Desperatly need a coupon code for Southord!

[Dj_pettah]

Title pretty much says it all. Im ordering a Jackknife-Pocket-Lock-Pick-Set (JPXS-6) from www.southord.com and I wonder if there any1 here who knows about a coupon code which acctually works? I've been browsing a dozen coupon-websites, but they are all invalid or expired...

[Olson Burry]

Order some proper picks and pay the money, don't buy that.

See if lockpickshop.com can do better.

[freakparade3]

If you are new to picking the jackknife set is useless. Like said above, get a proper set.

[Dj_pettah]

May I ask why...?

I know that the basics for a beginner is a hook, a half diamond and a tension wrench. I am somewhat of a noob who has done alot of experimental picking with bobby pins, paper-clips and screwdrivers. Why would it hurt to buy a tool like this which has all the bacics, pluss a few extra features?

I like lockpickshop.eu, but since I live in Norway, they only accept bank transfer, which appearantly I cant do online so I have to do it manually in the bank -.- Thats why i chose south ordinance. It has wide selection and diffrent payment methods...

So, back to my question. Since you are the experts, why would the jackknife be a bad choice for a beginner?

[mcm757207]

Because you can't hardly feel any kind of feedback. A 'normal' pick is one solid piece of metal, which allows you to feel the inside of the lock with a high amount of detail. As soon as you introduce rubber handles or, in your case, a separate handle which isn't fixed the blade, you can't really feel that detail as well.

[Squelchtone]

Imagine trying to fix a car engine using a Leatherman multi-tool or a Swiss Army knife. Maybe somewhere in the woods in an emergency it would be useful, but having a toolbox with individual wrenches, pliers, ratchets, wire cutters, etc is much easier to work with.

The jackknife is a novelty item that you might want in your tool box or desk drawer at the office in case someone locks themselves out of a file cabient, but if you want to pick locks as a hobby, get the right tools, not a toy.

mcm: nice post count..

Ha en fin dag!
Squelchtone

[l0ckp1cker]

I love the jack knife, but I must agree that regular picks have better feedback.
I also modified my jack knife before I could use it with most locks as the standard hook is too long to be useful and the tension wrench doesn't fit too well in a lot of key ways I encountered.
for a beginner I would suggest a normal set but since you are in Norway I would suggest a normal slim set for use with euro / Japanese key ways.

Give ukbumpkeys.com or uklockpickers.co.uk a try, especially with the relatively low GBP currency it can be more interesting to buy picks there then from a store in the US.

For the price of the Jack Knife, I would suggest the C1500 or C1510 sets from Southord, I have the C2010 set (22pcs) but I only use half of it

[Riordian]

I too will have to agree. First get a standar pick set so you know how pins behave especialy security pins then you might try the jack knife so you can practice with both if you plan to keep a set for emergencies, otherwise if you are interested just for the hobby just stick to the regular picks .

[Dj_pettah]

Well, it seems like you guys pretty much know what you are talking about. But how long training did YOU guys need before you could master the jackknife? Would it in theory be possible to skip the normal sets and go straight to the jackknife? (Possibly disconnecting the picks from the handle for more feedback?)

ukbumpkeys.com seemed very good! Thank you for advice...

And here another question for you guys: If nothing is mentioned in the merchandise-spec, how do I know if its meant for EU/Japan locks or not? (Again, I live in Norway)

[Olson Burry]

The jackknife isn't a "step up", meaning it is more difficult to use and just not as good as your regular pickset. It can be used to some degree by experienced pickers but to all intents and purposes it is a novelty, a toy if you will.

It's not a case of being good enough to use the jackknife, it's a case of knowing that the jackknife is not good enough to use.

Personally I would always go with the slimlines, you can't go wrong that way and get the ones with full metal handles. The C1510 is a good choice as is the C2010.

If money is an issue, all you really need is a couple of hooks and a half diamond to begin with, but remember you can never have enough tension wrenches. After all, the wrench opens the lock, the picks just make it possible to do so.

[l0ckp1cker]

Personally I don't see the jack knife as a toy and yes I can use it to open any lock I can pick with regular picks.
The only thing you need to keep in mind is to keep at least a finger on the pick itself so you have the feedback you need, if you only hold the handle then it's very difficult to pick with it.

Here's a video of me picking a lock with the Jack knife:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laAoUuD6deo

As you can see I hold both my middle and my ring finger on the pick while picking.
So I can't agree that the jack knife is crap, but I still recommend a euro profile pick set simply because they will help you more then the difference between a regular set and the jack knife.
If they would have a jack knife with euro profile picks then I would probably buy it as well

[femurat]

... It's not a case of being good enough to use the jackknife, it's a case of knowing that the jackknife is not good enough to use. ...

Priceless When did you learn to read my mind?
Maybe one day I'll buy the jackknife, but just because it's a status-symbol

Cheers