Peterson Picks vs. Southern Specialties

[Davis]

Hello all,

I'm looking to buy a lock-pick set, and have heard very good things about both of these manufacturers. The question of the is: to your mind, which one is higher quality; or, does one of them lose on quality but win on price point? Thanks.

[LocksmithArmy]

I use peterson when I use a machine made pickset.

I find peterson picks to be very strong and they are thinner than any other picks you can buy.

If you have not done reseearch into the picks(I imagine you have but for the other readers) peterson picks are made of a steel invented by ken person himself and it has the highest tensil strenght of any steel out ther to date. because of this he can make his picks thinner than the competition, which comes in handy when you need the space. Many of his pick sets have a warranty but you probably wont need it(plus the warranty is not that good, like $12 will replace any pick in the set, some picks are only $8 others are $15 so depending on which picks break it may not be worth it)

If you are not worried too much about the extra room and you are not overly forceful with your picks you should be ok with whatever you choose,

[sfi72]

I use peterson when I use a machine made pickset.

I find peterson picks to be very strong and they are thinner than any other picks you can buy.

If you have not done reseearch into the picks(I imagine you have but for the other readers) peterson picks are made of a steel invented by ken person himself and it has the highest tensil strenght of any steel out ther to date. because of this he can make his picks thinner than the competition, which comes in handy when you need the space. Many of his pick sets have a warranty but you probably wont need it(plus the warranty is not that good, like $12 will replace any pick in the set, some picks are only $8 others are $15 so depending on which picks break it may not be worth it)

If you are not worried too much about the extra room and you are not overly forceful with your picks you should be ok with whatever you choose,

umm....actually, he didn't.

[LocksmithArmy]

oh... my bad , on there dvd I got it said they did...

Maby not him by name but I figure his company did as they held the patent.
(assuming it didn't run out I dont know much about patents)

But please straighten my thoughts.

[apb]

I have sets from both of those companies and I'll just say my personal opinion. It doesn't matter. Both of these companies puts out quality picks that will open locks. You are the deciding factor. I don't know your picking experience/skill but the lockpick manufacture set is second only to the amount of time you put into this. I will say this thoug for quality, peterson are nice, but they are pricey. Personally picking with a peterson versus a southern specialites or Southord or HPC for that matter really is not any different.

[LockNewbie21]

Straight up? Peterson. I was appualed at the thickness of there standard picks.

But if you go for there slender pick's you'll be good. Just get your sand paper ready mate.

LN21

[Davis]

I have sets from both of those companies and I'll just say my personal opinion. It doesn't matter. Both of these companies puts out quality picks that will open locks. You are the deciding factor. I don't know your picking experience/skill but the lockpick manufacture set is second only to the amount of time you put into this. I will say this thoug for quality, peterson are nice, but they are pricey. Personally picking with a peterson versus a southern specialites or Southord or HPC for that matter really is not any different.

Okay, thanks. That answers my question; and I believe I'd go with the Southern Specialties, on price point. I'm not terribly experienced at picking, and if I decide to upgrade I can do that later.

One question though, for Locknewbie: I didn't realize the Peterson picks were so thick, I thought it was the high quality of the steel they used that made them strong; in fact, I used a friend's Peterson Government Steel triple rake, and thought it was fine. Can you clarify your experiences with them? Thanks all.

[LockNewbie21]

I have sets from both of those companies and I'll just say my personal opinion. It doesn't matter. Both of these companies puts out quality picks that will open locks. You are the deciding factor. I don't know your picking experience/skill but the lockpick manufacture set is second only to the amount of time you put into this. I will say this thoug for quality, peterson are nice, but they are pricey. Personally picking with a peterson versus a southern specialites or Southord or HPC for that matter really is not any different.

Okay, thanks. That answers my question; and I believe I'd go with the Southern Specialties, on price point. I'm not terribly experienced at picking, and if I decide to upgrade I can do that later.

One question though, for Locknewbie: I didn't realize the Peterson picks were so thick, I thought it was the high quality of the steel they used that made them strong; in fact, I used a friend's Peterson Government Steel triple rake, and thought it was fine. Can you clarify your experiences with them? Thanks all.

I believe it was "The City" set. It was there spring steel tools. I have not tried there stainless yet, so i cannot give an opinion on them.

However there spring steel tools where simply not usable with out rigorish finishing (i had to actually break ou tthe files). I also had to do some reshaping to make them somewhat versitile.



There okay if your going to be messing with kwickset's, but are "not practical" for someone who deals with a wide range of lock's with some being more paracentric than others.


LN21

[dmux]

yea petersons do take quite a bit of elbow grease to finish because of the hardness of the steel. you can sand and sand on them, but once you got them smooth.. watch out.. very nice

[Davis]

Thanks for all the replies, guys. Got another question.

As anyone who has looked on the Southern Specialties website knows, their picks come in Laminated Ripple Handle, as well as Ripple Core Handle. Does anyone here have any idea whether or not this is really any more helpful than plain laminated handles?

Thanks again.

Davis

[thelockpickkid]

Check out HPC's, they are used by alot of locksmiths in my area including myself, I love there quality and there price, some I have have been used for 10 years, they were passed down to me, they are still as good as new! I do believe those picks your talking about come in the laminated ripple handles, I think I have looked at them myself.

[GottFoo]

I'm sure its all personal preference, but I find the ripple core handles to be nice.

[thelockpickkid]

the ripples look to be ok, I don't know what help they would be, I have heard that they hurt your hands, I don't know, I have never tried them.

[apb]

Thanks for all the replies, guys. Got another question.

As anyone who has looked on the Southern Specialties website knows, their picks come in Laminated Ripple Handle, as well as Ripple Core Handle. Does anyone here have any idea whether or not this is really any more helpful than plain laminated handles?

Thanks again.

Davis

I have a couple ripple handles from southern speciaties, a couple short hooks, and they're the ones I have been using lately. I like it but it personal preference. As far as being helpful, they aren't going to make a difference as far as feeling the pins setting or anything like that. One thing to try also is heatshrink tubing over the laminated ripple handle to make for a nice grip.

[zeke79]

I have had both and hands down like peterson picks better. The peterson plastic and rubber handles feel better than the laminated ripple core SS picks. The steel the peterson picks are made from to me has a much better feel/feedback. Overall the peterson picks seem to me to be a higher quality pick which is why I sold my laminated ripple core set of picks that I bought after using them for a couple of months to get used to them and give them a fair shot when comparing them to the petersons.

In the end it all comes down to personal preference and which picks offer the best feedback for you.

Hope that helps some,

Zeke79