Upgrade or alternatives to Peterson Ken government steel kit

[Richie Rich]

Hi Guys,

About 25 years ago when I was 10, I worked out how to get into almost every combination lock in my school in under 2 minutes. From there I started picking locks and only a few thwarted me!

Fast forward to the present, and I've rediscovered my love of picking locks - perhaps it is the combination of mental problem solving and physical dexterity, but it is something I very much enjoy, (and seemed to be pretty good at).

So, I'm looking to invest in a quality starter kit. I know I can occasionally be a little heavy handed, so the stronger the better. I know this is about a light touch, but sometimes you can't beat your nature! Mainly, the strong set will give me confidence to work on locks I own that I would prefer don't end up with a snapped piece of metal wedged in (although it would not be the end of the world).

So.... I'm starting on this journey and know I shouldn't buy the biggest kit. I was looking at the Peterson Ken's kit in gov steel. However, is it missing anything obvious to you, or could I build a better kit from Peterson by buying individually?

I know I want a couple of hooks, a couple of rakes (L, snake / S), a diamond and some wrenches.... All of which the Ken kit seems to have. A
pick knife blade would be nice to work on unshielded combo padlocks and cheaper pin padlocks.... But that is all I can think of right now. So it's looking pretty good. A bogota or two would also be good, but I can't see if that is included in the kit, since they don't seem to give a breakdown or supply large photos.

Have I missed anything? Or does the kit miss anything? I live on a tiny rock where postage is stupid, (the same as the whole kit), so I want to order everything I could care to experiment and become proficient at using for the next 6 to 12 months in 1 hit.

Many thanks for reading this far - look forward to learning lots and hearing your thoughts.

Richie Rich

[Squelchtone]

Hi and welcome to the forum,

I too was a heavy handed brute when I first started picking and I went through 2 Southord picksets pretty much breaking or deforming all of the picks and wrenches. Since the Sourthord sets were only $20 each, it was not and expensive lesson. Soon after I bought a Peterson set, and only broke 1 pick out of all of them and that was the W rake because it has a natural weak spot no matter what brand W rake you buy, and I was using it sideways in a dimple lock which was a beginner mistake on my part.

This doesn't make the Peterson sets stronger than the Southord sets, but as I got better at picking and as I learned to control my heavy handedness, I stopped bending and breaking picks. Since the Peterson set was also $100 and replacement picks were $7 to $14 per pick, it made me value my tools a little more.

If you are just getting your feet wet and know you're going to be jamming picks into locks and cranking on tension wrenches, get a big Southord set with many duplicates and soend $40-60 on that so you can have fun for months and not feel bad that you broke a $100-200 Peterson set in the first few weeks or receiving it. Peterson is nice, but all picks bend, deform, or snap, if used with a heavy hand.

If anything, get a bunch of tension wrenches, I've ended up at locksport work shops where we have plenty of picks but all the students at the table managed to break the 5 to 10 wrenches I put out for use. Windshield wiper inserts can be had for free and are a great material for making wrenches, or if you're really into buying all things Peterson, they offer something called the Prybar.

Keep practicing and keep in mind that applying massive torque to a lock is not the way to hold pins in place nor will it turn the plug.

Squelchtone

[cdf]

Gotta admit , I've had a jones for Ken's set in Govt. Steel . I've found that good tools confer a psychological benefit , plus you are less likley to abuse and misuse good tools . I have already worked the ruff tendencies out of my system with a Sparrows Kickstarter set , a very tuff little set , that is sofar unscathed . The Peterson set that I would like is the 9 pc. set with the plug spinner .

Best regards ,

Chris

[Richie Rich]

Thank you both,

I've got to agree, Chris - I always like to get the good stuff for anything I do. I'm an all or nothing kinda guy! Good tools just work well and the rest is up to me, so no excuses! I've gone through too many cheap tool before, Squeltchtone, only to be let down in one way or another - not to say that cheaper ones will not work or last, and a fool and his money are easily parted………but I've had many experiences, both good and bad, to know when to save and when to pay up and have no regrets! With the postage being what it is to me, I'll pay once and play very gentle. I saw the foresnics talk at defcon on youtube which really showed the difference between a good and bad picker.

I still think I'm going to go for a Peterson set - I'm just looking at whether I should be adding anything like a hooked diamond or Bogotar - But by the time I do that, I'm close to the 14 piece government steel price! With our exchange rate, it comes in at about $100, which is where I wanted to end up. Can anyone recommend a good all-round / starter Peterson bogotar? They seem to have a couple of lengths listed.

I dropped into my security shop a couple of days ago and was pleasantly surprised when they gave me 2 door handles without keys - They are going to start saving padlocks for me too, which is pretty cool of them. I'll have to buy them a pizza or six pack! Not at all sure on the locks - I can't see inside very well - feels like a tightish keyway. Sounds and felt like I managed to set keypin 2, but my tension wrench is made from a folded up drinks can and my pick is a bent weeding pin for vinyl that spins in the shaft! So I'm having some difficulty counting pins, keeping light tension, actually accessing keypins and feeling anything at all!

Can't wait to get some proper picks onto these things!

Here's some snaps. Not too helpful. I've taken off the inside thumb lock mechanism, but still can't reach or see the back of the lock itself…so I'll just have to leave it in the handle - there are two very strong brass spring clips inside a brass tube that I can't reach properly that I guess hold it in.

Thank you both for your thoughts,

Richie

[Richie Rich]

Just thought I'd give an update.

I ended up getting a phoenix ultimate kit from Peterson. It's already a great price and with the current 20% discount, I got it for $200, which is a steal. I added their lifter pick and a tension wrench bending tool, (I figured that if I have that tool in my kit, I'll never be short on a pair of pliers). I felt like I was going to order half a kit without the thinner 'euro' picks, so this covers all bases.

It only comes with plastic handles, but I figured these were going to be way more comfortable than my handleless wiper hook anyway- and I seemed to be doing fine with that. I didn't like the idea of loosing any feedback with the rubber handles.

Both locksmith shops here are happy to supply me with locks, so I now have no excuse not to SPP anything, other than lack of skill!

In time, I'll add a bogatar or two and a feeler for sesame locks. Although in my experience a good torch and some tension open pretty much the majority of sesame locks I've encountered!

Next on the list is a selection of padlocks of known difficulty and then a dremel and file kit, so I can start messing around with some funky custom pins.

Pretty happy that I've made the right decision.

RR