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My father-in-law managed to lose the keys to the locks that my aunt-in-law was "securing" her Uhaul with. The first was Master No. 23, so obviously I had that taken care of n a couple minutes with a rake. The lock was obscured by door handle of the truck, which is why it took couple minutes, rather than a couple seconds. The lock on the trailer, though, was another one of the Chateau C970s. I hate those. This one wasn't so much skill as it was luck, though. I managed to rake it into what I think was a false set (I don't recall if these are known to have security pins or not), and got lucky, in that it was just first pin that was holding everything up from there. Admittdly, I took me about 30-40 minutes with it. Or at least it felt like it. Another weird angle, and I was hunched over the whole time. I know it's not that impressive in general, but the feeling of genuine accomplishment was amazing.

I've had picks in the field where I wished I had gravity boots, so I could hang upside down like a bat. Good job on your pick!

Very exciting! Nice job. I've had padlocks place me in some pretty awkward positions too.
It can REALLY add a level of difficulty to even the simplest of locks. Some of the worst positions...
all you can do is hope to pop it in the first minute or two... before ya start losing control and shaking. lol

Again, nice job. And yeah, certainly a gratifying feeling of accomplishment and usefulness.

I nearly broke one of my picks off inside the C970 when I got the false set, as it caused the pick to get trapped inside the keyway along with the wrench. I wish Amazon carried picks...

First off congratulations on picking the lock(s)

It used to be a rule that you never pick locks that you don't own or are in use.

Can one of the admins please comment on what is OK to pick and what should not be "played with"

If that were the case, then locksmiths the word over would be out a job, wouldn't they? Maybe you missed it in my initial posting, but the locks belonged to my aunt, and were securing her Uhaul truck and trailer; I was fully and completely authorized to pick them, as the only other method of removing them would have been destructive.

Hi HS.

Obviously, the rule does not apply to Lock Smiths when they are contracted to do a job.

The rule for hobbyist is not to pick locks that you don’t own, without permission – for obvious reasons and as for locks that are in use;



You wouldn't be the first to break a pick in a lock and cause all sorts of drama.

There are a couple of threads here calling for help where someone buggered up a front door lock and had to call in a Lock Smith ($$$$$) to get it fixed ASAP.

That is the main reason for that rule, even if you own that lock or have permission, sometimes things go wrong, things break and you are in a pickle.

A Lock Smith will have tools to extract the broken Key, pick etc. or if necessary repair the lock or even replace it.

If you are going to help someone out (with their permission) it is a good idea to have an angel grinder, drill and a replacement lock - just in case.

So, apart from legal reasons, Do NOT pick locks that you don't own without permission and don't pick locks that are in use, particularly door locks (unless you are prepared to fix/replace it immediately) if all goes pear shaped.

That all said. Congrats on the pick. Picking in the wild is usually a lot more difficult but a great buzz when you pull it of, especially when helping someone out.

Oh I know all that. I wasn't worried about screwing up the locks, as they were gonna be cut off anyway (no keys). The picks, on the other hand... that would have sucked for me, as I've only got the one set. ...and I did have replacement locks, as well.