The American 1100 padlock has been my nemesis – until now. Thanks to the Jiggle Test, Panavise 350 and the Lishi Tool.
I have been dabbling with lockpicking ever since the only picks you could get were HPC and the only way to get them was if you knew someone in the business.
Since then Locksport has become a real thing with a huge following worldwide. This include many Discord servers, Reddit subreddits, Facebook groups, YouTube videos and many more resources.
You can now buy picks from a multitude of online sellers/makers in the US, UK, EU and many other countries.
The Lock Picking folks at https://www.reddit.com/r/lockpicking/ and here https://discord.com/channels/140129091796992000/282170926064336907 have even come up with a belt ranking system similar to that used in marshal arts. The have ranked locks available all over the world by difficulty. Starting at white all the way up to black belt. This to help encourage you on your lock picking journey.
What is Locksport?
Locksport is a recreational and competitive activity focused on manipulating and understanding locking mechanisms, particularly with lock picking tools and techniques. It’s a hobby and sport where enthusiasts learn how to open locks without keys, often gathering in groups to share knowledge, exchange ideas, and participate in contests.
On the various groups mentioned above, the rules are simple
“Asking for assistance in regards to how to open a lock is permitted and encouraged, the lock must not be in use. Any submission looking for assistance in opening a lock that is implied to be, or is visibly in use (eg. a deadbolt still attached to a door, or a padlock with anything secured by a closed shackle) will be locked or deleted. Posting about picking locks or having picked locks in use is also not allowed even if they are your own.
Rule of thumb, lock is “in use” if installed.”
Keep in mind that locks are designed to keep out honest people. Anyone with ill intent wanting to gain access to somewhere or something that is locked is not going to be picking a lock. There are far more quicker, easier and often more destructive ways to gain entry. I mention this for those out there who think that the multitude of resources mentioned above are going to teach bad guys a new way to steal your stuff!
Each lock is like a puzzle whose pieces need to be correctly positioned in order to solve.
I found the white and yellows quite easy so challenged myself by trying to tackle an orange as my first submission to get onto the ranking system. It took some time but I managed to get there.
Next was to tackle an American 1100 lock which can be very challenging. Manufacturers start making use of spool, serrated pins and others to try and make picking a little more difficult. The “key” to being able to pick these locks is to understand how these various different styles of pins look and feel under picking. Through more good fortune than skill I managed to pick one of these American 1100 locks. To get the green belt the picking needed to take place on video complete with gutting and rebuilding the lock all in one unedited take,
Great Biltong Here
I was not happy with the fact that I picked this lock without fully understanding why. So, I reached out to the lock bazaar community on Discord and managed to get hold of a bunch more 1100s to play with. Well, with the exception of 1 or 2 the others had me stumped no matter what technique I tried, how many YouTube videos I watched or how much encouragement I got on the various forums.
I even bought myself a nice solid vise from Panavise which is supposed to help you feel the pins setting a lot better. I could not get it to work for me. I then tired a bunch more techniques but I was just not able to get it right.
For the umpteenth time I watched this great video about the jiggle test while picking locks.
It explains very well the different states of the pins and what you need to feel for in order to determine if a particular pin stack is set or not. I tried applying this again to the American 1100 but still no joy. I then found this video in which he uses an actual American 1100 lock and a Lishi Tool to really explain the jiggle test.
The American 1100 Conquered
This was my aha moment. I promptly purchased the AM5 Lishi Tool and went to work this time using my Panavise 350 as a stable base. It was not long before I got my first open. The I did my next and my next etc. It was not totally plain sailing but armed now with a better understanding of the jiggle test I was able to navigate my way through the 5 sets of pins in each of these American 1100 locks.
My plan is to repick all of these using the Lishi to get the proper feel of when a pin is set or not and even when to leave a pin alone when it’s already at the shear line. Then to put the Lishi Tool away and to pick all of these again using my Jimmy Longs 0.015″ picks and top of the keyway tension. Once I have all of these mastered I plan to pick at least one more green belt lock before earning the right to even attempt a blue level lock.
If you’re currently hitting a brick wall with these American 1100 locks or any other lock for that matter, I hope that my journey above will give you some encouragement.