lockpicktools.com

[milkman22]

It seems like every single person picking locks on youtube is using these picks. Are they being paid or what or are these picks good or something? The handles look ugly to me but I'm wondering what people think of these picks, as I might consider buying some if they are that good.

[LocksmithArmy]

I think its just cause many of these pickers just googled lock picks and that came up. and many other sited require you to be a security professional to buy opening tools... thats my best guess because from what I can see they do look undcomfortable.

[jgor]

Well, here's my testimonial.

I've ordered from this site a few times and been very impressed with their products. Their "Laminated Ripple Core" handles are fantastic, I liked them so much that that's what we ordered in bulk for new members for our local lockpicking club. They're solid picks, some of which I've been using for a good 3 years now. Hope that helps.

[zeke79]

I have had good luck with both ordering and the quality of the tools. Shipping was very fast and when it arrived there was a small order error. My order was pretty odd and complex so I don't hold that against them at all. In fact it was kind of nice that I had the problem as it allowed me to see the quality of their customer service which in the case of lockpicktools.com their customer service was great. My order was fixed and in my hands quicker than my original order was filled so no cheap postage rates or corners cut when they are taking care of an order problem.

As far as the picks go, as much as I want to love their picks I just cannot get into the feel of them even after trying every handle type. That however has nothing to do with their quality, it is just personal preference. The material quality of their tools seems to be good but I prefer the feel of the old peterson blue plastic handle spring steel picks much better. Even though I am using the old spring steel peterson picks and not the peterson government steel I feel like the peterson spring steel is better than the lockpicktools.com stainless spring steel. This again could just be coming down to personal preference as each type of steel is going to have some change in properties from one type to another. The change could be somewhat drastic to very little. To me, the peterson picks feel a bit more solid and less apt to give you a bit of spongy feel in the pick shaft. I am not a heavy handed picker by any means and I can still feel a difference in the picks. Again both are good tools and it is probably best to give them a shot then compare them to other tools you have used and continue to try other tools and continue comparing.

Personally my favorite picks if I could get a small group of people together in a group buy would be a peterson G5 set in the government stainless steel as it is really great stuff, by far the strongest picks I have ever used and they offered great feedback even with the rubber handles. The feedback with them in rubber handles is almost as good as the standard spring steel in the blue plastic handles. What I want to do is as stated above get a group of people together to order G5 govmt stainless sets in a small batch run of plastic handles. I know the rubber handles on the set is dampening feedback quite alot as I have compared the standard spring steel sets in both plastic and rubber handles and there is a huge difference between them. Since the government steel picks with rubber handles offer feedback that is very close to being as good as the plastic handled old spring steel sets, combining the government steel pick bodies with the plastic handles along with putting their slim line picks and DCAP picks in the plastic handles would produce what I think would be the finest pickset one could get from a commercial company. Of course the set would be more expensive than a standard G5 set as it would be adding plastic handles to the slim line picks and the DCAP picks. Another reason the set would cost more is the fact that it would be a controls issue at the factory to setup a run that would likely be only ten sets at the most. With the standard G5 set being $500(last time I checked prices a good year or so ago) with all of the dames tools, the AR trip wires and latch tool etc a special run set would likely be atleast $600 per set. I'd have to do alot of home & business lockouts to pay those picks off as I generally do not pick auto locks unless I have to such as ignition removals etc.

I actually had the equivelent of a G5 set a while back but some things come up and I needed to sell them. I actually wish I still had them now as after 6 years of picking with the same set of peterson standard spring steel set they are showing their age. I think that is an outstanding lifespan for an every day carry set used on the job which at times subjects them to abuse that a hobby set usually never sees from an experienced picker. Freeing frozen pins and wafers, straightening bent wafers initially with the hook pick and padlocks with heavy cylinder tension springs that have become corroded which makes one use more tension than normal which makes spool pinned stacks much harder on the pick to counter rotate to get past the security pin and things like this wear picks out fast. They are still in very useable condition but some picks have been used so much that the areas we usually sand smooth have been worn smooth as I never sanded them. I have one new backup set of the old plastic handles and one new standard rubber set. Like I said I wish I had kept the G5 set as I'd likely switch to it now and just deal with the rubber handles. I honestly think the government steel would last virtually forever as long as I didn't use them like an idiot.

I apologize for getting so far off topic but maybe some of the info will help you out on your search for your perfect pick set. My best advice as to what are the best picks or what is the best set is to buy or try to borrow as many brands of picks that you can and stick with the set that fits you best. You'll know it when you have them as you will start reaching for that *one* set every time you need to pick a lock.

[milkman22]

Thanks! That's some great info you've got up there. I've always been hearing good things about Peterson picks and have been meaning to get myself a set for quite some time. I'll probably order some as well as some picks from lockpicktools.com and see if i like them.

Right now i only have a lab 17 piece set but they feel pretty fragile and they don't really have handles. I also have a southord keychain pick which I carry with me wherever I go. I know the whole argument about carrying keys instead of lockpicks but you never know when you might need it, and it has come in handy in the past. I'm thinking about replacing the southord jackknife pick though because it's not that great. What picks would you recommend on the go?

[jgor]

I also have a southord keychain pick which I carry with me wherever I go.

I actually have the jacknife set from lockpicktools.com (the older solid aluminum one) which I always keep on my keychain. I switched out a few of the picks on it to more useful ones and I've had to replace the hook once after tackling a pretty nasty padlock, but I've loved it. My only complaint about it is the tension wrench that comes with the aluminum model (I think they call it a bull-nosed tension tool) is bowed out at the bend, I guess to make it stay more securely when attached to the set. But it can get in the way in some smaller keyways. I think their new composite version includes a more normal tension wrench though.

[dmux]

actually they are getting something out of the deal, lpt is giving them free tools based on how many views their videos get. kind of like a credit system. i was contacted by them when my youtube account was still active and got taken down shortly after. so yea, they are getting something out of it.

[jgor]

actually they are getting something out of the deal, lpt is giving them free tools based on how many views their videos get. kind of like a credit system. i was contacted by them when my youtube account was still active and got taken down shortly after. so yea, they are getting something out of it.

What?! Haha I should have added lockpicktools.com to the description on my vids, I've used their tools in some of them and gotten plenty of views. Hmm, I'll have to remember that for the future.

[thelockpickkid]

Something I would like to add, if anybody is a newer picker I advise against using mutiple brands of picks, reason being is the feel, for instance, if you have been using HPC's and you start using Southord, your going to have a hell of a time feeling what's going on inside the lock, once you find a set of tools that you like, Peterson or HPC you should stick with them. Just my opinion.

[Schuyler]

And I'll add that if you are at the point in picking that you feel ready to settle into a brand/style of picks, it's time to get a custom set made.

[lock2006]

Well i been using differents brands picks, i started using southord, then Majestic
and HPC then my own home made picks and last Peterson. Which i really like them very much
when i started to pick i bent many majestic picks and some of my own
but now i like the feel of Peterson picks and some of my own picks i made from wiper blades
i got the Kens set from Peterson
i never have any problem with my order from this site.
I love them eventhoug i still using my own home made picks.

[zeke79]

Something I would like to add, if anybody is a newer picker I advise against using mutiple brands of picks, reason being is the feel, for instance, if you have been using HPC's and you start using Southord, your going to have a hell of a time feeling what's going on inside the lock, once you find a set of tools that you like, Peterson or HPC you should stick with them. Just my opinion.

I agree with this totally. I should have stated that once you have quite a bit of experience picking with your learning set of picks you can improve your skills a bit by trying different pick sets to find that set that fits just right. You do have to spend alot of time with each set of picks you try to give them a fair shot. That is why at one time I had many different brands of picks and many different types of picks. Over time I started grabbing one set more than any of the others and that was how I found the perfect picks for me.

I do like custom picks but I prefer to stick with factory picks simply because each set that rolls off the line is the same as the one before it. If using a custom set and you have to replace a pick then it is going to be just a bit different than the last one you had and will take some getting used to. I do think that some of the pick craftsmen here in the forums make the best quality picks out there and if they could get their hands on some stock of the same material peterson uses for their government picks that their picks would hands down be the best quality material and the best quality of craftsmanship.

I would like to have a custom set made by someone here on the forums and I actually have the set I want pick tip and shaft design wise ready to send to someone. It uses the falle type system of progressive hooks and a progressive set of other pick tips so it would be a pretty big set and take alot of time which right now I am a bit short of cash so I will likely be waiting a while to find someone willing to make them and for my pocket cash to build up again. I really want to find someone who can come close to duplicating petersons plastic handle size feel and profile.

[Schuyler]

I actually think that a lack of some variety can get you stagnant with your tools. One of the best parts about getting customs from Rai, Tooly & LN21 (my preferred tool makers, and as much as I love all of them, I am planning my next full custom set with Tooly) is the occasional "and here's what I've been trying out lately" set.

Don't get me wrong, it caused me absolutely physical pain when I damaged my favorite, Euro-style Bogotá during the speed picking finals, and I know I won't have one exactly like it again / will have to adjust, but for me the benefits of seeing new designs & working with a craftsman to develop tools that fit your technique and personal style outweigh the frustrations of relearning a tool you've had replaced.

And all of that said? There are still 3 commercial tools that have tenure in my primary pick set.

[thelockpickkid]

I agree that the custom tools by the members that you mentioned are of extreme quality, I have one of those guys making me a couple of picks right now, I have seen his work before in pictures and I know that they are going to be my go too picks, I love HPC and I have a bunch of them, for these custom made picks I am going to lose a little bit of feel for a while but they are of such quality I don't think it is going to hurt my picking much to go back and fouth but if I was to go back and fourth between quality and not quality I would be wasting my time!

[zeke79]

Schuyler,

I too love getting new tools to try and still get things from time to time to try out. I do love that aspect of custom pick making. Alot of good ideas have come from our craftsmen here. I am by no means knocking custom picks or anyone who uses them so please do not take it that way. I just have so much luck with that little blue hook from peterson. I used to get ripped a bit for my videos because every lock I had video of me picking had the same blue peterson pick in it. As I said when I can get the set I have designed made that may be the turning point that I switch over fully to custom picks. Right now there are quite a few custom picks in my every day carry pick set. I remember the first time I got one of LN21's picks (I might have been the first to get/see one I don't recall for sure but I bet he could tell me for sure) and after spending some time with each of the three he sent me I was very impressed. Those picks reside in my pickset mentioned above and get used pretty often.