If you could only have 5 manual picks on you..

[bumber]

For the sake of these being the only picks I have I would have to say...
1.diamond
2.hook
3.half round
4.snowman
5.bogota (humps)
If we get a wrench then Im set...if not...thats half the reason I chose the 'gota

[le.nutzman]

1. SouthOrd Short hook
2. Petersen slender reach
3. Raimundo's Bogata
4. LN21's hook Pick
5. Deforester Pick

Based on what i've seen thus far, dealt with and have picked, these picks would give you the most versatility across the board amongst keyways and high-low bitting. Rai's bogata, there's nothing I can say except it's like Midas, everything it touches turns to gold.

[paulvalente]

Short Hook
Long Hook
Single Ball
Diamond
Snake

.125 LAB wrench (Love this size, perfect for tight European keyways)

[zikmik]

half ball (see why: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=zikmik84)
w rake
bogota
dimple pick
half diamond

tension wrench
auto tension wrench

[Safety0ff]

All diy:
-Small deforest/ small offset/modified small diamond
-Deforest / Offset/ modified diamond
-Short hook
-half diamond
-Half ball pick (inspired by zitmik's youtube videos )

If I raked then there'd be a bogota in there for sure.

[raimundo]

Id carry a bogota set, (two picks, two tensors)
A bogota hooks set, two picks, two tensors)
A mini tubular (I make my own)

this would not cover everything, but in five picks, there are also 4 tensors,

Actually I often only carry the pin on bogota set, as there is not that much that comes up to pick,

there are special pick tools, such as the mercedes or lexus tools, etc, but you arent talking about having a complete comprehensive set. you want a general purpose set.

If you know the only lock you want to pick then you can chose the toolset accordingly. In fact if you know the lock, you could make the bumpkey.

[cjames73]

short standard hook
med slimline hook
long slimline hook
bogota made by LN21

[SOG]

Diamond
Half Ball
Snake
short hook
rake

3 wrenches

[dougfarre]

-Triple Snow Man
-Broken Key Extractor
-Saw Tooth Rake
-Ramped Rake
-Ultralarge Hook

[ccmmyy25]

Half Diamond
Hook
Bogota
Double Ball
Small Half Diamond

[raimundo]

just a question, Dougfarre, what would you use the large hook for?

Large hooks are not made for pin tumbler locks, but are used on lever tumbler locks, and therefore require the leverlock tensor also.

[vitti]

I'm still a bit of a newbie but I find I use a large hook from time to time. If the back pin is short and a nearby pin is long and the short/back pin is last to bind, I find a large hook makes it much easier to pick. Otherwise I end up overpicking a pin that was already set while trying to reach that back pin.

My 5 would be:

Short hook
Slim Short hook
Slim Medium hook
Large hook
S Rake

[dougfarre]

just a question, Dougfarre, what would you use the large hook for?

Large hooks are not made for pin tumbler locks, but are used on lever tumbler locks, and therefore require the leverlock tensor also.

I don't use any of those picks, I was seeing if anyone would notice what a horrible choice of picks I chose.

If I were really going to bring 5 picks with me it would look more like this.

locknewbie feeler
locknewbie feeler for backup
hpc feeler
rytan mini blue feeler
lockmasters tension wrench

[dougfarre]

I'm still a bit of a newbie but I find I use a large hook from time to time. If the back pin is short and a nearby pin is long and the short/back pin is last to bind, I find a large hook makes it much easier to pick. Otherwise I end up overpicking a pin that was already set while trying to reach that back pin.

There are some ultralarge hooks that cannot even really fit inside a pin tumbler lock,

[vitti]

ah, well if that's what he was referring to then I have no idea.

I'm just referring to one who's tip extends about 1/4+ inch from the top of the shaft of the pick vs the ~1/8 inch or so on a standard hook (completely guesstimated measurements btw)