Might be fun to learn. I have no situation where I would lose my keys but have my pick set. As far as preparedness it might come in handy, but I will use a bolt cutter and crowbar.

I was just contemplating lock-picking the other day. Personally, it seems to be a matter of stealth, because doors don't normally keep people in/out. In what situation will you have to pick a lock?

Please don't speculate as to my reasons for knowing this, but I've always been able to simply break into the drywall next to the door to access a room, or a window. Also, a few good kicks and a crowbar are good enough to take out most conventional doors.

Keep in mind that in order to legally posses a lock "bypass" set, you must have a valid reason, such as locksmith or some other trade. I used to have a set as a super for apartment buildings so that I didn't have to damage a lock or door on abandoned apartments. It takes a bit of practice, but playing with the tensioner while using a rake technique works on all but sophisticated locks. It isn't like you see on TV...picking a lock takes time and concentration. Certain brands of locks need to have the pins pushed and turned at the same time, in a specific order.
That being said, if you find the steel bristles from a street cleaner, they can be used to make great home made picks.
Keep in mind though, without a valid reason to poses, you can be charged with posession of break and enter tools.
I, of course, no longer have mine.

Sorry - Bit confused here 😕 - but that's not unusual 😐 . (I Think it's an age thing). 😯

Why would you need to pick a lock in a SHTF event ❓ ❓ ❓

The worlds gone to 'S--T' by this stage, Law & Order are gone out the window and most likely territorial now. Anything of value will already be looted or stolen by people who never prepared. 😎
If something useful still managed to go undetected why would you need such a delicate time consuming method?? ❓ 😎 ❓

As rabbit Teeth said - there are other options - dry wall, roof, ram raid or just simply kick-it-in!!! If your in a controlled area by some violent gang - get in - get out - quick ❗ ❗ ❗ ❗

Don't muck about trying to pick a lock - go through the wall or roof would be far quicker - you would likely be found in the time it can take lock-picking ❗ ❗ ❗ ❗ 😉

I don't see a need for this 'Delicate' 😳 touch to be applied under these circumstances. 🙂

I would ask what your level of understanding is of machinery in general. So many people see all machines as black boxes with no idea of the internal workings.
Lock picking will teach you that they're just a bunch of slots and pins and all you have to do is line things up and the thing opens. It's just a matter of complexity after that. Most machines are like that, once you know how they work, they're easy to understand and repair if needed.

All skills are useful, not necessarily for their original intended purpose but to add to your general skill set that transfers to other projects. It might give you ideas for your own unconventional locks or latches.
You could pick the lock and bang away at my gun cabinet door for an hour but until you remove that one bolt from the shelving unit on the other side of the wall, it ain't gonna open. These are the best kind of locks, the unique ones people have never seen before.

Most locks though are "honest folks" locks, simple to pick or defeat if you know how. It's much easier to pick the lock on your own toolbox because you lost the key rather than destroy the thing out of frustration getting it open.

If you have trouble grasping mechanical things this might help but the website looks like it's geared to something else.

Well I don't carry a crowbar or cutters in my bug out bag because of the weight problem. I know that humping a ruck with more then 35 lbs for me means I have very restricted mobility. Hard to run from trouble with too much weight on and end up shot dead. I figured that the pick set weighing in at what 2 ounces max might not add any noticeable weight but with proficiency in use would be able to enable discreet ability to salvage items. Making a ton of noise beating a lock off it's hasp I'll leave to the under 30 crowd. I know stealth is survival. Cutters are heavy and cumbersome and the picks are not. Is there another reason special forces oda team members, seals, marine force recon, jtf2, etc seem to include them in their tier one gear ? I may off the mark here but I don't think so. Appreciate those who spoke up though.

Just so you all know. Only B.C., Alberta and Quebec require a locksmith background for picks. It's all in contact of when they are on your person. Is it 3 a.m. and your dressed in black in someone's backyard (not good)' or in the crappy tire parking lot with my family (no problems).

Next time you change your wiper blades keep the old ones. If they have the spring steel stiffener it makes good stock for building a lock pick set.

Toool sells lock pick sets for like $30 and you can even buy practice locks that get harder as you get better. Dont need to have any kind of locksmithing background, you buy it they ship it. I can do a normal master craft lock or gun lock in like 3 seconds after about an hour or two of practice but its the doors and dead bolts that are hard.

here is the link anyone interested in buying a set http://toool.us/equipment.html

I can do a normal master craft lock or gun lock in like 3 seconds after about an hour or two of practice"

Oh really? For some reason, I feel a father/son conversation coming on.

😯

Next time you change your wiper blades keep the old ones. If they have the spring steel stiffener it makes good stock for building a lock pick set.

PLANS PLEASE-- SEND THEM 2 ME- IN CARE OF THIS FORUM- I Thankyou- 😀

This is a great resource for lock picking as a skill.

http://www.itstactical.com/topics/skillcom/lock-picking/

And the opening a padlock with a coke can totally works.

if you have the time, it's good fun and mentally rewarding when you pick your first lock. I learnt through the British Army back in the early 90's. still have the original set of picks. you will find that you can practically pick 15% of current locks on the market today and those are they same locks you can force open with a good screwdriver. if you are going to do it buy a cheap set of picks off the web, go to home depot and buy 10 or so cheap locks, glue them to a 2" x 4" and slowly have a go at opening each lock. we would train having 10 boards of 10 locks and swap when you opened all the locks. made you fast and you knew in the first 10 seconds if a lock could be picked.