Small Hook vs Half Diamond

[commadore]

I am a novice lockpicker, yet from what i have read the half diamond and small hook is amoung the most used picks and the most basic ones as well (correct me if i am wrong). So what do you think the better one is, at least for basic locks that is (padlocks, basic pink tumblers). I started with the small hook and learned with it when i started, yet now i am leaning towards the half diamond because it just "feels" right. Share your experience and opinions.

[raimundo]

both are essential, but the halfdiamond is easier to cam up pins with in a tight keyway, where a hook has to try to get under the pin, which is not a problem in open keyways like schlage c and such.

the universal usefulness of the half diamond is why it appears in the basic bogota pair, which is meant to be the best picks in the fewest pieces to keep track of. basicly you have one in each hand so keeping count of the picks is not so hard. and the handles are small so that light picking style is supported.

you will need to make your own tension wrenches, you will be able to customize them to the particular lock etc.

[Doctor Hexagon]

In my opinion what it essentially boils down to is personal preference.

I personally lean toward the hook. My style of picking is single pin at a time and I like the hook because A) I first learned to pick with a hook years ago and stuck with it, and B) a hook allows me to single out and target an individual pin stack and get tactile feedback specifically on it while I'm picking.

Now, you can do all the same things with a diamond pick though. In fact there are some things you can do with a diamond pick that you cannot easily do with a hook. As raimundo said, a diamond is great for wedging underneath a pin stack especially in very restrictive keyways. I often use a diamond pick or an S rake in this manner to get under a pin when my hook isn't able to.

An advantage to a hook is you can more easily manipulate a pin without disturbing any adjacent pins. This can be indispensable if you're picking a smaller lock or a lock with a heavily staggered code.

As you can see, there really are different advantages to both kinds of picks which is why I use both even though I will usually grab a hook first.

If a diamond pick feels right for you, then by all means keep on using it. The important factors are what you're most comfortable with, and of course what gets the lock open.