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What picks should I get now?

When it comes down to it there is nothing better than manual tools for your Lock pick Set, whether they be retail, homebrew, macgyver style. DIY'ers look here.

What picks should I get now?

Postby Diphoration » 1 Dec 2007 19:26

Hello there LP101 community! I'm new!
(If a moderator could delete my post that is in the automatic/mechanical section, it would be really appreciated, I posted in the wrong section at first by mistake, sorry!!)

I've always been interested about lock picking but I've finally decided to get more into it. I am planning to order a kit pretty soon but I still can't decide what to order...

I'd like to have a decent set with few tools that will be very versatile and be able to open a great amount of lock without having alot of tools. I also wish to pay a low price. I'd probably buy more specific tool and higher quality as I progress, but to start I guess a little set would do.

Now for my questions...
Which picks should I take? (Most used picks / rakes)
How much tension wrench / picks of the same kind should I buy? (do they break easily, I don't want to re-order in 1 month! I'd rather take a spare)
What should I take, Standard Lock Picks or European Slim Line?

If you have any other tips about what I should order or any noobie tips feel free to inform me!

(Don't worry, I read alot! I've read pretty much every tutorials in the forum, I'm about to change my house door, I'll keep the old lock and repin it in order to practice once I get my lock pick kit!)

Thanks alot =)
Diphoration
 
Posts: 22
Joined: 1 Dec 2007 12:12

Postby Emrys » 3 Dec 2007 23:44

My personal preference are the slimlines. I don't have a problem with bending my picks all that much, so this is a good choice for me. If you are rough with your picks, you might just want to go with the standard ones though, at least for your first set. The only problem with that is, you might start running into situations where your picks may feel a bit bulky inside of the lock. So, if you think you're pretty gentle with your picks, I would definitely say slimlines are where it's at.

As far as what picks.....eh....that's really personal preference. I'm sure you're going to get a bunch of different answers, but here's mine.
A half diamond,
shallow feeler,
deep feeler (and maybe one in between),
and maybe a camel back or sawtooth for raking (preferably camel back though).

Those should get you by with the majority of the locks you'll be practicing on. By the time you get to locks that need other picks than these, you'll know what you need :)

I would probably invest a little more money in tension wrenches. See if you can get a couple different sizes. A lot of times you can use different picks on the same lock and still get it open. But, if you don't have the right tension wrench, you're going to catch hell trying to keep that thing in the right position.

Hope this helps

-Rob
Emrys
 
Posts: 134
Joined: 26 Nov 2006 18:36
Location: Chesapeake, VA


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