Your Resource for Lockpicking Tips & Tricks
The Road to Blue Belt is an exciting journey for any aspiring lockpicker. Achieving the Blue Belt signifies a solid understanding of fundamental lockpicking skills and techniques. Here are some locks that I recommend for your journey to Blue Belt:
Pin Tumbler Lock with 4 standard pins. The newer model has spool pins. Some models of this lock can also be disassembled and rekeyed, like the Master Lock M530.
Pin Tumbler Lock with 5 standard pins. The newer model has spool pins. This lock can also be disassembled and rekeyed. The ability to gut a lock is a valuable skill and the sooner you start learning it, the better.
Pin Tumbler Lock with 5 standard pins.
Pin Tumbler Lock with 5 pins, and comes with a variety of keyways (Schlage and Yale being the most common). Typically this has 4 spool pins with and anti-bump pin in the last slot. The ABUS 83/40 can also be disassembled and rekeyed, which makes it an awesome lock to learn on. This lock is definitely one of my favorites!
Pin Tumbler Lock with 5 pins, a mix of serrated and serrated/spool pins. In my book this is a milestone lock. It is a great challenge and it gets you ready for more difficult locks.
Pin Tumbler Lock with 5 spool pins. The keyway is more tight than the American Lock 1100, making it a bit more challenging to pick.
Pin Tumbler Lock with 6 standard pins and a check pin. This is a great lock to learn about how to approach Pin Tumbler Locks with additional rows of pins.
Dimple Lock with 4 Pin-in-Pin pins. Now is the time to start learning other lock types.
Three Row Dimple Lock with pins on the top and sides. This is a great lock to start learning for how to approach high pin count dimple locks.
Pin Tumbler Lock with 7 pins, a mix of serrated and spool pins. This is another milestone lock and PACLOCK also runs the 200K Club for this lock. If you record yourself picking the lock open and gutting it, PACLOCK will send you a 200K Club patch and a goodie bag!
Pin Tumbler Lock with 6 spool pins. The spool pins in this lock is unique and I think are good for preparing you for barrel pins that you will find at the Purple Belt level.
Pin Tumbler Lock with 4 Chisel-Tip Pins and a sidebar. The lock also has a mix of standard and mushroom security pins. This is a great lock to start learning about sidebar mechanisms and advanced pin types. In addition to picking the pins to the shear line, you'll need to rotate the pins to the correct angle to retract the sidebar.