After reading and searching here I seem to be getting more confused about where to start and what to buy. I have seen youtube vids where normal picks and tension tools are used. There are also specialized tools to pick tubular locks. Right now I am looking at a three tool set which seems to have three different tools with different diameters for different locks 7.0mm, 7.5mm, and 7.8mm. I have a couple of tubular locks that are all 7.8mm and that seems to be some what of a standard, at least for the seven pin tubular locks that seem to be the most common.
https://www.amazon.com/LK-Store-Tubular ... ZWQN5G0221
This choice is not set in stone so if anyone has other options I am open to other suggestions.
So my first question relates to a you tube vid where the guy quickly picks the tubular lock on a small gun safe and says he is concerned it is so easy to pick the tubular lock with what I term a first tier tubular lockpicking tool. I found a thread here where someone asked about a $US78.00 lock and squelchtone said you could find a $US15 dollar tool that might work just as well. But other commenters noted that just as with conventional lockpicking there is a learning curve in tubular lockpicking. Questions relate to first off how steep is the learning curve, and will a quality tool, as opposed to bottom tier tools, help reduce the learning curve. Also wondering how common the 7.8mm size is. I always like to carry fewer tools, but also want to have the tools that are needed.
There is no real time pressure to get my new toys since I don't have any tubular locks with out keys. So the last question is once I get some tools for tubular locks I can go on Amazon and buy a cheap set of six tubular locks unless someone comes up with a better source for tubular locks for me to play with.