sv fortess pick , can anyone recommend it , or review it

[reacher]

any of you guys got the sv fortress pick ?
in view of the price tag i was wondering how effective and easy is this pick to use .
quality tool or not ?
i have just got the union decoder and i must say that its an awsome tool , superb quality as well , i was very impressed with it for the money ,

[panalman]

All The SV Decoders are nice tools to use but not always practical on the door if the lock is fitted incorrectly / worn locks.

The Union kit is a plasticine impression kit once the code has been worked out make your key up and open the lock the union make up key has a magnetic end which prevents your pins from falling out and is quite strong so should the bolt be a tight fit you will be able to open the lock without damaging the pins.

The Fortress decoder works on the slide rule principal and again is nice to use no impressions are necessary unless you want to find one particular lever. Place a reader pin in each position in turn and you will decode 4 of the 5 levers the last or first one depending on the orientation of the lock will have to be decoded by trying a pin under it going from the shortest to the longest until it opens.

SV are famous for their P+C decoder’s great tools but do need a lot of practise and it’s all too easy to forget when the need to use them arises. If you have a contract with a organisation that has a large number of the same locks fitted then well worth the investment but for general work I am not so sure I have heard of locksmiths failing to open locks with these tools due to lack of use and experience more than anything as with most things they have there place in the locksmiths armoury.

[reacher]

thanks mate ,
i have just got the union decoder and what a great piece of kit it is , but you are right about the need to use all this stuff or you can forget ,
i must say that sv could have easily put in a small set of instructions with this and made the job of useing it for the first time without seeing a demo a lot easier , although their is a pic/diagram on the lid of the kit box just a few lines would have saved me around two hours wasted trying to take the impression the wrong way under the lever pack not at the back , piece of cake if you have seen a demo though , or for instance that 6/7 pin can also mean no pin .
i like the idea of the fortress pick but its not cheap , i'm going to go for the chubb pin and cam next i think , but i'm torn between that and the turner/staddon pick , as i did see a post on here saying that the sv was 100 % effective and the staddon not , but others have said that the staddon is better , any thoughts on this guys before i buy one ?

[panalman]

The SV 114 P+C is a nice tool and comes with a good set of instructions if you get a good impression after breaking the curtain then you will not go far wrong however if you get a few slightly bent pins whilst practising with the tool this will prevent the pin and cam feature from working correctly and will throw you out.
I have never owned the staddon pick but have seen demos on it and it looks quite good I would wait until you get a chance to see both tools in action before you part with your cash the SV tool is not much use on the E series as levers from different groups give the same marks on the impression although I am sure there would be a way from pure feedback from the leveras via the tool. Good Luck

thanks mate ,
i have just got the union decoder and what a great piece of kit it is , but you are right about the need to use all this stuff or you can forget ,
i must say that sv could have easily put in a small set of instructions with this and made the job of useing it for the first time without seeing a demo a lot easier , although their is a pic/diagram on the lid of the kit box just a few lines would have saved me around two hours wasted trying to take the impression the wrong way under the lever pack not at the back , piece of cake if you have seen a demo though , or for instance that 6/7 pin can also mean no pin .
i like the idea of the fortress pick but its not cheap , i'm going to go for the chubb pin and cam next i think , but i'm torn between that and the turner/staddon pick , as i did see a post on here saying that the sv was 100 % effective and the staddon not , but others have said that the staddon is better , any thoughts on this guys before i buy one ?