I ordered my Brockhage Navigator set from
www.unlockables.com Customer service was wonderful-- two small snafu's were worked out with speed and grace.
Now on to the pickset.
Case: Holds everything included nicely, but unfortunately gives very little oportunity for expansin. You could add more tension wrenches and possibly a few thin picks, but you are fairly limited. The case does close more securely than any other I have owned. This is also the first Cordura pick case I have owned. I would dearly love to see more cordura cases Especially a rather large one, but thats a topic for another thread.
Turning tools: You get 4 turning tools/tension wrenches. One tulip style, one double ended, and two "keychain" flat wrenches. The tulip wrench is similar to what one would expect from HPC or Southord. The "Flat" wrnches and the double sided wrenches are quite a bit thicker than any wrench I have ever used, and is extremly stiff and seemed rather ill fitting for the locks I have at hand. The design of the flat wrenches is interesting, but the thickness of the wrenches may limit them severely depending on your personal picking style. I do want to try these in some BEST keyways, were thin wrenches may not be the most effective. I know that some people prefer thicker wrenches and these may be just the ticket for you.
Picks: Steel with what appears to be a nickel plating. Hard plastic handles, with a "bent" ergonomic design. These are lovely and extremly comfortable in the hand. Feedback from all the picks is extremely good, I find some of the picks have incredible feedback, especially the thin, small hooks. The rakes, and some of the hooks in the set are quite thick, and probably are not suitable for most pin tumbler locks, but would be wonderful in auto locks and at least one rake and an inverted diamond hook, among other tools, appear to be specialized for dimple locks. I have not yet been able to test these picks, as I don't have any dimple locks with me. But, two of the most interesting picks in the set appear to be similar in construction to the various Mul-T-Lock picks on the market. These picks seem to hold promise. The one rake that is listed as for dimple locks is similar in profile to what I imagine a section through a matator pick to be. Again, another intriguing pick to try out.
A very interesting tool is the wafer reader/inspection pick. The end of this pick is very similar to the slimmest hook offered in the set. This allows you to both examine lock internals, and to pick at an offset. I have admittedly only had the set for a few hours, but already I see this tool being one of my most frequently reached for when encountering new kinds of locks, or particularly reclaitrant or dirty ones.
The set contains a variety of hooks. The thin tang hooks are extremely maneuverable, and may be an aid in paracentric keyways. There is also a very small half diamond with a thin tang. I will be reaching for this the next time I have a small padlock to pick. This pick is referred to as a broken key extractor in the product description, but it really is more functional as a half diamond.
What is an added bonus, the picks feel comfortable holding for picking with pins up or pins down. They are also far more comfortable than any Southord or HPC picks I have used, and the thin hooks would really be great for extended picking.
All this being said, Brockhage has put out a wonderful pick set. Unfortunately when I justed checked, I did not see the Navigator set listed on lockpicks.com , perhaps they are out of stock, or are not continuing to sell this product.
www.unlockables.com has these picks at a very attractive price. However, I would not recommend this set for a beginner. The set is rather lacking on the standard rakes, including the riffle or "Mountain 6" rake, and the venerable S or "snake" rake. These are usefull tools, and I know I would feel rather ill equipped without them, if only for the comfort factor. The selection of tension wrenches may be inadequate for a beginner to learn the "feel", but I still dont know whether they are good additions to even a well equipped pickers arsenal. As an add on set for an already equipped picker who doesn't want to buy a lot of pick sets just to get a few select pieces, ie picks and a rake for dimple locks, a wider variety of hooks, some slim line hooks, and a wafer/lock reading tool. I don't think this will be my primary pick set, but rather that set of extra picks that saves the day again and again. When I consider the price of wafer readers from Peterson, and Mul-T-Lock picks from Souber, and a few slim line picks from Southord-- these are a wonderful bargain.
