How's This for an Upgrade Kit?

[PipeSmoker]

I currently have the very basic SouthOrd 5 piece kit with an extra tension wrench I made; it is a little narrower than the one that came in the kit. I'm thinking of upgrading to a little better set and am drawn to the Peterson Mini Breachers Kit: I've read they are quality tools, like the breaker bar and the set in general. Is this a good choice to upgrade to? And what is the knife in the kit used for?

https://www.thinkpeterson.com/picksets.html#LESS%20EXPENSIVE%20Pick%20Sets

[kwoswalt99-]

I like the small kits better than the big ones personally. The knife is for decoding or bypassing.

[Daltonj21]

I'm not exactly what you're upgrading from, but that set has a good selection. I have a bunch of their picks and those are the ones I reach for the most. All its missing is a gem and a bogata style. My gem in .025 and .015 have a lot more miles than anything else. I think the Peterson oversized handles are why I like them so much.

[soundchaos]

Depends how adept you have become at picking in general. If you got pretty good with your Southord set, I would recommend going to Peterson's website and buying only the picks you know you need individually. As a previous post said, there is a gem missing from this kit, and also it has no European or slimmer picks. I personally like to get a euro and a normal of each type of hook/gem that I use for SPP. You could build your own small kit for about the same cost.

Another thing that's completely IMO, if I already have fully working (and sanded smooth) but lower quality rake/rocker style picks, I would prefer not to also get higher end variants like Peterson's, as their build quality isn't as important as picks for SPP styles.

[PipeSmoker]

This is my little pick set plus my homemade extra tension wrench.

Thanks for the thoughts.

I'm relearning after "misplacing" my set for a year or so. I've yet to fool with the rake, wanting to learn SPP first. I do need to sand and polish what I have; thanks for that suggestion, too.

[Nagelfar]

What i would do, is to put handles on the ones you got. some shrink tube would do the job.
and as somone else said, you could get some single picks you feel you want. i dont think you need a new kit, unless you want everything in it.
I myself have noticed that the more i pick, the less kinds of picks i use. but have all the outher types is ofcorse good aswell, even tho i hardly ever use them.

[PipeSmoker]

I think I'm going to try sanding/polishing what I have and put shrink tubing handles on them. I know I want a Peterson-style pry bar. Other than that, I'm not 100% sure what else I want, probably a gem. I sure appreciate the replies thus far