Turkish Lockpick Kit

[smalpick]

So I'm currently abroad in Turkey for a few months and I want to keep practicing lockpicking while I'm here. I left my kit at home in the states and I don't want to pay for shipping to get a new one. What are the chances, being that this forum seems fairly international, that any of you know how to say "lockpick kit" in turkish or know where one might be obtained? The closer to Ankara the better but I'll be traveling alot while I'm here so anywhere would work really.

[Engineer]

Hi Smalpick!

I don't know about Turkey specifically, but I do know some Moslem countries are VERY strict on locksmithing equipment. Some places will not allow key cutting machines into the country AT ALL. It seem likely then that picks will be viewed with similar suspicion. Fortunately Turkey is one of the most relaxed and laid-back (and wonderful) Moslem countries, so you might just be OK?

Please wait for someone (hopefully) to post specific information about obtaining them on here - If Turkey is as strict as some other countries, then just going into likely shops and asking for lockpicks could get you an unpleasant interview with the local Police, followed by deporation if you are lucky.

Even making your own, or posession could get you into a great deal of trouble, so you might want to check the stickies about the legalities of picks in different places around the world, such as here:

http://www.lockpicking101.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=863

Good luck!

[raimundo]

Perhaps you should forget about practice picking while youre in turkey, there are a lot of interesting things there, You would be wasting your time staying in and picking, you can do that at home,

Don't mention lockpicking and don't brag or show off about it. in fact, forget it until you need it and then it would help if you could make the picks from piano wire or even sweeper bristles. One member here from turkey says that after the machine sweeps the street, the guys with the broom and barrel come along and get the bristles and whatever it drops.
Don't even tell your local friends, the cultural difference and the suspicion toward americans is always there under the friendly surface, you don't need to scratch that surface.

There is a very excellent turkish locksmiths site on the internet, google lockpicks and look for the one from turkey in the first few pages, It has an english language page. This is a company that sells picks for autos and other types of locks. Sorry I forgot the name.

[vixroy]

Perhaps you should forget about practice picking while youre in turkey, there are a lot of interesting things there, You would be wasting your time staying in and picking, you can do that at home,

hes right. turkey is the bomb. dont waste your time picking locks when you can sit by the beach and watch beautiful women run around almost naked

i will suggest though, if you have a chance to go to the bazaar its your best place to find something lock pick related. if you have questions about turkey pm me and i can point you in the right directions if you still want to pursue it

[sevedus]

I spent a year and a half in Turkey and support the preceeding posts regarding cultural differences and liberality. That said, I found excellent machine shop capabilities there and was able to obtain anything I wanted as long as I could provide a dimensioned drawing. Just avoid publicity about what you're actually doing, like buying one part here, another there, instead of looking for a full tool kit, and you should be okay.
If you smoke a pipe you could get that folding knife-tool for cleaning the "dottle"(sp?) from the pipe bowl and install the picks in it. Most bowl scraping tools look like picks anyway. Just a thought.