Lockpicking Notes

I’m still quite new to lockpicking! At the moment, I can only barely pick Green Belt locks at the moment.

Useful References

• LockWiki
• r/lockpicking wiki
  • beltranking

Advice For Starting Out

Why Lockpicking?

Expectations

All my advice below will only be applicable if your focus as a beginner is to get into single-pin picking common pin tumbler locks. Lockpicking is a whole rabbithole with different mechanisms to consider, and the rabbithole only gets bigger if you choose to explore physical security bypass in general. Lockpicking is just one form of physical bypass.

General Gear Advice

Lockpicks - What NOT to buy

Do not buy gear from unknown brands, and try to get it from reputable vendors. This advice is echoed everywhere, including the r/lockpicking wiki. For a beginner, there is no such thing as good, cheap gear.

Quality can have a big impact on your first experience with the hobby and whether the hobby sticks, and it can mean spending more on replacements. Poor quality might mean being unable to pick a lock because the pick permanently bends or breaks, or the picks are too big to fit in the lock. Tactile feel/feedback is also important and picks that feel different to how it should can stunt your development as a lockpicker.

In particular, don’t buy any lockpicks from Amazon, Aliexpress, Temu, or <insert other dubious ecommerce platform here>. Even if it’s a good brand in the product listing, you risk being given a counterfeit or worse.

That’s not to say there’s genuinely nothing good to come out of unknown or cheap lockpicks. Your buddy who’s been picking ultra high-security locks for 20+ years vouching for some random $5 lockpick set they found on Aliexpress may well be right that the picks they received are great, but it’s possible that the pick set you receive is a dud. As a beginner, don’t risk it.

Lockpicks - What to buy

Go for a brand of known good quality. r/lockpicking has good information on this.

The brands I’ve bought from and can personally vouch for:

• Bare Bones
• Peterson
• Sparrows

My best recommendation is the JimyLongs Basics Set (Basics Set V5 0.019”). It’s not a brand I can vouch for first-hand, but it has exactly the minimum viable lockpick set that I’d recommend to a beginner, and nothing more:

• It has a short hook, which is an essential workhorse pick.
• It has a medium hook, which overcomes the limitations of a short hook (while it has limitations of its own). I think putting a medium hook in the hands of a beginner is important to give them options in case the short hook just doesn’t do it for opening their first lock, but it’s also an important tool for progression.
• It has a triple-peak rake, which is important for educational value in showing lock vulnerabilities, it teaches an alternative method to open a lock, and the speed of opening cheap terrible locks is a great early dopamine hit to keep a beginner engaged.
• It has a set of versatile tension wrenches to give a beginner many options. The versatility is useful to let a beginner open their first locks with whatever way they find most comfortable.
• It is incredibly cheap. As of June 2026, I can buy it for $20 USD + $15 USD international shipping to Australia, which adds up to about $50 AUD at current exchange rates.

If you’re based in Australia and want to support local makers, I’d buy individual picks from Bare Bones. Here’s my shopping list (up to date as of 2026-05-24):

• Bare Bones Short Hook .023” with DLP Resin Handle (AUD $11.95)
• Bare Bones Medium Hook .023” with DLP Resin Handle (AUD $11.95)
• Bare Bones Triple Peak Rake .023” with DLP Resin Handle (AUD $11.95)
• Bare Bones TOK Bar Set (AUD $18.95)
• Bare Bones Light Tension Set (AUD $7.95)

The list above is $62.75 AUD plus $10.95 AUD shipping to my place in Sydney. Not as cheap as JimyLongs with international shipping, but you’d be supporting a great local maker!

Locks

Where To Find More Information

My Main Lockpicking Kit

This section lists out the tools that I personally find most value with at my current skill level and at this stage of my lockpicking journey.

I tend to go for the picks with the thickest metal I can mainly to maximize the lifespan of my lockpick collection. I suspect it also means better tactile feedback and the increased surface area might make it easier for the pick to hold onto pins, but I haven’t really tested that.

I try to minimize my picks in my main kit, whereas I collect loads of tension tools. Tension tools is where I actually value having a big variety, at least for the moment. I’m a very new lockpicker, so I’m trying out different tools and seeing what works for me. Different tension tools have different tactile feel (like if the shaft flexes), they fit into keyways differently, the shaft might be shaped differently to suit different lock-holding styles, some might provide more or less clearance for the pick, and I imagine there can be many other ways these things meaningfully vary.

So here are my main tools:

• Picks
  • Short Hook: Peterson Hook 1, 0.025” Government Steel, Plastic Handle
    • It’s the standard short hook profile.
    • It’s my first go-to hook for everything. Very low-profile, so it has the best chance of fitting.
  • Short Hook: Sparrows Short Hook (presumably 0.025” thickness)
    • Similar to the Peterson Hook 1, but with a more slender shaft (to fit even smaller keyways or make it easier to manoeuvre), and a smaller but rounded tip.
    • I also have this so I have a redundant short hook in case I’m teaching someone, or in case the Peterson breaks.
    • Despite its advantages, I’ll still try to use the Peterson first cuz the Sparrows Short Hook kinda looks a bit more fragile, though I might also be overthinking it.
  • Short-ish Hook: Sparrows Monkey Paw Classic (presumably 0.025” thickness)
    • It’s practically a modified standard short hook. A touch bigger than the standard short hook, but shaped to sorta behave like a standard short hook.
    • To me, the shape makes it easier to hold onto a pin, but harder to smoothly glide the pick over the pins while pushing the pick forwards (into the keyway). That has been how I keep track of my position in the keyway, so the Monkey Paw basically slows me down a bit.
    • The Monkey Paw serves a purpose of giving me an alternative in case I’m struggling to feel the pins with a common short hook but I need something small enough to still fit.
  • Medium Hook: Peterson Hook 7, 0.025” Government Steel, Plastic Handle
    • It’s my go-to medium hook. If the Peterson Hook 7 fits in the keyway, I’ll use it.
    • Nice rounded tip to feel the pins, but unlike something pointy like the Peterson Gem, it’s also quite easy to hold onto a pin. The 7’s rounded tip is a great compromise of feedback vs. ease of use for me.
    • The shape hooks quite deeply upwards while being quite slender, so it’s nice for extreme bittings.
    • The Peterson Hook 4 is a nice alternative, but 4 and 7 are similar enough that I haven’t found a case where their differences mattered. I went for the 7 as my medium hook of choice because of the more slender shape.
  • Medium Hook: Peterson Gem, 0.025” Government Steel, Plastic Handle
    • Quite different to the standard short hook. Like the Monkey Paw, it’s a little bigger than a standard short hook, but unlike the Monkey Paw, it’s shaped in a way that makes it behave like a medium hook.
    • The Peterson Hook 7 generally does everything better than a Peterson Gem, except the Gem is actually incredible for pushing the front-most pin while using TOK tension. I find that scenario particular challenging because of how many pick profiles are designed for lifting pins rather than pushing. As such, the Peterson Gem occupies this niche where I pick it up under very specific circumstances.
  • Deep Hook: Peterson Hook 5, 0.025” Government Steel, Plastic Handle
    • tbh I haven’t actually needed a deep hook yet, but it’s in my kit in case I need it.
  • Big Rake: Sparrows Triple Peak (presumably 0.025” thickness)
    • My go-to rake for bigger locks.
    • I haven’t really explored the different rake profiles yet, but I’ve found this one generally quick and comfortable.
  • Big Rake: Sparrows City Rake (presumably 0.025” thickness)
    • A niche-use rake mainly in my kit for two reasons: 1) as an alternative raking method if the Triple Peak fails, or if I want a less-abrasive method of raking (since the Triple Peak aggressively rubs on the pins).
  • Small Rake: Sparrows Medusa (0.020” thickness)
    • My go-to rake for smaller locks.
    • It’s technically a hybrid rake+hook, but I actually really like how aggressive yet smooth the rake profile is, so it seems to do a better job than a snake rake. The fact that it’s a hybrid pick that can hook is just a cool bonus. I’m sure I’ll find it interesting to use more often if I ever get into competitive lockpicking.
  • Decoder: Sparrows Ultra Decoder
    • I have this in case I encounter a vulnerable combination lock.
• Tension Tools
  • TODO: I should go through the tension tools as well to figure out what they are.
• Others
  • Carry Case: Sparrows Sherman
    • Loads of capacity and organization in a neat, relatively attractive, and secure carry case (as in, nothing can randomly fall out).
  • Traveler Hook: Sparrows Traveler Hook, Standard Size
    • Technically a door latch bypass tool, not a lockpick.
    • I own one mostly so I can audit my own physical security.
    • I keep it around in case there’s an opportunity to use it as a party trick. There are ethical concerns and possibility of unintentional damage to a doorway, so in practice, it’s extremely unlikely I will ever use this outside of my house.

I do keep a bunch of thinner picks in my main tool kit, but I’m not at the skill level where I find myself reaching for them yet. I’ll probably list them out as I gain confidence as a lockpicker.