Which of these two would be better to learn with?

[tehfrr]

Ok so my Southord MPXS-14 set arrived today and I'm not sure which of the two hooks would be optimal to learn with. I can get the smaller one into most of my locks easily whereas the longer one, not so much. Right now I'm playing with a 2 pin cylinder and a master #3, as well as doing digital_blue's suggested exercises.

So, would it be more useful to learn with the larger one from the start? I am guessing it would be useful for when there is a long pin in the front and a short one in the back? Or does it not matter, should I just run with what is easier for now?

[datagram]

The one on the top is the short hook, it is optimal for single pin picking. The one on the bottom is the full or long hook, it is only used when you cannot get the short hook high enough for a given pin. Both are useful, but the short hook is more universal and more common.

dg

[apb]

Short hook (top choice), no question about it. You will probably only find the opportunity to use the bottom one in rare occasions. Personally, I've had trouble using that one just trying to get it into certain keyways. Its not useless, but I am biased here because the southord short hook has worked so well for me. Even in cases where you have a long pin in front of short pin, it's good to figure out how to use a short hook because most of the hooks out there, while they may be different, aren't by that much. You will build up more skill and will be able to transfer from the short hook to using say an HPC hook or peterson hook, instead of relying on the deep reaching type. Plus, you'll find that with setting pins (long/short) has to do more with knowing how much tension to apply, when to back ease up, etc. etc. instead of throwing in a special tool to do the job.

[Artkrp]

The top pick, the short hook is without a doubt the most universal pick devised and using it can definitely teach you good habits instead of (ahem, raking, ahem) bad ones. The long hook on the bottom is useful for some things though and you can also use it in VERY open wide keyways by letting it ride the bottom of the plug. This will allow for very controlled pin lifting, but will most likely not teach you skill of very precise,controlled lifting that you will need to learn. Just my two cents.

[raimundo]

The long hook is for lever locks, the short hook and another hook that is shorter than the long one would be useful for pin tumblers, I would cut that long hook down to just a few mm longer than the short hook then sand it good, especially where you filed it off.

[lock2006]

I agree i did the same thing cut that long hook down to just a few mm longer
than the short hook then sand it good and i use it for lever locks
and other locks too.

[Scott_93]

I find that the short hook is by far the best pick EVER in the pick set as it provides a really good SPP'ing success and I fnd now that it is my most used pick. So I'd stick with the short hook by far.

Scott.