joshuachristy78 wrote:I was searching online and found
http://www.lockpicktools.com/. I am not trying to take away from any sponsors. The company is called
Southern Specialty Locksmith Equipment & Supplies. The are actually located only 8 miles from where I work. Granted They don't have a traditional store front, yet being local I was able to go to the Shop and purchase Direct from them. It was pretty cool, I got a tour of the business, I saw how and where the picks where made. I got to see and handle different products. The owners where very nice. It was cool to be able to more or less hand pick my tools and know what I was getting. So far they feel great in hand.
That's so cool that you got to tour the factory. I've been a dealer of their picks for years but I've never had a chance to visit. I love that they make about 95% of their tools in-house. It's where I always restock on tools for beginner lockpicking workshops. In part I've dealt with them because they make their own stuff but also because Richard, the owner there, was so accommodating and easy to work with. I mean, I'm sure it doesn't hurt when you're placing an order for several thousand bucks worth of picks, but I've had pick companies scoff at me if I wasn't going to place orders in the five-figure range. I mean, come on, it would take me ages to unload $30,000 worth of lockpicks, so it was nice to deal with a company who would work with a small scale vendor like me.
They're also the folks who made the custom, small production run of numbered NDE Magazine pick sets that I handed out a while back at conventions.
I've heard that he's recently turned over business operations to his daughter. Did you get any sense as to who was in charge over there lately?
These Picks here are the plain handle not bad @ $1.99 each.Yes I have purchased many picks, my goal is to find what works for me and go from there.