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How to use a lock pick set

Updated: October 2026

The booklet in the case is a few pages, often poorly translated, and it will not teach the first session. You have a hook, a rake, a tension wrench, and a clear plastic lock on the desk. How to use a lock pick set, for this first sitting, is light tension on a lock you own, one pin at a time, and a point where you pack the tools away. Prices stay on the [lock picking set comparison](/hub/door-and-window-security/lock-picking-set). Statutes stay on the [UK law page](/hub/door-and-window-security/lock-picking-set/sub/lock-picking-set-legal-uk). Peter F. used reviewer comments in these amazon.co.uk files plus public hobby notes from Sparrows and Swift Locksmiths. It is not a lab and it is not a bypass guide. Updated 19 October 2026. Use the lightest tension that lets one pin bind. Stop when the pick bends, or when the only door into the house is the thing in your hand.

The booklet in the case is a few pages, often poorly translated, and it will not teach the first session. You have a hook, a rake, a tension wrench, and a clear plastic lock on the desk.

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Preciva Preciva 26-piece, 4 locks

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Preciva Preciva 26-piece, 4 locks
9.2/10about £24.99
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Eventronic Eventronic 17-piece, 2 locks

Rank 2

Eventronic Eventronic 17-piece, 2 locks
9.0/10about £15.99
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Diyife Diyife 26-piece, 2 locks

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Diyife Diyife 26-piece, 2 locks
9.0/10about £15.99
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On this page
  1. 1.Set the session up before you pick
  2. 2.Tension, then one pin
  3. 3.What an instant open means
  4. 4.When you stop

Set the session up before you pick

Work at a desk, with the included clear lock, or with a padlock you own and can afford to retire if it jams. Swift Locksmiths’ hobby note says to practise on locks you own, to use a training lock, and to leave the live front door alone. A fitted cylinder in a door you still need is the wrong first object, including a rented door, a shared entrance, and a fire door. Take one hook, one rake, and two tension wrenches out of the case. Leave the rest in the pouch so you are not swapping profiles every minute. Seat the clear lock where you can see the pins, with space to reset it if the plug turns the wrong way. If the paper manual is nonsense, which reviewers of Preciva, Diyife, and Eventronic say it is, ignore the promise that this takes minutes and use the lock you can see. A PDF that says you will be finished quickly is marketing. The feel of the clear lock is the lesson. This session ends with the case back in a drawer at home.

Tension, then one pin

Hold the tension wrench in the bottom of the keyway and turn it the way the key would turn, with very little force. Sparrows’ where to begin page describes that light force as about half a keyboard keypress. That is their teaching phrase for their own tools. It is not a measurement taken from these kits, and several of these sets do not state a top-of-keyway wrench. If your wrench only fits in the bottom of the plug, use the bottom. If nothing in the lock binds, ease off and start again rather than twisting harder. The hook is the pick you use to lift one pin. Start at the back pin, as that Sparrows page teaches, and lift until you feel a small set. The rake is the pick you scrub back and forth if you want to feel the stacks move at all. In one sitting, use the rake only long enough to notice that the pins are there, then go back to the hook. Too much tension is the mistake that bends a pick. If the hook bends, or the tip chatters and you are leaning on it, you have already passed the useful force. Reset the tension to almost nothing and try one pin again. Reviewers in these files already report bent and snapped picks on the cheaper sets. There is no clock time in these sources for a first sitting. Stop when you are forcing the wrench, when the pick has a new curve, or when you have opened the clear lock and you are tempted to move the same motion onto a door.
Preciva Preciva 26-piece, 4 locks

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Preciva Preciva 26-piece, 4 locks
9.2/10about £24.99
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What an instant open means

Reviewers across Preciva, Diyife, Eventronic, and IPSXP say the acrylic locks open very easily. One Preciva buyer had the practice padlock open in about two minutes. Some IPSXP comments say the locks open with almost any tool. An instant open means the plastic lock is doing its job as a diagram, and then it has finished teaching. It does not mean the same motion will open a padlock you rely on, or a cylinder in a door. If the plug turned before you had a sequence, look at the pins through the shell, reset the lock, and try once more with less tension so you can feel a bind. After that, more repeats on the same clear body train your eye on a lock that barely resists. The transparent practice lock page is where you decide whether to keep that lock or move to a metal cutaway. Do not buy a second acrylic bundle because the first one felt like a win.

When you stop

Pack the set away when the pick has bent, when the plastic lock has cracked, or when you notice you are hunting for a harder lock in the house. A bent pick is a stop, not a prompt to try the same force on a fitted cylinder. A cracked clear lock is a spent diagram. Leave it. If a practice attempt has already jammed a lock you still need, stop. Forcing it again is how a desk exercise becomes a lockout. Call a locksmith when you are locked out, when the door is rented or shared, when you cannot name the cylinder, or when the only entrance is involved. A second attempt on the front door is outside this page. The hobby, if you continue, stays on locks you own and can put back in a drawer. Children appear in a few reviews, including a gift mention at age 11 and a parent talking about age 16. Supervision is a household rule of thumb. It is not a section of the Theft Act, and a listing that says the set is for children is marketing.

Common questions

Where do I start if the booklet is nonsense?
Start with the clear lock on a desk, one hook, and a tension wrench turned only enough to feel a pin bind. Reviewers of these kits call the paper guides auto-translated or near useless, so the booklet is not the lesson. A video can show hand position. It does not give you permission to touch a lock that is not yours.
How hard should I push the tension wrench?
Use the lightest turn that still lets one pin stay set. Sparrows describes that as about half a keypress on a keyboard. Treat that as their classroom phrase, not as a number measured on Diyife or Eventronic wrenches. If the plug will not move and the pick is flexing, you are already too heavy. Reset and lighten the turn.
What is the difference between a hook and a rake, in one sitting?
The hook lifts a single pin. The rake scrubs across several pins so you can feel that the lock is full of stacks. Use the rake briefly, then pick one pin with the hook from the back of the plug. A case of thirty extra shapes does not change that split on the first evening.
Why did the clear lock open when I barely tried?
Because reviewers of these acrylic locks describe them as easy, and some open with almost any tool. The shell is there so you can see a pin reach the shear line. An easy open is the end of that picture, not evidence you can open a door cylinder.
What do I do if a pick bends?
Stop the session and put the set away. A bent or snapped tip is reported on these cheaper kits when people lean on the pick. Do not straighten it and move to a fitted lock to finish the lesson. If the lock you were using still has to secure something, leave it and call a locksmith if you have jammed it.
Can I practise on my own front door?
Leave the live front door, and leave the only door that secures the home. Swift Locksmiths states that limit for hobby practice. A padlock you own, on the desk, is the object. A rented, shared, or unnamed cylinder is a locksmith’s problem if it will not open with the key.
When do I stop and call a locksmith?
Call when you are locked out, when the door is not solely yours, when you cannot name the cylinder, or when a practice attempt has jammed a lock you still need. The pick set does not become the remedy at that point. Pack it away and use a locksmith.

Related pages

Lock picking set buying guide

Lock picking set

Best lock pick set: who it is for, and who skips

Are lock picks legal in the UK? Three separate rules

Transparent practice lock: see the pins, then stop

Sources

Public UK sources below, plus the eight amazon.co.uk saved listings for prices, stars and review counts. UKBumpKeys and KSEC figures are October 2026 shop pages, not a lab. Last reviewed October 2026.

  1. Theft Act 1968 section 25 (retrieved October 2026)
  2. CPS, Theft Act offences (retrieved October 2026)
  3. Theft Act (Northern Ireland) 1969 section 24 (retrieved October 2026)
  4. Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 section 58 (retrieved October 2026)
  5. Swift Locksmiths, locksmithing as a hobby (retrieved October 2026)
  6. UKBumpKeys, lock pick sets, October 2026 (retrieved October 2026)
  7. Sparrows, where to begin (retrieved October 2026)
  8. KSEC, Sparrows Kick Start (retrieved October 2026)
  9. Swansea Hackspace, lockpicking (retrieved October 2026)