Nitrosolid15 wrote:Thank you so much.Now i know and i can buy with confidence.Also,I would like to know your opinion on this.Is it a good buy or are the regular kits better.This looks really portable.
http://www.lockpickshop.com/JPXS-6.html
Do yourself a favour and avoid those. Even for an experienced picker who can modify the picks appropriately, they're nothing more than an emergency better-than-nothing solution. This is one of the worst things you can learn to pick with, trust me on that. As for the portability, it's really not that much more portable than a small pocket set if you think about it. OK, you can't exactly slip a pick case into the knife pocket of your jeans... but it doesn't take up
that much space, and besides, I'd sacrifice a small degree of portability for enhanced feedback and control a million times over.
Why the jackknife sucks for learning with, and for picking in general:
1) The weight and shape of the handle makes manipulation around keyway warding very clumsy, and the feedback is poor. Imagine trying to sign your name with a pen the size of a baseball bat. Yeah, it's like that.
2) The half diamond and hook require modification, and even then, they still don't hold a candle to individual picks. The other picks, while mostly not a bad selection, are pretty meh because of the maneuverability issue.
3) You only get one wrench. You can fit an extra one in under it so I would't put that down as a major issue... but it's worth noting though, cos if you're unable to modify the picks and add an extra wrench then it's almost completely useless.
More on the pick selection:
The half diamond shaft is far too thick and the tip is virtually non-existent, so it requires modification to get any kind of reach or feedback out of it. Even after modification, locks I can normally rake open effortlessly in seconds with a half diamond will put up a pretty good fight against the one in the jackknife. It's just too clumsy when angling and twisting around warding. If the user was unable to modify it, they'd be almost completely screwed.
The hook is too long to be practical. It's possible they do this on purpose so you can modify it to the dimensions you want, which is actually pretty cool... but if you're unable to, then you're not gonna get any use out of it whatsoever. Again, the shaft is too thick, and again, this is probably intentional. I imagine they're made like this because they're expecting people to be heavy handed with them. Anyway, same story... even after modification to shorten it and thin it out, it isn't very good. Considering SPP is slower and more controlled, the maneuverability isn't so much of an issue but it still isn't anything to write home about. You can't beat individual picks.
The half ball is horrible. It's essentially the half diamonds dim-witted cousin... I have no idea why they supply this in
any set, the feedback is terrible and there's nothing you can open with one of these that you can't open with a half diamond so it's completely pointless (no pun intended). And when you put one in a jackknife, it makes it 5 times worse!! You could probably modify it into a very small hook though, but I haven't bothered with mine yet so i can't say.
As for the snake rake and city rake, no problems with those... apart from the dreaded maneuverability issue. They'll still open stuff, just not as nicely as they would if they were individually handled.
And last but not least... actually yes, least... the broken key extractor. You're never gonna need this, so why they include it is beyond me. You're more likely to need it for extracting broken pick tips than keys, cos any time I've ever come across a broken key scenario it wasn't coming out with an extractor like that.
Hope that's cleared things up for ya. On top of all the cons I've listed, they're also very overpriced in my opinion. The only good thing about them is their size and the fact that they look cool. Practically, they're not up to much. Although speaking of looks, the newer ones are all chrome, which I personally think looks tacky and cheap. I had one 7-8 years ago when they had a kind of matte grey/brushed steel look which was much nicer.
