Whats your hook preference?

[Cyclops154]

Hi everyone.

I ask the above question because I have found that I cannot pick with standard hook picks, whenever I try to pick a pin stack with one I always end up pushing adjacent pin stacks. But with a Diamond hook I can SPP without affecting other pin stacks at the same time.

Are you like me and find that a diamond hook is better or are you with standard hooks???

If you choose standard hooks, please could you give me tips to better my practice with them!? (since I have plenty of standard hooks varying sizes, but only two half diamond hooks. If I brake or bend them I will have to use the standard hooks! Please help if you can?

Kind Thanks

[deception]

Prefer a short hook, to be specific I like my Peterson short hook.

It's all practice, just keep on practicing with your hooks any you'll eventually get better.

Sometimes I do have trouble with using just the short hook with low cut pins in front of high cut pins, but that's when I break out a medium or long hook, and go at it that way.

[GeneT]

I like a short or medium hook. I think it depends on your picking style. I prefer to keep the 'neck' of the pick at or near the bottom of the keyway. With a long hook, I try to hold parallel to the movement. I don't think I could SPP many locks with a diamond (unless you mean a Deforest type diamond).

GsT

[Cyclops154]

Yeah I believe its a deforest style diamond hook. I find it easier to put under the pins in the gap between the tension wrench (bottom of the lock) and the pin stacks.

It's all practice, just keep on practicing with your hooks any you'll eventually get better.

It is a frustrating hobby - Sometimes I can SPP and sometimes I cant. but I will keep trying. Thank you for your kind words!

[Moosekace]

Short hook all the way. Depending on the shape of the keyway you can you different parts of it as a fulcrum or anchor point so that the pick isn't just floating. I find I can lift most lengths of pins this way.

[ALLS London]

if you prefer diamonds, just stick with diamonds.

I am a little OCD about my picks, I default to the diamond, but then in practice once I can pick a lock with the diamond, I go at it again with the hook (always the HPC short hook) just as a back up.

I also keep 5 of each on hand- I've never bent or broken a pick except in the middle of the night, usually in cold or wet weather.


get a few extra picks just to be safe.

[sterry20]

i know they can be expensive but goso has a little ole hook with a little dent in the tip where the pin sits give it a try and you will throw all the others in trash!

[Ozlocks]

I favour a hollow half diamond in the Bogota flat set as I can move it through the key way under the pins easier. I use a hook if the keyway is too small for the half diamond.

Having said that, if using a double half ball rake in your non master hand while hanging upside down works for you, keep doing it.

[raimundo]

I hve found that some very short hooks are the best first pick to use in locks with smaller plugs like master padlocks, american padlocks

when using any other pick on these small keyways, it becomes more difficult, but with the small small hook, and gentle tension the locks really want to open.

I first discovered the use of really small hooks when I started building snappers and decided to put a really small hook on the tip of the needle so that I could use it to feel out the fifth or last pin and assure myself that the needle was inserted to the correct depth. not a pin too little or long enough to foul itself in the boltworks.

I found that I could set some pins with the snap and finish with the tiny hook. this became really easy to do on these practice locks I use.

[Ozlocks]

Raimundo, you, sir, are a god. One of my home made Bogota's got me into a house today after we found a confused elderly lady on the side of the road wearing only pajamas in 6 degrees C. I've seen you mention snappers a couple of times now, what are they and how do they work?

[raimundo]

a snapper is the same thing as a pick gun or an electric pick, except its smaller lighter and easier to use than the pick gun and if you learn to use it well its about as effective as an electro pick.

think of a bike spoke with a coiled spring in the middle, so that the two ends point roughy the same direction, then one end of the spoke, typically the end with the nailhead is shaped into a long trap to dropn the other straight end into. the straight end is filed thin to fit in keyways.

You can see a number of crude examples on Youtube just search snapper pick,

I make them with a slight hook to feel the last pin on the tip of the needle, and a piece of pen that would be the trigger,

Matt at Serepick has some and said that some day he will post a photo.

Jess at Jaxslocksport has some and also said he would post photos, go ahead and ask these guys where the photos are.

[Josh66]

I tend to prefer a short to medium hook. Never quite got the hang of half diamonds...

I have a few long and 'extra long' hooks, but I haven't really found much use for them yet.

[Ozlocks]

Thanks Rai, will do. Just watched a couple short clips on the tube ans im amazed. My knowledge is growing........

[catsoup]

The diamond is a very good tool, when I first started years ago, that was what I started with, and inevitably swore by. Then I started using a southord short hook, and swore by that. then i started using the southord slimline medium hook, and liked that too, then I got their newer version (maybe 2 years ago they changed it a little bit? rounded edges, nicer construction) I swore by that too. Then most recently I got a hpc springsteel medium hook. I now use that primarily. What I learned from this transition was not that the hpc springsteel medium hook is the best, but rather, you can pick a lock with pretty much anything. (well, anything and practice) I now carry the hpc med hook, Southord med and small hooks, and a hpc springsteel half diamond.
On cheaper hooks, a little bit of sanding off the hard edges can go a long way.

As to sterry20 said about the goso picks, I havent used one, but will have to try this out, I'll just grind a little dent into an older hook.

[Ozlocks]

I favour a hollow half diamond in the Bogota flat set as I can move it through the key way under the pins easier. I use a hook if the keyway is too small for the half diamond.

Having said that, if using a double half ball rake in your non master hand while hanging upside down works for you, keep doing it.

Forgot to answer the actual question...... My go to hook at the moment is one I made from a bristle that I hand filed into shape. That's the good thing about making your own, if you want one with more or less reach, steeper or shallower curve, then you just modify or make it until you're happy. Keep it polished and smooth, look after it. These are tools that may just save your or someone else's life. It does in my line of work anyway.