Comfort of picks in your hand

[kb9tke]

I have been picking locks as a hobby for a couple of years now and it took me a long time to figure out that the picks you buy and make from hacksaw blades are just not good in my hands. The small flat piece of metal is just not a good fit for my fingers. I have come to the conclusion that a round handle is better for me to feel just what is going on inside the lock. I have found a certain razor set had a handle that would hold small blades. I have fashioned some picking shapes and have gotten them to stay in the holder and they work real good and I can feel what's happening better with the handle. Anyone out there have this same experience? AND does anyone know a razor set that has these handles that do not use plastic to secure the blade? When they use plastic the picking tool does not get secured enough to hold fast. And has anyone found out they can pick better with a round handle than the flat piece of metal?

[Eyes_Only]

I think handles are all about personal preference so everyone will give you a different answer on that. Some people will swear by rubber, plastic or foam handles but I personally don't feel any difference between handled and non-handled picks. I like my Peterson picks not because of the rubber handle it has but because it gives better feed back then any other pick tool I've ever used.

[Raccoon]

I've always wanted to create a set of pick using a wire vise (eg, a dentist tool handle, same as exacto-knife handles), but the problem is finding a wire material that will hold its shape. I'm afraid anything short of titanium wouldn't work well.

[jla]

I have never used picks with handles, and I think I would perfer without if I had though. I can feel the pins click into place really well with the pressure on a the small area that the metal handle pushes against my finger.

-Justin

[Schuyler]

Not to toot his horn too much here, but I get better feedback with LN21's handled picks than I do with any plain piece of metal I've ever shoved in a lock.

[jla]

Not to toot his horn too much here, but I get better feedback with LN21's handled picks than I do with any plain piece of metal I've ever shoved in a lock.

I seem to think that the proper key would show the best results of any piece of metal you could possible stick in a lock, maybe that's just me thoug. :-p

-Justin

[Schuyler]

Not to toot his horn too much here, but I get better feedback with LN21's handled picks than I do with any plain piece of metal I've ever shoved in a lock.

I seem to think that the proper key would show the best results of any piece of metal you could possible stick in a lock, maybe that's just me thoug. :-p

-Justin

best results, yes, best feedback? No.

[Gordon Airporte]

Peterson offers all of their picks with a round handle. I believe it's several layers of a textured dip.
I'm sure someone here can comment on how well they respond when picking.

[dmux]

yea petersons are really nice, i have some of the rubber handles and the textured handles.

i dont really like the textured handles, they are flimsy and you lose a lot of force when picking because the whole pick bends in your hand, the rubber grips however are superb. The are very comfortable and you can pick for a long time and your hand wont cramp up

[Raccoon]

The problem is, both grips are rubber, and both are kinda textured (iirc).

Which ones exactly are the "rubber handle" and which ones exactly are the "textured handle"?

[melvin2001]

i believe kens pick set has textured handles, as shown here

http://www.lockpickshop.com/KPS-15.html

[Raccoon]

And these are said (above) to be too flexible and poor feedback?

I'll admit I haven't bought any of these yet, but they were on my forecast for future investment.

[blake1803]

The feedback on the textured grip Peterson picks isn't the best, but it isn't horrible, either. When dmux talks about the picks being too flexible, he may be referring specifically to Peterson's slender line of picks (.015 -- VERY thin), which are only available with the textured grip.

The rubber grips are very comfortable and have good feedback. I know many prefer the plastic, but I honestly can't tell the difference, so comfort wins out for me. Rytan's plastic handles are better than Pererson's plastic handles in my opinion... I think they have the best feedback of any pick with a handle that I've tried so far. But I still prefer the rubber Petersons overall, for the comfort and for the picks themselves.

[Raccoon]

I'm going to see about getting some of these and sharing as a "pass around" for people to sample.

[raimundo]

see if you can find an exacto knife or some knockoff of one, these have nice aluminum handles, that may be what you want, aluminum is light so it should not affect picking like a steel handle, you can also buy certain custom craft knife blades that have enough length to grind and file into picks and the other end fits the holder just right, or if you are making picks out of some other stock, like plumbingsnakes, you may have to modify the aluminum grip that holds the blades, but that should not be too difficult to do. a typical pick shaft length including tip is about an inch and a quarter, this will easily reach sixth pins.