Why practice picking padlocks when a handful of random old keys opens them?

The short answer is that you are learning the fundamentals of pin manipulation, but you’ve hit the natural wall of practice locks that are too simple. Picking a cheap hardware store padlock or a basic residential cylinder is like learning to drive a race car by practicing on a bicycle; the foundational movements are the same, but the complexity is totally missing. Those junk keys you found aren't proving that your skill is useless, they're just showing you that the locks you’re using have zero security design whatsoever. Most padlocks sold for casual practice are basically transparent, designed to be defeated by the first set of keys that happen to work.

To make your practice more meaningful, you absolutely need to start upgrading the targets you pick. If you want to build skills that translate to harder locks, you need cylinders with varying levels of security, not just ones that operate with simple shear pins. Start by looking at Kwikset or Schlage, specifically their higher-end lines like the Cylinders which often feature tighter tolerances and more pins, or consider buying a specific 'security' cylinder from a reputable manufacturer. These locks often use a combination of staggered pins or have complex internal designs that require genuine manipulation.

Buying a 'high security' kit isn't always necessary right away. A good step up from those sloppy padlocks is just finding a reputable brand that sells standard cylinder kits and ensuring you are practicing on one without 'half-turn' or obvious binding. The difficulty isn't usually in the pin counts, it's in the tolerances, the amount of wiggle, and whether the lock is designed to bind in a specific, non-obvious spot. That’s where the skill comes in. Keep practicing the same movements on these slightly tougher targets, and you'll start feeling the difference between just bumping a pin and actually manipulating the internal components.

I had the same deflated feeling a while back when a key off my own random keyring opened a practice lock I'd spent 20 minutes on. What actually got me moving again was picking up a cheap cutaway cylinder with spools and serrated pins in it. Feeling a pin fight back and having to set it twice taught me more in an evening than weeks on the padlocks did. The hook I was using was also part of the problem, a slightly thinner pick gave me way more feedback. If you can find something like that used, it's the cheapest jump in difficulty you'll get.

What I found interesting about your junk drawer experiment is that the keys wich only partially turn are actually more instructive than the ones that open the lock outright, because a key that rotates halfway is lifting some pins close to where they need to be and leaving others way off, which is the same feedback a pick gives you if you pay attention. I keep a little notebook of which pins bind first on each lock I own, and going back to the No. 3 with that written down made it feel less like luck and more like a puzzle. Have you tried picking the same lock blind, by the way? Tolerances stop mattering and feedback becomes everythign.

Ha, this takes me back. Back in my day we figured this out with a bobby pin and a pair of pliers, and we were grateful. Here's the thing though, those sloppy locks still teach you one skill that matters: feedback. You learn what a pin feels like when it's set versus when it's not, and that feel carries over. I'd also say don't sleep on raking as a party trick. It'll open half the junk locks out there in seconds, but it teaches you nothing about single pin work. Alternate between the two and you'll feel the difference real quick.

So I tried picking up some of those cutaway cylinders you mentioned. It defintely felt different getting those pins to set, which was helpful. However, once I managed to turn the cylinder a bit, I started struggling with the spring tension on the outside of the lock. How do you usually find the right pressure point to balance that tension?