When attempting a bank shot, it’s essential to consider the position of both the cue ball and target ball, as well as any obstacles on the table. There is a tradeoff, of course, since a longer handle may be difficult to maneuver around obstacles. Small digits represent short bottom pins (that must be pushed up more to reach the shear line); large digits represent longer bottom pins (that need only be pushed up a bit). Longer handles are as a rule better in torque tools; the farther from the plug the torque can be applied, the easier it is to detect and control fine movement. In general, the torque tool should be as thick as possible while still fitting in the keyway, and of a width sufficient to provide good control but without interfering with the picking tool's access to the pins. The selection of the torque tool is just as important as that of the pick, but, again, commercial pick kits often fail to include a sufficient range of sizes and designs to allow good control and feel across the range of common locks. While there are literally thousands of different keyways in commercial use in the United States and thousands more abroad, these four give a fairly representative sample of the different kinds of wardings (and pin manipulation problems) you are likely to encounter in common (non-high-security) locks.

The basic recommended pick set for this course includes four picks and four torque tools. The Peterson picks are more sturdy, at the expense of being bulkier (but they still fit easily in many of the keyways you'll be picking). Falle-Safe Security makes a set of vertically-oriented two-prong torque tools designed to fit snugly in a range of different pin tumbler keyways. While the LAB picks are quite nice, their small size makes them rather delicate and easy to bend or break, especially as you're learning how much lifting force and torque are involved. You'll probably end up deciding that the small Peterson hook works best, but experiment with all the picks. For most locks, especially as you're starting out, a workable compromise is often the smaller Peterson hook. That said, the Peterson hook picks are a bit too large to fit comfortably in more tightly warded keyways, especially those found on higher-security locks. The picks are available with blue plastic handles.

Three of the picks are of a "hook" design. The three hook picks in this kit are sufficient to manipulate the vast majority of pin tumbler locks found in the US. You will need a small set of cylinders in various keyways, a board or vice to hold them in while you practice, and a small re-pinning kit (extra pins and springs and a "follower" tool). Another style of torque tool has two "prongs" that fit in the top and bottom of the keyway, with a cutout between them for the pick. The tool must have a good fit to be effective, however. This keyway is a bit more "open" (it's intended to allow several different key profiles to fit in it), and so requires the use of a larger pick than the Arrow AR1 keyway does. Drill a 1-3/8 inch hole and use the mounting hardware supplied with the cylinder.

In the lab you'll find a collection of small (12 inch by 18 inch) lock boards, each containing six specially pinned locks with a given keyway. I made the torque tools out of Peterson's .025 inch spring steel of different widths. They include a standard hook (called the "Hook" in Peterson's catalog), a larger hook (the "Gem"), and a deep curve (the "Reach"). You'll probably find the large hook or deep curve pick works well here. First count them, making sure you find all five (or six). And whatever you do, please don't remove them from the lab without checking with me first! It can become very tempting to "cheat" a bit here and move ahead the moment you get a difficult lock open the first time, what is billiards but that will only make the rest of the course that much harder. Once a man was down, he was allowed to rest for 30 seconds.