This is a lot of fun - I recently started the lock-picking hobby with my 10 year-old daughter: searching for activities specifically to improve her fine motor skills after seeing her frustrations in using the key on our home's rather "sticky" back-door lock. We stepped up to this kit from a Brockhage clear practice lock that was also purchased via a Massdrop deal, along with a SouthOrd 22-piece set.
Our clear Brockhage lock (standard pins) was actually a bit harder to pick than I'd anticipated. As a few Amazon reviewers noted, some come with pins that are somewhat difficult to set, and we got lucky like that. Being able to visualize the pins, however, made this a challenge that was joyfully difficult but not insurmountable, even for my daughter.
The ST-23 was great in that the lock's innards are not visible, and the gradual build-up from single-pin to 5 pins made for an excellent learning curve for both of us, teaching us the tactile elements in a manner that the clear lock, particularly with the quirk that ours presented with, could not. Over the course of 10 minutes - and with some encouragement - my daughter was able to pick the #1 lock, and by the time she finished with #2 (which was considerably more difficult for her, as it truly required her to "feel" for that other pin), she was able to confidently attack the remaining locks by herself. Each "step" provided just enough frustration as to make it a challenge both for her and for me, and to see her face light up as she defeated them only magnifies the feeling of accomplishment that I recalled for myself, as I did the same.
The review below by fellow member jereman is not incorrect in that the spare locks just rattle around in their shallow detents and are not held with any security - annoying, to say the least, when actively picking. Therefore, when we work on picking, we simply remove the spares from their holders. However, as a static stand for display (it makes for an interesting discussion piece, sitting atop our living room bookshelf), it helps keep things together in a neat fashion. Both my daughter and I have found the stand itself, along with the simple thumbscrew lock-holder at its apex, to work reasonably well, easily resisting sufficient rotation via the torque of the tension bar to get the job done while holding the locks securely enough that "opening" the locks have never been a problem.
Our clear Brockhage lock (standard pins) was actually a bit harder to pick than I'd anticipated. As a few Amazon reviewers noted, some come with pins that are somewhat difficult to set, and we got lucky like that. Being able to visualize the pins, however, made this a challenge that was joyfully difficult but not insurmountable, even for my daughter.
The ST-23 was great in that the lock's innards are not visible, and the gradual build-up from single-pin to 5 pins made for an excellent learning curve for both of us, teaching us the tactile elements in a manner that the clear lock, particularly with the quirk that ours presented with, could not. Over the course of 10 minutes - and with some encouragement - my daughter was able to pick the #1 lock, and by the time she finished with #2 (which was considerably more difficult for her, as it truly required her to "feel" for that other pin), she was able to confidently attack the remaining locks by herself. Each "step" provided just enough frustration as to make it a challenge both for her and for me, and to see her face light up as she defeated them only magnifies the feeling of accomplishment that I recalled for myself, as I did the same.
The review below by fellow member jereman is not incorrect in that the spare locks just rattle around in their shallow detents and are not held with any security - annoying, to say the least, when actively picking. Therefore, when we work on picking, we simply remove the spares from their holders. However, as a static stand for display (it makes for an interesting discussion piece, sitting atop our living room bookshelf), it helps keep things together in a neat fashion. Both my daughter and I have found the stand itself, along with the simple thumbscrew lock-holder at its apex, to work reasonably well, easily resisting sufficient rotation via the torque of the tension bar to get the job done while holding the locks securely enough that "opening" the locks have never been a problem.