lockpicktools.com

[Schuyler]

Oh, no, I never doubted your patronage of the custom pick makers, just weighing the arguments for each. As I said, I still have 3 commercial tools, 2 of which have been replaced with exact duplicates, in my every day case.

Honestly, it's hard to lose when assembling your go-to tools. I don't know if everyone else is like me, but I get a lot of joy out of organizing & trimming my pick collection into a utility set for everyday use once in a while.

[CptedIV]

Just curious, has anyone compared the composite jacknife to the regular one? I like the look of the regular metal jacknife, but having the two tension wrenches at half the price seems nice. Thanks for any help,

Ed

[LocksmithArmy]

I own the composite one for the reasones you mentioned and have found no issues with it. I have opened everything with it that I have opened with regular tools. yes the feedback is deminished but It would be with any jacknife. the smaller tensor is priceless when it comes to top tension because its kinda sharp(because its so thin) it really catches the walls of the keyway...

but I would not recommend this tool as your only pick set, if you are already a seasoned picker go for it but if you are just beginning, get a real set...

I got mine from lockpicks.com if you wanted to compair prices to another site.

[CptedIV]

I have a basic set that came with a blue vinyl case and the LSI manual. For now I've only raked a couple masterlocks, and opened a couple kwiksets after taking out the last two pins, haven't tried to open it with all 5 yet. I wanted a small set as the only vehicle I own is a bike, and I have a small pocket I'd like to stick a lock pick set and couple locks to practice on when I'm bored or stuck places. I thought this might be a nice travel set because of the size and the fact that it comes together as one piece, so I won't have to worry so much about losing parts.

What other tools are good for a newbie to learn with? I don't want to waste money on a cut-away when I can just pull pins out of a kwikset as I practice easily enough. I've been looking over this site and just cant decide what I want...
Thanks for any help

Ed

[LocksmithArmy]

I think cut aways are only good for learning how a lock works. you obviously understand this so I would agree with your choice to save oney and keep the kwikset.

the tools you have should be sufficient to learn. picking is about feel not realy seeing. vizualizing with your minds eye not your physical eyes lol.

You seem to be on the right track with your learnign process. just keep repinnint that kwikset until you are satifsied then throw in a couple security pins or a more difficult lock. schlage or somthing like that.

[ridinplugspinnaz]

Just curious, has anyone compared the composite jacknife to the regular one? I like the look of the regular metal jacknife, but having the two tension wrenches at half the price seems nice. Thanks for any help,

Ed

Having handled the LPT composite and aluminum billet jackknife sets, I can tell you that for the most part, the feedback is pretty much the same between the two. Something to take note of if you're a fan of using more force with your picksets is that it is possible to wear a groove into the composite body over time, in the place where the pick's rotation is stopped by the pickset's body. Having put my set through a lot of locks over time, I had to rotate the position of the picks in my set, to avoid deepening the groove I'd made with my short hook. That's the only real noticeable difference I can think of between the two sets, aside from the one additional pick that the aluminum set comes with.

Anyway, IMHO if you're going to get a jackknife-style set, that's the one to get. No screws to lose like the Southord one, and pretty darn good feedback for a jackknife. I actually prefer the feel of it to my HPC set.

[CptedIV]

Thanks for the info! I think I'll get one just to stick in my motorcycle tank bag.

-Ed

[ridinplugspinnaz]

Hmm, that's strange. I just went back to look at the LPT website to see if they had changed the models at all, and it looks like the FPS-8 no longer comes with two tension tools, though the FPS-7 still does. I have no idea why that's the case, as they used to offer both tension tools with both picksets. If you decide to order from them, you might want to drop a line over e-mail asking why they don't include both tools in the FPS-8 anymore, they might just throw it in if you ask. There's no reason that both wrenches can't fit comfortably in the tool.

[CptedIV]

I ordered the 7, should already have both. I've never seen the 8 advertised with both, but I've only been looking for a week or so...

[ridinplugspinnaz]

I ordered the 7, should already have both. I've never seen the 8 advertised with both, but I've only been looking for a week or so...

I have an FPS-8 that shipped with both tension tools, so consider that a confirmation that they did at one point ship that way. That said, though, the LPT website seems to perpetually have contradicting information posted about those jackknife sets, so it's never really clear exactly what you're gonna get. The tools themselves, however, I've been more than happy with.