What I have.

[Varjeal]

I like TechTrains air wedges and their standard wedges (the plastic ones) but I personally do not like the Jiffy Jak long reach tool. I find it unwieldy and a general pain in the butt. I actually use in place of it an unbent HPC tool I got in a buy-out.

I'm likely to cut down the TT tool to something a bit more accomodating. Also, I find it a pain in the butt to store, but that's just my personal viewpoint, as I know a few lockies who swear by it.

[Guitar_J]

isn't the jiffy jack just a over priced set of wedges and a long reach tool?

it just seems to me that if one had 2 regular wedges, an air wedge, the protective sleeve and the long reach tool it would be the same thing.

which reminds me... has anyone tried making an air wedge out of a blood pressure cuff?

[Eyes_Only]

Varjeal, I agree that the long reach tool for the jiffy jack is kind of a pain and is the one tool that causes me to take the most time to set up. But can you really use an unbent tool for car opening? I thought the rod would have to be curved somewhat to contact and better manipulate the rocker switch.
And for the price of the tool set, yeah it is kinda pricey but its guarantee to not cause damage to the vehicle is what sold me. Some of the other cheaper jacks are of low quality ive heard, because its built in rubber base tend to fall off because its glued on or for the ones that are held in by screws, tend to tear itself out through the base eventually, marring the vehicles finish. I personally would rather pay double for the right tool instead of the cheaper one and avoid having to pay double, triple or more for any damage i might have done to my customer or friends cars using the cheaper tool.

[Mad Mick]

Eyes: have you had any success with the rocker picks yet? Also, that LT half diamond is a big sucker isn't it, definitely needs some TLC with a grinder.

[Eyes_Only]

Havent had much success with it. Partly because the tension tool that comes with it is such a piece of junk. Im plannning on buying a better wrench but not any time soon. Ill prolly make the jiffy jak my primary tool and the pick set as my back up.

[randmguy]

Guitar_J its really hard to use a BP cuff for an air wedge. Without the sleeve, a BP cuff has a tendency to just bulge out on either side of the door without opening it. And trying to get a BP cuff between the door and frame while its in the sleeve is a royal pain in the *ss (I've seen someone try it before). BP cuffs don't last long as air wedges either. Air wedges are made of some pretty heavy vinyl and most BP cuffs are rubber.

Mad Mick, I've got the #290 foreign rocker set and I've had fair results with it. It works well on a lot of Chrysler products as well as the Japanese autos.

[Mad Mick]

We've got a lot of Japs (cars that is) but no Chryslers. Having said that, we are bringing in the PT Cruiser soon, so maybe I'll keep an eye on my picks.

[Luke]

Varj what do you reckon of the HPC fishing pole, the like hollow rod with wire in it with hook on end and u pull etc

[Varjeal]

Luke: Never used it, but always wanted to. Looks like an interesting idea.

Eyes_Only: The modified tool I used was still left with a slight curve and bent tip, basically about 2/3 the length of the long reach tool, and works great.

[mattc]

I've been playing with my digital camera:
[img][img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v204/mattnde/P1010005.jpg[/img][/img]
Has anyone seen a similar object used as a pick handle, I bought the set many years ago and haven't seen anything like it. The picks click into place quite firmly and feedback doesn't seem affected. Here's a closer view
[img][img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v204/mattnde/P1010008.jpg[/img][/img]
Some Southord stuff. The 6 tension tools on the right were made from sweeper bristles
[img][img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v204/mattnde/P1010002.jpg[/img][/img]
And finally my slimline set (with more homemade tension tools) and my pick gun with homemade wires. I wasn't too sure of the proportions for these, I've used some of them successfully, so I can't be far off. The brightly coloured case used to hold and insulin pen in a previous life
[img][img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v204/mattnde/P1010003.jpg[/img][/img]
[img][img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v204/mattnde/P1010009.jpg[/img][/img]

[_Ethereal_]

heres some of my locks and my small set of picks:

(im missing about 22 padlocks:( )







its noy much yet, but i plan to build my set up in the next few weeks

[Romstar]

The snap on pick handles you have are for Ilco picks. I have several of these now.

Ilco now has two types of picks you can buy. When you buy the sets, they are all non-handled picks, and you get the snap on handles. Sometimes 2, and sometimes four. You have the contoured ones, if they are really old, yours will say Pat. Pending. The new ones have a Pat. number on them. The other type of snap on handle is just straight.

The other type of pick that Ilco sells is exactly the same, with the exception that they have moulded rubber handles. Very similar to the HPC rubber handles.

Nice picks really.
Romstar

[mattc]

Thanks Romstar, that really had been bugging me. The set the handle's part of is about 15 years old. It seems to comprise of picks from different sources and even included a hacksaw blade as a "blank pick" to make a replacement should I have broken one.

[plot]

here's the majority of my locks:


there's alot of cam locks (MIWA Magnetic Lock, Medeco, a DOM ripoff...) as well as some padlocks, rims, etc. including: Master Lock, Mul-T-Lock, Abloy Protec (the rim), Kaba Gemini (another rim), American Locks, Abus, Locks of America (Abloy type of lock), and a few other misc. ones.

[plot]

sorry about the qaulity of my pictures, my digital camera is old... low megapixels... poor qaulity...