Pocket-knife picks, worth it to buy?

by **DrMidol** » 22 Mar 2004 13:56

Don't waste your money on this!

I picked myself up one of these sets a few years ago, and I almost never use it. First of all, I don't like the shape. For me, it is just uncomfortable, but to each his own.

One thing I really dislike about this is that the screw that holds the pick in place comes out way to easily, and just last week, I finally lost it. It is cheaply replaced, but it is such a pain. I mean, even pulling it out of your pocket can loosen it, and sometimes when it moves around it will come out. It sucked for me, because I was carrying it outside my pants and it came out.

Also, these picks are just slightly bigger than most picks you would buy in a set. You wouldn't think it would make much of a difference, but it does. Just those few millimeters wider makes the things difficult to pick many things with.

My suggestion, buy a small set, maybe a 14 or 8 piece. When I first bought picks, I made the mistake of buying the 32 piece, only to discover I only really needed about 5 of them.

Good luck to you.

by **technik** » 22 Mar 2004 22:25

how long are the jackknife sets when all closed up? you talk of them being comfortable, well i dont a 4 inche pocketknife thing on my key chain. It would b more comfortable carrying around an 8 or 11 piece (my 11 pice is very light, and quite slim. I hate big novelty things hanging off key chains, anyone got one that could tell me how long they are?

by **plot** » 22 Mar 2004 22:39

technick: about 3.5'' long, less then half an inch wide.

it's not bad at all, it's only an inch longer then my car key... just as wide as my car key (the top of it).

if you have one of those rubber head keys, it'll probably be more noticable then the actual jackknife pick. it's light, etc...

seams like a normal keychain to me. not some huge swiss army knife or anything, i don't mind it.

by **Pick-It** » 24 Mar 2004 16:51

I'll give my 2 cents worth. I'm speaking from experience because I have both the stainless and the plastic handle jacknife set from SouthOrd. One thing I'll have to say is that it is handy. It's handly do to the fact that you have the basic pick shapes on you at all times. Here are some of my dislikes (and this is for both models): You get six tools (hook, snake, small half-diamond, full ball, and "key extractor"). I'll comment on each one. The hook is more of a full hook. I prefer the half hook and there for had to burnish it down to be more useful. The snake, for my preference, is mounted upside down. As you use the picks, especially the snake since it's mounted upside down, they become loose because of the thumb screw used to secure these in place. Not only do you have to fight the thickness of the handle for "feel" but you also have to keep tightening the picks and therefore sacrifice "feel" when they get loose. the half-diamond is pretty nice. It's positioned properly in the knife and holds its tightness pretty good during use. The full ball. I have never used it, and don't think I ever will. The "key extractor". I put this in quotes because I don't think you could realistically extract a key with it. Most extractors have some type of sharp barb to help grab the key in the cylinder, but this thing is dull. I guess you could put some work into it and make it functional, but as is, it's useless. They also sell you extra picks for insertion. I don't know how to put them in, other than wacking the pin out that's holding the whole thing together. It may be me, but I don't think I want to start banging around on my $40.00 pick set because I might not be able to get it back together. It collects A LOT of pocket lint. No big deal. Just clean it out, but hey, I'm lazy. The thumb screw sucks. I have had this thing come off in my pocket and thought I lost it. Try using this set without a thumbscrew and It will never work. But you can buy more at SouthOrd's website. The best thing about this is the tension wrench. It's sturdy and concealed in the knife itself. I like the tension wrench. Another note, You tend to forget this is in your pocket. If you go through any type of security portal, it will get taken from you, I'm talking about airport or government building etc. Sure I carry at least 4 pick sets on me at all times and if I have to go into one of these places I unload them all, but I always seem to forget the jacknife. I would spend my $40 on something more useful as mentioned in the previous posts. Yeah, it's a cool little gadget, but pick sets just isn't something you want to show everybody, now is it?

by **technik** » 25 Mar 2004 5:50

thanks pick-it for the review, good to know from onother person. One thing you missed, which do you prefer, plastic or stainless handle?

by **Pick-It** » 25 Mar 2004 7:45

I would have to say the plastic handled one. You don't have to "fight" the weight of the stainless steal one when picking. However, another of my favorites to carry around is the KGB-1 pick set from HPC. It fits on my belt and is small enough to conceal. It has four picks and a tension wrench in a small, thin, leather carrying case. I'll be happy to post a picture of this set if anyone is interested in seeing it.

by **CitySpider** » 25 Mar 2004 11:35

The KGB-1 isn't what I use, since I don't carry anything on my belt, but if I _did_, it'd be my first choice, hands down.

by **technik** » 26 Mar 2004 3:35

yeh, a picture would be great Pick-It

by **plot** » 26 Mar 2004 5:00

technik wrote:yeh, a picture would be great Pick-It

http://www.hpcworld.com/lockhpc/p_kgb1.htm

by **technik** » 26 Mar 2004 7:50

personal pictures are always better than prof. ones

by **Pick-It** » 26 Mar 2004 14:15

Here it is. The quarter is beside it to show the scale.

[img]http://imagehost.darkernet.co.uk/i/KGB-1.JPG
[/img]

by **Pick-It** » 26 Mar 2004 14:32

oops!

by **technik** » 3 Apr 2004 9:17

that reach it tool is pretty cool. The tensions look home made, am i right?

by **CitySpider** » 3 Apr 2004 12:03

No, those're the wrenches that come with that set. I've been looking for flat wrenches like that for a long time. Closest I've come is the little keychain wrenches in the Brockhage.

by **franticpirell** » 25 Jun 2004 21:06

hey funkyguy. If you havn't decided yet, take this into consideration. Just imagine your a sketch artist. Your tools of the trade are pencil's, right?? Now just imagine your that same sketch artist using a BIG FAT TEXTA, but with the same pencil tip. It would work, but after a while whould feel uncomfortable and in general very inconvinient. I can see how a jackknife set looks extremely cool, and you can put it on a key chain, but at the same price of the steel jackknife, you can get a pretty good 17 piece pick set and some extra tension wrenches, and the case that it comes in, can fit in the same pocket where your keys would have been with the jackknife. Considering you only get 5 picks and one wrench, you are really paying for the design and not the functionality. If you want 5 picks and one wrench, just get a 5 piece set for $15. In the end its up to you, but the bottom line is, do you want your pickset to be a fassion statement, or a tool of your hobby??

Pocket-knife picks, worth it to buy?

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