I am just getting started and I have some rookie questions that I can’t exactly find the answers on YouTube. I haven’t tried picking yet, just fyi. Hopefully I’ll describe my questions properly.

Tension: when putting the tension tool into the lock, how do you know which way the lock will turn? If the lock was being turned with its key, would the lock turn either way? Does it matter which way you put in the tension tool and apply pressure? I’m also sure that this varies from lock to lock… but generally speaking? Maybe?

Pins: I know that the pins have to be pushed up in a certain order, but once they are up, do they stay up? The best way that I can describe this is like when you’re playing a strategy game on your phone, in order to pick a lock you have to find a specific order to push the pins, but if you push them in the wrong order, they reset and you must restart. So, if the order was 4, 3, 2, 1 and you pressed them in the order of 4, 3, 1, 2, the pins would reset and you would have to begin again until you got the correct order.

Do these questions make sense? It’s hard to explain when I don’t have the items in front of me to show as I explain.