So here's what happened: I had all of my tools (roughly about $500-$600 worth, big southord set, HPC Computer Picks, majestic lockaid, some home brewed creations, and a few other itmes) in a small black toolbag about this size of a large tissue box. Before I got back into picking a few weeks ago, I would use these tools every few months or so to help friends who were locked out of their cars or homes. Anyway, about three weeks ago, somebody calls me up because they are locked out of their dorm room and the RA's aren't around. I tell em' no problem, (here at school they use Best SFIC's with an A keyway and about a million potential shear lines with their complex master keying heirarchy). I go to get my bag and realized...IT'S GONE! Every single locksmithing tool I own (with the exeption of my southord jacknife set) is completely gone.
Anyway, I have been scouring the earth for it for since then and have turned up with nothing. Either somebody stole it, or I somehow managed to misplace it.
Anyway, sorry to bore you with the sob story, but I have accepted for the most part that I will probably never see these tools again and am ready to move on to newer and better gadgets (the only good side of this situation
. I want to rebuild my collection with a basic pick set. (I am sorry to re-ask what so many other people have already enquired about in the past, but I've spent some quality time with the LP101 search engine and keep drawing blanks.)
At long last, my question:
I am looking to get an as extensive as possible, high quality pick set with either plastic or rubber [preferribly ergonomic, ie: rytan or ilco] handles. I am thinking I will likely go with spring steel because of the said responsiveness that I have heard stainless pics have less of.
What do you guys recommend?
My constraints/requirements:
-I am willing to spend somewhere between $150-$200 USD
-I want a set with the most variety possible [hopefully, with a decent set of tension wrenches, but I can always get them somewhere else if necessary]
-I can order anywhere on the web, or directly through Ilco, Lockmasters, a great little company in Jersey called Craftmaster, or Zipf Lock Co. (I am friends with a local lockie that will let me purchase these items under his name)
As for what I've seen so far, I think that I've narrowed things down to Rytan, Ilco, or Peterson.
Thank you to all who have taken the time to wade through this post. Sorry again for the redundancy and verbosity. I look forward to your feedback!!!
