Pocket-knife picks, worth it to buy?

[FunkyGuy]

I am currently still getting better at lock picking, I have been using home made tools like pen clips and tweasers and now im looking into buying one of the jacknife picks.

Metal pick
http://www.lockpicks.com/product.asp?3=19

Plastic pick
http://www.lockpicks.com/product.asp?3=20

The metal one the picture on this forum on the top banner for left both are there. Now are these worth my money? im not sure if I should save 10 dollers and buy the fiberglass one or the metal one, fiberglass is 10 dollers less but its fiberglass. I plan to be using this as my one and only lock pick for a while at my current rate. does anyone recommend another set or which one for me to buy?

[marso]

I would suggest getting a nice (normal) pickset while you are at it.

[CitySpider]

The only reason they're worth buying is because they're cool, and easy to carry around. A couple of normal picks work better and are 1/5th of the price.

[UnLock]

Hello FunkyGuy,

As marso mentioned, you should definitely consider purchasing an actual pick set. I bought a 14 piece set but as many have mentioned in the past, even a smaller set with only 5-8 would suffice. If you could afford it, get the jacknife and a 5 piece set at the same time (save on shipping later on). I don't have a jacknife so I have no idea how easy they are to use but I would imagine they'd make it a bit difficult to get feeback from the lock when picking. With the individual picks, you should be able to pick locks easier/quicker than with the jacknife.

Between the 2 jacknifes, I personally like the aluminum model a lot. Something about nice shiny metal makes my eyes glow. Is it really worth paying the extra 10 or so dollars? Well to me it is but that's just my opinion. I would think it would be more robust than the fibreglass one but again, I'm just guessing. If you're going to use it as your main pick(s) then I would go with the aluminum (if it indeed is stonger) or go with the fibreglass if it'll just be a backup. Perhaps someone else will add to this.

Eventually I wouldn't mind having one myself but I've just recently purchased the MPSX-14, 3 extra tension wrenches, Brockhage pick gun (plus extra needles for it), and a SouthOrd 8 tubular pick.

Bottom line is, if you can afford both the aluminum jacknife and a pick set, go for it. I think you'll be happier having both. If you're a little tight right now, maybe you can get the fibreglass model (cheaper) and the difference in price from the aluminum one you can buy a 5 piece pick set.

The choice is all yours. Good luck with your decision and keep us posted how you make out.

hmmm...nice shiny silver

[Luke]

I have heard bad things about the southord one, most people prefer this one
http://www.lockpicks.com/product.asp?3=21
HPC i believe

[CitySpider]

Who's "most people?"

[UnLock]

I'm not sure but it doesn't look too ergonomical. Also, it looks like it may be a little shiny but it's definitely not as pretty as the SO model.

[Kaldak]

check out this one:

http://www.lockpicktools.com/images/sl6-close-800.jpg

just came in for me. seems to work quite well, even if the half dimond is a little odd. its very easy to switch between picks with just one hand, and it makes a very nice little package. the picks lock pretty well too...though my snake doesnt seem to lock as well as the others....

just out of curiosity, why is this on the automatic/mech board anyway?

[marso]

Btw if you read the below threads (or if you did a search) you would find most peoples comments on these sets. I do not think they cover the plastic vs the metal though. Anyone tried both of these? Which do you prefer and why?

So many duplicates in this forum

viewtopic.php?t=219
viewtopic.php?t=1395

Let us know what you decide and how you go. Best of luck, and happy picking.

[FunkyGuy]

Well thank you for all the input, Iv been persuaded to buy a set which would have alot more picks.
I am going for this set
http://www.lockpicks.com/product.asp?0=204&1=217&3=28

this way I could have many picks, I am getting this because it has 10 picks and 1 broken key extrator and 4 tension wrenches, which seems like more then enough for me. If anyone recommens another one that would also be great, but im happy with having 10 picks which is better then my what I used to use which was a tweaser on my pocketknife.

[UnLock]

I recently bought the MPSX-14 but ended up receiving the PSX-14 by mistake. Lockpickshop is correcting this and the MPSX set is on its way. The PSX is ok but I do find them a little hard on the fingers because they're so thin. Adding the rubber handles doesn't do it for me either as I can't seem to 'feel' the pins all that great. I can't wait to get the slightly thicker MPSX set.

You might want to consider paying an extra $10.00 to get the more comfortable (in my opinion) set. It's a bit of a difference but you might be happier with them in the long/short run. If you're like me, your hands will thank you.

There certainly are a bunch of choices to make and all the different pick sets just makes it that much harder to make the final decision.

Let us know which set you finally end up ordering.

[David_Parker]

On the contrary Luke, I've heard better things about the SouthOrd jacknife better than the HPC. Lockpicks.com's version is their own I think. I always carry around my jacknife. Always. But I rarely use it. Normal sets work better in my opinion.

But hey, I only asked a few people. It is afterall, an opinion and preference.


-My two cents: Dave.

[FunkyGuy]

One thing I plan on doing is caring it around with me. but with same price I can get a good set. But I dont know if im going to be picking locks at random, well i do if im bored but I normally go at set times so so far im going witht he set, but they are both so tempting

[GrEmLiN]

Hm, a friend of mine has a lock pick set that is built into a fake credit card.. I should try to track one of those babies down

[Chucklz]

I imagine you could easily make one from a few cheap plastic cards and some parts from the SouthOrd Jackknife set. Just a thought.