If you guys are interested in lock picking, the thing that has helped me most, by far, was the cutaway locks. I got a cheaper one than the Southord one encased in plastic but mine came with lots of extra pins so you could make it more difficult. Start with only a couple of pins to get the feel of how much pressure you should use (very little) and work your way up to 6 pins using both the rake method and individual pin picking with the hook pick. Then try putting short pins next to long pins....good luck with that!

This method will have you picking most locks in no time. If they aren't illegal in your state or it's part of your job (you better have proof....just saying), learn how to use bump keys.

Some cheap padlocks can be opened in a couple seconds using the jiggle method and as always, practice makes perfect.

I don't care for the clear / cut away ones myself. I spent years trying to pick my first pad lock. Now they're fairly easy.

What worked for me was getting Deviant's book Practical Lock Picking. In it he talks about getting progressively pinned sets. You can actually make your own with a couple of dead bolts. Actually all you need is a double key dead bolt and you've got 2 locks that you can make changes to on a regular basis. Not that hard.

Get the Defiant locks from Home Depot, and you get 2 security pins too.

looking at the locks and seeing what's going on makes it harder to do without looking later from what I've been told / read. The progressive kits makes it really easy. You get the feel for 1 pin at a time.

They're not that hard to make either. I have 3 locks with the same key 3 separate packages bought about a week apart. (think about that one bought 1, then week later bought other 2).

Took one of the 6 keys and filed it down. Works too. Not easy, but I've opened the lock 3 times now.

I started out trying to pick a padlock. I'd lay on the sofa watching TV and spend hours trying to crack that lock. After a month or so with no success, I bought a cutaway lock and right off the bat...."Ah-Ha! That's how much tension you use, I do have to use more pressure here than I thought, etc". That same night I cracked that $%&* padlock for the first time.

I won't say ages, but a guy in the Locksport group I started, gets really excited about picking locks. His wife did the drawings this book, but he was never able to get the locks picked. He started with 1 pin, got to 2. I think 3 is still giving him some trouble, but one of my padlocks only has 2 pins in it (Master Number 03) and he got excited when he picked it.

Yeah...  Something made much simpler when they see the pins moving, and can really watch what picks and / or bumping actually do. It's fun stuff.

I almost took a job, about 10 - 11 years ago, working for a locksmith.  My buddy still works there, and we chat now and then.  Some days, I think that could be a fun job, but IT security, to me is much more fun.  Maybe as a retirement gig...

If you can find a lockpick group in your area, I'm sure you could find someone there to let you test out a cutaway.  You could check this LockPicking101.com forum or just use some google-fu to see what you can find

**EDIT**
I guess "locksport" would be the term to use when researching for a local groups..?

I got this one:
http://www.lockpickshop.com/EZPLX.html

It is great and I can swap out pins so I can teach someone with two pins, but change them out so I practice with 6 pins with 1 or 2 being spool pins.