Has anyone bought / owned / tested this?

[anikan_25]

http://www.lockpicks.com/roundspringloa ... hdial.aspx

Judging by the picture i have a rough idea how this works but does anybody here know if it is actually usefull? Im still a noob so dumping $50 into something that MIGHT make picking easier for me probably isnt the best idea, but im still curious and if this is highly recommended (which it probably isnt because i havent seen it mentioned anywhere) i would consider it.

[Eyes_Only]

I have one but without the guages and I never use it. I find it too akward to use with my picking style but other people might find it helpful. It all really depends on the person but when I bought it I used it for a couple days and never touched it again.

[RangerF150]

I got one, useless !
The problem is ( for me) that your way too far out from the lock with that tool.
I kinda have my ring finger under the pick, and in contact with the face of the lock. With that tool my hand is out in the middle of nowhere, miles away from the face !!
It would be like holding a pen or pencil half way up the length of it, and trying to write, for me , impossible.
Also, I pick with the lock in my hand, with that tool it ( the lock) has to be in a vice.

Gotta say, it looks cool

Save your money, buy something else.

[lunchb0x]

I have one with out the gauge as well, the only time I use it is on wafer locks, sometimes it does make it easier but most of the time I use a normal tension wrench, my one was only around $20 but its not spring loaded which I don't think is necessary.

I'm pretty sure another member on here had a guide on how to make one out of a bottle cap but I couldn't find it.

[straightpick]

Save your money. It says "makes it easy to set the proper tension...". Do you know what the proper tension is for the lock you are using it on? Plus you won't get the feedback from it that you will from a tension wrench. And it is cumbersome to use.

[LearningTheArt]

It looks pretty neat, but also like previous members have said cumbersome. I would stick to the good ol' tension wrench.

[Engineer]

I've got one in brass with the range markings on it.

I suppose once you have found the correct tension for on make and model of lock, then you know anymore like that should pick at the same tension.

On mine, the tension seems very stiff. I rarely get over 1 -1.5 divisions.

I don't like it, but only because I've not practised with it enough. I too tend to rest my fingers on the lock to steady my hand as I pick. This prevents you from doing thathaving my hand "floating" in free space seems to make my picking less precise.

I wouldn't be without one though, as there are just the occasional locks that are recessed, or need picking on both sides where I wouldn't be able to get the lock open otherwise.

It is the law of "diminishing returns", where you can pick perhaps 60% of locks with a basic hook pick. Everything else will allow you to pick more locks, or pick them more easily, but will never make as much diference to you as that first pick did.

I should say it is worth getting, but only when you have a lot of other tools first and are serious about picking.