Peterson Lock Picks Review

[perky416]

I have decided to write a review of my recent purchase of Peterson lock picks in the hope that others who are thinking about purchasing from Peterson find this useful and informative. The things mentioned in this review are 100% truthful based on my own experiences and thoughts. I am mainly a hobby lock picker, I don’t do this in any sort of professional capacity. I purchased directly from the Peterson website.
I have been picking pin tumbler locks since my teens, I started off making my own picks, then I moved onto cheap sets of production picks and lately after re igniting the old flame I decided to go for a professional set. After reading online it was a toss-up between Peterson and Sparrow. I decided to go with Peterson.

My purchase:
Full set of 10 Euro profile lock picks (purple handle).
Peterson Pry Bar (No teeth) 0.040”
Peterson Pry Bar (No teeth) 0.050”
Elite Bi Fold Case
Total including shipping & customs fees was around £145.

Lock Picks
The picks themselves are fantastic, they feel really sturdy and give no fear of bending or breaking. On occasion I have had way too much tension applied and used the half diamond to get under the pin and force it upwards and they feel like they can take a lot more force. They seem to be of perfect profile and size, I find I have a lot of room to manoeuvre around within the keyway.

On the downside, as has been mentioned previously, the picks arrive needing a fair bit of sanding to get them to a decent standard. If you are to run your finger down the edge of the pick you can feel your finger bobbing up and down, rather than the edges being dead flat it feels like you are feeling the side of a stretched out rake (a bit of an over exaggeration but the best way I can describe it). If you change to running your nail down the edge of the picks you can feel “jagged” imperfections with your nail getting caught in them, the easiest way to describe this is as though somebody has taken a nail file and cut micro groves down the side of the pick. From research this is the result of the manufacturing process Peterson use. It is not problem to overcome, spending 20 minutes on each pick with 1000 & 1200 grit we & dry paper brings them up spot on.
A couple of annoyances I have with the picks are the handles. They grip perfectly and feel great, however mine all say “Made in RSA”. This has been mentioned elsewhere and is simply a typo. The other annoyance is some discolouration of the handle, a number of the pics appear all faded and makes them look cheap.

Overall the picks are fantastic functionality wise and after the work mentioned are some of the best I have used, however cosmetically I am very disappointed, especially with the premium price tag.

Would I recommend? Yes based on functionality, No based on the price combined with the cosmetic shortcomings.

Pry Bars
This is the first time I have ever used pry bars. I find they work fantastic, feel good in the hand, and give plenty of room to move around with the pick. I decided to opt for the bars with no teeth, I have had a few slippages but nothing to be concerned about. Overall they are great for applying varying degrees of tension and are very effective.

The only downside I have with the pry bars is the lip they have on them that rests against the face of the lock, they leave scuff marks on the lock which are very evident on brass locks. If I have to pick a working lock I like to leave no sign of entry.

Would I recommend? Overall Yes, however if my neighbour locked herself out, I would opt for a different tension tool because I wouldn’t want to leave scuff marks on the lock.

Case
What can I say? I am very very disappointed with this case. The calfskin is nice and soft, it holds exactly the right amount of picks I purchased, plenty of room for extra storage, folds small enough to fit in your back pocket, what’s not to like?

Firstly a number of the individual pockets for the picks have been stitched too small, at first it took more force than was comfortable to insert and remove picks. I have read that this effect lessens over time as the leather stretches, however I managed to stretch it by inserting something slightly bigger than the pick handle and leaving it overnight, seemed to do the trick. The one big annoyance I have with this case is that every time I removed a pick the texture on the handle seemed to be acting like an abrasive on the inside of the pocket, after every removal I found myself blowing fleshy leather particles off of the handle. These particles ended up all over the case. I got that annoyed I ended up ripping the pockets out just to see what was going on under there. It wasn’t pretty. At $50 I expected a whole lot more.

Would I recommend? Definitely NO!!!

Shipping:
Shipping took 18 days from order to receipt of the picks here in the UK. Peterson use USPS at a cost of $32, a little steep but hey I agreed to pay it so no complaints there.

Customer Service:
I emailed Peterson enquiring about the status of the order, Ken was very fast to reply, almost instant in fact, which is always a pleasure, however considering I had just handed over $168 I was a little disappointed with the lack of customer service skills, but hey I am British, we are always being accused by the Europeans of being too polite.

Conclusion
Functionality wise the Peterson products are fantastic, id even go as far as to say they are the best I have used after some finishing touches, however the lack of cosmetic quality control leaves me disappointed, I like to be proud of my picks and show them off. My experience so far has made me question the constant recommendations I see on the internet. Is this the type of scenario where “everybody wears nike running shoes so they much be the best”? As mentioned I am only a hobby picker who provides the occasional entry for friends/family, actual locksmiths who use these tools more often may have a different opinion to myself. This purchase was worth it to experience the Peterson products however I don’t think I will be going back, I will probably purchase sparrow next time, or even go back to making my own picks.

[mahranch]

Wow, I'm a little surprised about the case review. Have you ever owned a calf-skin product before? I'm genuinely curious. All good "real" leather products have a wear in/break in period. Many actually need to be treated after purchase if you plan on exposing them to the elements.

Real leather products aren't something you buy all ready to go, the consumer has to work with them a bit and allow for the break-in period to pass. You said you waited overnight but realistically, you need a week or more. Overnight isn't remotely long enough. Hell, shoes need a couple weeks and those are typically quick to break in.

My ex-college roommate just wrote an in-depth glowing review on one of Peterson's cases but I don't think I'm allowed to link it because his website doesn't launch until mid-June.

As for their picks, have you ever bent or broke any picks before? Have you broken any just from long-term use alone? That's what you're buying; durability and longevity. Their black handled govt. steel picks outlast my SouthOrds and Sparrows by orders of magnitude. To be fair, however, I have not tried SouthOrds Max picks yet. Also, due to their plastic handles, I can pick a lot longer than with SouthOrds. I don't care for dipped handles, while it's better than bare steel, the rubber rarely ever holds up and it wears down quick. They also get sticky, and they're not pretty after heavy use combined with repeated sliding in and out of cases.

I appreciate the time you took to write this review but I do feel as if it was written by someone who is still quite new to the hobby and has a lot to learn. I don't mean to be condescending or insult you in any way, I just wanted to give you an answer as to why there are all those glowing/positive reviews you said you've read, yet your experience differs.

They really are amazing products, but you need the relevant experience to appreciate them.