How Long Does it Take to Learn Lockpicking

How Long Does it Take to Learn Lockpicking?  Well, it depends.  I learned with a very cheap set of picks.  A small brochure called “easy pickings” came with them.  I did not have any practice locks other than an old padlock.

It took me a few hours to get the lock open.  It also took a few days to be able to do it consistently.  I never bothered to really perfect my skill, so I can’t get higher quality locks open.

My friend Julian was taught by a person and not just a book, he practices more than I do, and had higher quality tools.  He is able to open harder locks, and can open all locks faster and more consistently than I do.

If you take the time to watch a few youtube videos, get a good basic set of tools from a reputable supplier like lockpickworld and devote some time to practice, you should be able to get a basic master-lock open in under an hour.

You don’t need a huge kit.   I normally only use the four basic picks Julian describes in my post on the basics of lock picks.

The main thing I learned from him that helped me was the amount of pressure to use on the tension wrench.  I had been using too much pressure and binding my pins up.