What To Buy. Picks Sets For Beginners.

[Sammi1]

Plenty of great info.

How about picks with or without handle covers for beginners?

Thanks,
Sammi

[radical rob]

Hey guys, seems like a lot of knowledgeable ppl on this forum. I have been intrigued by lock smithery/ lockpicking since iv'e seen james bond for 1st time. Now im 24yr old and have made my own peterson gem styled spp, a small and large diamond,and my own short pin lock pick for small chinese locks which works magnificently and of course a variety of tension wrenches in all shapes and sizes.

NOW, I want/need to expand my set to fit more american and European styled locks. I have done alot of research from sparrow,southord,peterson,and southern specialties.

(SO IF ANYONE AT ALL NEWBS TO PROS HAVE ANY IDEAS ON WHICH LP SET IS BEST FOR ME?????) TO USE AS A REFERENCE WHEN DESIGNING MY OWN????? ANY CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM OR ADVICE WILL BE MET WITH ETREME THANKFULLNESS THANKS RADICAL ROB

[deolslyfox]

I have Peterson's, Sparrows, Majestics and a bunch of home-brews .... In order, I like home-brews, Peterson's, Sparrows and then Majestics. Most any set will be OK to start / learn with. Get something cheap and practice with MASTER locks. You can pick those with a chicken bone and still learn the basics ....

Whatever set you get, the first thing you should do is take a couple of hours to polish the picks. Get rid of all the rough edges caused by the laser cutting / stamping process. This will allow your picks to move more smoothly through the lock, reducing pick time and improving your success rate. Plus, you picks will look "professional".

I start out with 300 grit, then 600, then 1000, then 1200, then 2000. Protect your fingers by placing the sandpaper between the pages of an old book. (kokomolock tip). Cut strips about an inch wide and polish all the edges. Put the picks in a vise and use a "shoe-shine rag" motion. (bosinianbill tip)

Finally, once you get a lock picked with one pick from your set, try other picks. Some will work better, some will be worse and some won't work at all. EG: Don't try to use a really deep hook in a very shallow keyway. Sometimes a diamond is too tall, but a half-diamond is just right.

You'll wind up with a "favorite" pick, but as you progress you may wind up using more than one during the picking session. EG: You may like to "rake" into a false set then single pin pick what's left.

Hope this is helpful.

[nite0wl]

Plenty of great info.

How about picks with or without handle covers for beginners?

Thanks,
Sammi

I would recommend against any sort of 'soft' cover (vinyl, rubber, etc) a stiff handle gives much clearer feedback. Of course many cheap pics that are sold to beginners have no real handle to speak of, they just have the tang of the pick which can be quite uncomfortable, pay the extra few dollars for the kit with the metal or hard plastic handles, you will be more comfortable and get better feed back which will greatly help your learning and practice.

[deolslyfox]

+1 for "pay the extra few dollars for the kit with the metal or hard plastic handles" !!

I actually prefer the hard plastic handles. Rubber seems to dampen the feedback .... Same / same for wood. It looks nice but you don't get "paid for pretty" .... Its results that count !!

Some of my home-brews are all metal, but they are "specialized" tools, not everyday picking tools. If I have to haul one of those out, its generally for a half-hour or less at the most.

Don't know about your budget, but if you look at Peterson's Government Plastic (Government Steel with hard plastic handles), you'll get a good example of what's being recommended.

Some folks may suggest buying the cheaper all metal picks and then dipping them in Plasti-Dip or putting heat shrink tubing on the handles. I've tried both methods. At the end of the day you still have a rubber coating ....

If you can't decide, then buy one of each. Plastic handle, rubber handle, metal handle. Try 'em and see what you prefer, and let that guide your purchase when you go for your set.

[Baikal]

Hello, which set will be good to start with I'm totally a beginner

http://www.banggood.com/buy/Pick-locks.html

I do not want to spend a lot, I'm looking for something with free delivery all over the world


Regards
Kamil

[Squelchtone]

Hello, which set will be good to start with I'm totally a beginner

http://www.banggood.com/buy/Pick-locks.html

I do not want to spend a lot, I'm looking for something with free delivery all over the world


Regards
Kamil

Witaj!

To jest najlepszy komplet na tamtej stronie
http://www.banggood.com/15-In-1-Stainle ... 15418.html

Nara,
Squelchtone

[daphreak492]

Hi!

I'd like to try out lockpicking as a hobby. Like most here, I need the basic tools. Instead of buying a big and cheat set, I'd like to buy a few high-quality tools, as many recommend here.

I'd like to order here: https://shop.multipick.com/. The reason is, I live in germany and they are the only german dealer shipping Peterson tools I've found so far. I have a few questions:

As freakparade3 pointed out in the first post, I should go for a hook, a half-diamond and some tensions wrench. But there are many to choose from. Which would you recommend for a beginner.

- Hooks and half-diamond: Click. Which to choose?
- Tension wrench: Click. There are many sizes, which ones should I get? Also, what do the numbers mean (TR-8, TR-9, ...)?
- Does it make sense to buy something in addition to these recommendations?

I'd put 50€ budget for this on the table. If it's less, it's ok .

[Valdo]

Hi!

I'd like to try out lockpicking as a hobby. Like most here, I need the basic tools. Instead of buying a big and cheat set, I'd like to buy a few high-quality tools, as many recommend here.

I'd like to order here: https://shop.multipick.com/. The reason is, I live in germany and they are the only german dealer I've found so far. I have a few questions:

As freakparade3 pointed out in the first post, I should go for a hook, a half-diamond and some tensions wrench. But there are many to choose from. Which would you recommend for a beginner.

- Hooks and half-diamond: Click
- Tension wrench: Click. There are many sizes, which ones should I get? Also, what do the numbers mean (TR-8, TR-9, ...)?
- Does it make sense to buy something in addition to these recommendations?

I'd put 50€ budget for this on the table. If it's less, it's ok .

For a basic starting kit you will not need 50€, for 30€ you'll get a great kit, I would recommend a southord C801, it's the kit I started with it's great for euro locks, you can find it on multipick.com.
also something worth looking into if you progress in the hobby and want to buy more picks is maybe ordering somewhere close like in the UK or in france (UK has storm lockpicks and France has the corbeau set both are really good for more advanced pickers), putting this out there if another euro lockpicker wonders where to get better picks.

Also worth putting out there I will say multipick has higher prices for a lot of items, didn't verify everything but for example I got my C801 kit for 24 euros when they sell it for 30.

[daphreak492]

Thanks for your advice. From what I've read Peterson is really good, so would like to go for some of their picks. It's just my personal experience that it's not a good idea to save on tools. Rather have a few really good ones than many not-so-good ones. Not saying that Southord is bad .

Having said that, I suggested multipick because they ship Peterson. For other tools I'm happy to order from a different shop. Even Amazon would be fine, I've got Prime.

[Valdo]

Thanks for your advice. From what I've read Peterson is really good, so would like to go for some of their picks. It's just my personal experience that it's not a good idea to save on tools. Rather have a few really good ones than many not-so-good ones. Not saying that Southord is bad .

Having said that, I suggested multipick because they ship Peterson. For other tools I'm happy to order from a different shop. Even Amazon would be fine, I've got Prime.

Well I've never used petersons, but there are tons of reviews here saying they are very good,
southord are not cheap quality though but there are enough reviews to guide you here so it's up to you,
as for individual picks, I would suggest a small hook, a five-mountain, a snake, another hook or a small diamond (although I never like diamonds), deforests are quite nice,
a ball pick if you intend to pick wafer locks.

[daphreak492]

Found information on the wrench sizes. It's the system used by HPC: http://www.hpcworld.com/px/tensiontools/standard/

What do you think about this selection of tools? Should I take different-sized hooks?

Peterson Hook Pick 1 - GSR 10€
Peterson Hook Pick 3 - GSR 10€
Peterson Snake Pick 1 - GSP 6€
Peterson Small Half Diamond Pick - GSP 6€
Tension Wrench TR-23 HPC - 3,27€
Tension Wrench TR-13 HPC - 3,27€
Tension Wrench TR-3 HPC - 3,27€
Tension Wrench TR-11 HPC - 3,27€
Tension Wrench TR-12 HPC - 3,27€

Total €48,35

[Squelchtone]

What do you think about this selection of tools? Should I take different-sized hooks?

Peterson Hook Pick 1 - GSR 10€
Peterson Hook Pick 3 - GSR 10€
Peterson Snake Pick 1 - GSP 6€
Peterson Small Half Diamond Pick - GSP 6€

Links or photos would really help.

[daphreak492]

You are correct .

Peterson Hook Pick 1 - GSR 10€
Peterson Hook Pick 3 - GSR 10€
Peterson Snake Pick 1 - GSP 6€
Peterson Small Half Diamond Pick - GSP 6€
Tension Wrench TR-23 HPC - 3,27€
Tension Wrench TR-13 HPC - 3,27€
Tension Wrench TR-3 HPC - 3,27€
Tension Wrench TR-11 HPC - 3,27€
Tension Wrench TR-12 HPC - 3,27€

[Squelchtone]

You are correct .

Peterson Hook Pick 1 - GSR 10€
Peterson Hook Pick 3 - GSR 10€
Peterson Snake Pick 1 - GSP 6€
Peterson Small Half Diamond Pick - GSP 6€
Tension Wrench TR-23 HPC - 3,27€
Tension Wrench TR-13 HPC - 3,27€
Tension Wrench TR-3 HPC - 3,27€
Tension Wrench TR-11 HPC - 3,27€
Tension Wrench TR-12 HPC - 3,27€

You should not need Pick 3, that's a very deep hook, unless you plan on filing it down to make something custom, don't buy it.