Southord Tubular Lock Pick - $66

[Surfer]

I just ordered a new model Southord Tubular Lock Pick (7-Pin) for $66 including shipping, which is the cheapest I found online:

http://www.defensedevices.com/tulopi.html

The picks are $64.95, and shipping is $4.95 (free for purchases over $99), and use coupon code "mycoupon007" to get 5% off your purchase.

I wanted to get the HPC Quick Reset Model, But I figured it wasn't worth the $130 price, so I got this instead. I will post a review when I get it.

1) Does anyone know whether or not this pick works with Kryptonite Bicycle Locks (particularly the EvoLite and KryptoLok models)??? I'm concerned that the diameter is too large.

2) Also, is there any way to convert the 8-pin model to 7-pin WITHOUT DRILLING? Thanks

[Kaellman]

I am not going to answer any of those questions. If you think hard, you might figure out why.

[Surfer]

Don't be ridiculous, information can't do anything that a Bic pen and some determination couldn't do. I've popped my own KryptoLok open with a bic pen, but it only works inconsistently, I'm hoping that the pick will work better. By the way, there are far easier and quicker ways to open U-locks that don't involve the use of picks, but it involves ruining the lock and I'm not into that. It's all about the elegance of not altering the lock.

Anwyay, I have scoured the forums, and I found two threads that say that the SouthOrd TPXA-7 is incompatible with the U-locks that have the lock on the side of the barrel. I assume they mean this type:

http://img.epinions.com/images/opti/5e/ ... zed200.gif
http://www.mcphailscycle.com/pictures/kryptolok.gif

Threads:
viewtopic.php?t=5500
viewtopic.php?t=5473

However, some other threads suggest they do work, and the "lp101tubulars.avi" video shows that it does work on Kryptonite Locks, albeit the old-style ones that have the lock at the end of the barrell.

If anyone can clarify this conflicting misinformation, I'd appreciate it. If it doesn't work, is the HPC Quick Reset the only pick that will work?

[Kaellman]

Im sorry but I didnt know what was your intension at all. Its kind of common that guys make their first post about asking how their recently invested tool/tools work and what it works with etc. Sorry for flaming you, but thats the quickest way to seperate the "good" from the "bad". Your answer shows that your serious, in which case i welcome you to the forums! Always nice with new and ambitious guys around!

Like you said, there are different suggestions on the matter of which locks you can pick with the TPXA-7, and since I have no personal experience with it, i leave the answe to that question to the other guys. I have though never heared of any method to convert the TPXA-7 without drilling.

[Kaellman]

Im just curious though, why the interest in tubular U-locks?

[Surfer]

With the whole bic controversy in the media, I've become fascinated about how tubular u-locks work. The current thinking is that this method works by "impressioning" the soft plastic.

However, in my experience, the plastic is not soft enough to become percisely impressionable. It just kind of gets randomly bent as you keep on twirling the pen around. I think its more luck than anything, because the pen happens to provide enough torque while at the same time pushing the springs. With enough twirls, it happens to get the right combination (along with the fact that Kryptonite's locks are not as high quality as they'd like the public to believe). That's why I've only gotten it to work inconsistently on most U-locks that I own.

I hope that by testing out a pick that works consistently on a U-lock, I can get a better idea of how picking best works and thus figure out a way to do it that is cheap and elegant ($66-108 for Southord and HPC is not cheap). In the end, I hope to make my own homemade tubular pick, perhaps with fibers instead of standard metal feelers.

If anyone has experience with the SouthOrd TPXA-7 or HPC TLP-7SB (Quick Reset), what locks they work with, and which one is better, please weigh in on this discussion. Also, let me know if someone knows a place where I can get the Quick Reset for less than $108 I saw at foley-belsaw. It seems many of the places are only wholesale or do not sell to the general public.

[vector40]

What exactly is superior about the Quick Reset pick? Aside from, you know... resetting quickly.

[Kaellman]

Totally agree with you. That you open the U-locks by impressioning the plastic ( such as the plastic from a bic pen ) does indeed sounds strange.

A homemade tubular lockpick would be nice, but i think ill stick to making lever- and pin tumbler lockpicks. Not really gotten into tubular locks yet.

[Surfer]

I don't think there's anything superior about it in terms of quality. However, it's the only tubular pick I've found that explicitly states that it works on "small bore" tubular locks, such as the ones found on bicycle u-locks. Personally, I'd prefer to buy one of the traditional tubular picks, but from the above threads, it sounds like they're incompatible with newer u-locks.

[vector40]

Doesn't someone (HPC? SO?) make a tubular pick called a "small bore pick" or some such?

[Surfer]

I haven't found any pick labeled "small bore" through google searching "small bore"+"tubular"+"pick" other than the Quick Release:

http://www.hpcworld.com/Picks/p_tlp7sb.htm

The Peterson Pro-1 can do small bore as well, but thats $300+ so its ridiculously too much for hobbyists and picking enthusiasts like myself.

[vector40]

Yeah, now you've got me wondering where I saw that.

Google brought up this: http://www.lockpicks.com/index.asp?Page ... &ProdID=49

but you'll notice that it looks an awful lot like yours different name, same product, I guess.

I dunno, maybe I'm inventing things.

[Surfer]

Yeah, it's definately the same thing, not only are the pictures the same, if you look closely, the model numbers both say "TLP-7SB."

Haven't found it for less than $108, though supposedly HL Flake (http://www.hlflake.com/catalog.asp) sells it for $90. However, one needs to have a copy of National Locksmith or Locksmith Ledger magazine to access their catalog (you need the ISSN # on the inside cover to log in).
Anyone have an old copy lying around?

[vector40]

Maybe, if you're thinking you might ever buy another tubular pick (normal 7 pin, 8 pin, offset, whatever), you might save your money and get the Peterson. That'll cover just about any tubular configuration you'll run into, and in the long run you'll be spending the same as two or three individual picks -- and it'll work better, too.