Comb pick

A comb pick, “peine” in Spanish, is a tool with several prongs in a row that is inserted into the cylinder to push all the pins upwards at once, beyond the shear line, so that the plug is left free. It takes its name from its shape, which looks like a comb.

It is an attack that exploits a design flaw: cylinders whose pin chambers leave too much space above the pins. On old or very cheap cylinders it can work while leaving hardly any marks.

Quality cylinders prevent it with tight pin chambers, which leave no room for the pins to rise all the way, and with key profiles that do not let wide tools in.

From the outside you will not know whether your cylinder is vulnerable; the manufacturer’s sheet and the overall quality of the cylinder give you the clue. If you have an old one with no paperwork, it is worth replacing it with one of our security cylinders.