Who is Bare Bones Lock Picking?

Bare Bones Locking Picking was created after my own personal journey into learning about lock picking and aims to identify many of the early pitfalls I personally made…and likely those that most pickers make, after buying that first cheap Amazon/eBay kit.

Yes, we have ALL bought one of those horrible kits in the beginning…Not you? Really? Well you have dodged the joys of having a very poor early experience into the lock picking world.

Yes, I too purchased one of those cheap crappy sets that bends permanently sideways on every use and had no idea what I was doing! After all, how hard can it be? Just shove the pick into a lock and wiggle it around like in the movies …right?

So that raises the question…What would I go back and tell the early lock picking version of me at the beginning? What lock picks would I recommend? What’s the right material? What’s the best profile? What’s the best thickness? Where do I start and what’s the best progression after that?

Well,  the future lock picking version of me would have come back and firstly said ‘why do you have a set of 24 iron picks for car locks? and why are you trying to open a pin tumbler with a double sided wafer rake???’

 

In short…I believe new pickers are looking for the bare essentials required to really get started into locking picking… they’re looking for the ‘Bare Bones’!

 

I would encourage you, like the previous lock picking version of me, to look around this website and get learnings I and others have found.

I promise the future lock picking version of you has already come back and pointed you in this direction 🙂 Throw a few minutes into educating yourself and becoming familiar with the sport

What have you got to lose? Maybe some time reading (and learning) the crash course into lock picking?

Ok, what’s the Bare Bones approach?

After years of locking picking, I had accumulated many lock picking sets from various companies, but found I was only really using a few selected picks out of any particular set.

Yes it’s cool to have every possible profile at your fingertips but does it make you a better picker? Does it make choosing which pick to use any easier?

For me I was always grabbing the same few ‘classic’ profile picks because they just seemed to work consistently.

I found that by becoming proficient in just using a few of these ‘classic’ picks, it simplified my whole approach to attacking a lock. I just started with my short hook and moved through the lock, trying to find the next binding pin. If I came across a shallow pin hiding behind a deep pin, I would move to my medium hook. In some cases an even deeper Postal or Deforest Diamond might be needed.

If I was raking, I would start with Snake rake and see how the profile went. If nothing, then move onto the Double and Triple Peaks. If still nothing then try the City rake to complete all likely profiles and combinations.

The rest of the picks pretty much sat unused in the kit…but hey, they did make my pick selection look really impressive!

Don’t get me wrong, there was nothing wrong with any of the other picks that I barely touched. They all had cool names after Greek Gods or mythical creatures but ultimately were just a derivative of one of the picks that I was regularly using. I would try them initially but still found myself going back to the faithfuls that gave me the best results

Ok, so which are the profile you refer to as the ‘classics’?

Short Hook – always the first choice to start when single pin picking (SPP). Most used pick of all

Medium Hook – handy for shallow pins hiding behind a deep cut pin

Half Diamond – universal rake, useful SPP and even open dimple locks by  SPP

Deforest Diamond – universal rake, deepest/long reach hook

Snake Rake – single large rake profile. Good first choice

Double Peak – twice the profile of the Snake rake at a similar length

Triple Peak – triple profile at twice the length of Snake or Double Peak

City Rake – multiple close profile at a similar length to Triple Peak

 

That’s it! Eight ‘classic’ profiles that every decent lock picking manufacturer will offer and the full range Bare Bones currently offers. Happy picking!