Would this be a good beginner's set?

[Snopphanen]

Hello, Lock Picking 101.

I'm thinking about trying my hand at this intriguing hobby and found the following on Tradera (the Swedish eBay): http://www.tradera.com/Dyrkar-auktion_302429_129816781#objektsbeskrivning

A Secure Pro ten-piece (nine picks, one tension tool) set as far as I can tell -- not that that tells me anything. So, would this be a decent first buy?

[vov35]

I don't think I've ever heard of the brand before. Might I suggest you find something from the southord line?

[squelchtone]

That looks like the cheap kit DealExtreme sells for $6 US

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/advanced-9 ... icks-16417

Squelchtone

ps. As someone already said a Southord set is much better, get the Slim Line set for the narrower European keyways.

[MacGnG1]

the DX set is okay if you dont want to spend any money (and you wanna wait a bit for it to be delivered). This hobby costs money, so spend a bit and get a decent set of picks. A southord set is nice mine only cost me about 30 bucks with shipping.

See my review of the DX set:

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=42947

[Solomon]

I've got that set and actually like them a lot. They're extremely cheap so you'd think the quality would be terrible, but I had a nice surprise when I got them. A few of them were bent slightly and the tension wrench really sucks but apart from that, no complaints. I like them for the same reason I like goso picks... they're small enough for narrow-ish keyways and can take more punishment than the southords so I'll always use them first if I can. Not to mention they're great for teaching people with, cos it doesn't matter if they bend the hell outta them.

I'd say most people who rag on those picks either haven't used them or they just hate the idea of using cheap stuff (maybe it makes them feel cheap, I dunno). Not saying they're high quality or anything but you can pick just fine with em and the feedback is very good. It means that you'll get the feel for picking, then you can buy a nice set after a while and none of your newbie heavy handedness will be present in them.