerned this is what i found in every
thumb turn look i've tried and i have
failed
right
so another set this is a clone pick set
and as you can see there is a wide
variety of
different types
now i like these i do find them quite
fat
but
this one in particular is very good for
i've opened a safe with these i've
opened many padlocks with them
this the same dimple picks i found this
is very good for opening dimple locks
these
so so these are more for cabinets and
drawers and they are very effective and
of course the ones at the end here i
don't know how clearly you can see that
are much more for single pin picking
except for this one of course for raking
and these i have had a lot of success
with
and i would rate them but again they are
not expensive this is what it looks like
closed
and you can get them on amazon and i
think they are inexpensive and they are
very good picks and i do like them
so
let's move those
out of the way so moving across slightly
there we are
we have got
a specific set for tubular locks so the
round lock where you have the round key
that pushes the pins down and there's a
little tab to
turn the whole cylinder around these i
have been very successful with i do like
them
they i'm not too expensive
and they have the little the pins here
so that you can adjust the tension using
the wheels
and you put these pins
right at the back and you push down and
as you put it into the lock
it puts enough pressure on if you have
the right technique to push the pins
down enough to unlock the lock again not
expensive very nicely made
as you can see
comes from china but these are good and
i have always rated chinese picks don't
write their locks but i do rate their
picks very much i have got some
a lot i've got a wide variety of picks
from china and i have never had a
problem with them and i have got on with
them i have got on with them very well
right
so
sparrow pick
very nice very expensive got this at
about 52 pounds
and so far i haven't had too much
practice with it and
i've not been too successful but it's
very tricky to find somebody that will
show you how to pick disc detainer locks
because a lot of people say if you lose
the keys you might as well cut the lock
off because you're not getting new keys
cut so that was expensive
haven't uh haven't had success with it
yet but i'm enjoying playing with it
now cruciform locks is the next one
where literally the hole in the lock
looks like a cross hence crucible
and this is the type of pick that you
will want for these
more of a rake than a pick
but again you sort of pop it in and out
like this or like this
and
you manipulate the lock and try and get
the pins in just the right position
while applying tension
to be able to open the lock
as you see i am a fan of chinese picks
they work they suit me very well and i
like them not expensive but do do the
job
but you need to learn the techniques
now if we are to
talk more about expensive picks and
there are some high-end picks out there
and there are some very high-end locks
out there
then we need to up our game slightly
if you are looking at things like the
brissant series and you've got the
present d
which is a dimple the present e you've
got the wxm the original one you've got
the new wx m1 star you've got wxm3 star
and the wx m3 star plus
uh you also have other ones that will
address
you do need proper picks and these are
expensive you can unlock uh locks if you
know what you're doing with
these and i have seen a lot of people
single pin picking bris ant locks and
altium locks with them but i myself
wasn't very successful with it so
i went out and bought other pics that
was suggested to me and i have to say
and there are videos on here i was in
within five seconds 15 seconds 30
seconds every single time
so to begin
this is the one for the wxm now these
are expensive they're over 200 pounds
each and they are well worth the money
it's very simple but very clever
engineering so you would single pin pick
it move down single pin pick the next
one find the pressure single pin pick
the next one and down and down and so on
as i say i have been very successful
with these and i have a series of these
but
but
when you talk about picks being
expensive these are the expensive ones
but
if you're spending 30 seconds getting
into a lock
and you're charging a customer between
75 and 90 pounds
for
a 10 minute journey 30 seconds into a
lock you know a 10-20 minute journey
back home again it is definitely well
worth the money so
that is the wxm
the next one we have which is very
similar is the for the brissant d
and that has a little dial here so you
can see where you
where you are picking
and again slightly different because you
have the cutout there but same series
same people making it
again not a cheap block to buy but
if you're a hobby picker it depends how
dedicated you are and if you are a
professional locksmith
this is definitely one that i would
recommend you go out and buy
now for sisseloks there are two
different types there is the standard
one that has a key that looks like a rim
cylinder key to keep it simple for
people and there is the dimple version
so for the dimple version you would want
this one
again similar to the others with a
little they are with a little dial and
you pop it out and you pop it out
and pop it in and as you can see
it just had here it has the
little lever for
pushing the pins down one at a time
now i can feel this works very well and
this has been adjusted for me but i
haven't been successful yet because i do
need more practice
but again
another nice one same series same people
well made
specifically for sissa so now you have
wxm you have scissor
you have bracette d you need one
specific pick for each lock and when
they're around 250 pounds each you need
to be doing this for a living
not just as a hobby because these are
expensive picks
now the last one of this series
everybody kicked off because they called
it the game changer and i have to say it
really is
the low the slogan was if it fits if it
fits it picks
and i have to say it does fit and it
does pick
as it is you can see it's very similar
to all the other ones
and it works the same way
except this is closed off where others
you have a cut out
um
same company same branding same make i
think this is absolutely fantastic i
really like it and it did cause a big
stink when they came out and called it
the game changer but it really is and i
have made a short list here of all the
locks that it is guaranteed to open so
we'll do garrison avocet pioneer yale
the yale uh two different sorry three
different types of yale you've got
gurney you got magnum and so on so this
really is a game changer because it will
open a lot of locks
now we only have two more of the really
expensive ones and you can tell they're
expensive by the very way that they are
packaged
and the first one
is this one from a very well-known lock
lock pick producer
[Music]
it's a as you can see it's a very very
well made it's very nicely made and it's
very similar to the others these are
expensive these are about 250 pounds
each
and
same principle but it's specifically
designed with a profile to fit in a
particular lock
and
along with that
you have separate wires
so that you can
use it on different locks
depending on the size of the flag on the
wire that you need
so
but as you can see
rather fancy box very expensive pick
so yes these are expensive i know we
said all picks don't have to be
expensive and you don't have to spend a
lot of money on picks but with the high
security and the high end locks yes you
do
now we haven't talked about mortise
locks
and we'll be talking about that another
day and we
haven't looked at
padlocks and other types of locks
because there are many different types
out there but we're just trying to give
you an overall view
of the most common locks that you will
come up against now of course with
mortise locks you will have jiggler keys
you will have bump keys you will have
all sorts of different things
but for today just as an introduction to
the mortise locks
this
is the little blue box tool and this is
a stunning bit of kit it's around 250
pounds and it is magic it literally
performs magic
uh i use it on a course and i bought one
straight away because i was so impressed
so the idea is
you
get your first of all you get your
blanky and you put plasticine on here
you put it in the lock and you twist it
round as if you're trying to lock it
you get the markings along here along
here from the pins
and
what you do is you check the
measurements and in
relation to the length of whether it's a
short medium or long pin you then get
the short medium and long pins here or
you've had put no pin and you put them
in here across here there is another
video on youtube where it shows this in
action
and then as you sorry come here as you
twist the red here
this actually raises and lowers the pins
so this goes in the lock
and you set it right down the end and
you twist twist it as far as it can go
try to lock and then back and then you
pop that one and you do it again and you
probably get it den and do it again as
you do it raises each of the pins and
you're trying to knock the lock and when
you get to the end
and you have done all of the
pins from forwards to backwards or
backwards to forwards you then put it
out and you try and twist
and the lock will open every time
it's difficult to do
explain or describe
but it's like performing magic it really
is something else it was designed by
jeff turner i believe
uh who was locksmith for over 50 years
and you can tell that he's been a
locksmith for over 20 years because it's
a piece of genius and i had never picked
a mortise lock in my life i did the
course he explained how this works
and i have in fact for
my own reference
as you can see but i'm not showing it
too clearly
written the instructions on top
and i followed them
first second and third time and i was in
the lock every single time and i have
posted this on another youtube video of
how easy it is to use
so
to bust the myth
you don't need expensive
picks you can use cheap ones you can do
medium price you can do high priced ones
yes these are all very expensive picks
and you need them for the type of lock
but when you come across here and you
have a good look
all of these across the back are
inexpensive you're looking at like say
30 pounds 18 pounds 12 pounds little set
of three for about 20. these really are
not expensive picks you come along to
these these are loose change these are
very inexpensive these are practically
nothing to buy but they are very very
useful
and of course these ones
they're designed for the volkswagen audi
group so they do porsche mercedes
uh volkswagen audi
and they are a little bit more expensive
at 177 pounds but the person that tested
them
uh went to a car yard and he tried them
on 50 different cars and he opened every
single car without a problem
so
your final view here this is the
inexpensive you don't need the fancy
picks you don't need to spend a fortune
the only time that you would need to
start spending real money
is when you're looking at these picks
and you are looking at high security
locks
so
that's busted the myth
you don't need expensive ones cheap will
do
i hope you found this interesting and
please do have a look at the other
videos because there will be ones where
i am picking locks with these very picks
the cheap and cheerful
and also please look out for this one
you'll recognize it by the red handle uh
there is a video out there that shows me
opening a block with it and showing how
simple it is to do although it is
already set up
it gives you a demonstration of how
simple and fast you can get into a chub
lock and now that zoo have decided to
make replica locks of the chub because
jobs patent has run out and they have
not renewed it zoo are now flooding the
market with
very good quality because they're
basically chub uh char blocks they're
absolutely identical and can be open
with this tool but on the flip side
they are very good quality locks so you
should be reassured that if you have one
in your door you are safe
so that's it i hope this wasn't too long
but it was important i think to get all
this out so if you've enjoyed it please
hit the like button if you haven't
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because i am working 70 hours a week
as i'm an on-site locksmith for a
football stadium as well as doing
private work at the weekend
so as always thank you for watching i
hope it hasn't been too long since
you've seen me but do come back for more
there will be plenty more
thank you goodbye