I meant to publish this vid around December 2018, but my kit hasn’t changed so I thought it would be interesting for you all to see what I think is essential. You gotta be good to make it in and stay!
It's interesting to get some insight into the habits of other lock pickers and see what tools they tend to gravitate toward. My very first pick set was a Goso set. That was the set that I used to pick my first lock. They aren't very good picks but with a little bit of sanding they can be serviceable. After getting that first lock open I was hooked and started collecting locks as well as picks from a lot of different manufacturers. Next I bought a set of Klom picks. They were very rough and definitely needed sanding, but with a bit of work they are actually pretty usable picks. The rubber grips are really comfortable to use and the sheer number of picks you get for the price is hard to beat. It has so many different hook profiles, not to mention a good amount of rakes and even a nice selection of wafer lock picks. I still use the Klom picks sometimes, even to this day. I then decided to get myself a Sparrows Tuxedo set. It is pretty basic but the case and thin profile make it easy to carry around in the back pocket if you need something that you can keep on your person as a just in case, every day carry set. The fine point tip on a few of the hooks can come in handy when dealing with nasty paracentric keyways. I also bought the Dangerfield Praxis set (which I'm fairly certain are manufactured by Madbob because they look identical to Madbob picks). It's a pretty nice set that will get the job done in many circumstances. I also didn't own any thin picks at the time which prevented me from tackling some of the smaller and narrower keyways. The 0.015" picks that came with the Praxis set were a nice addition to my collection. Since by this point I had really dove in to locksport and knew that I was definitely a lock picker for life I decided to buy myself some really nice tools. From prior experience with tools in general I knew that German craftsmanship is usually pretty impressive, so I decided to get myself some of the Multipick Elites. By some I mean all of them lol. I now own everything in the Multipick Elite product line for both the 0.6mm and 0.4mm collections. I also was in need of dimple picks and the Elite G-Pro dimple picks were the nicest I could find on the market so I got those too. Last but not least are my most recent purchase, the SouthOrd Max 0.025" picks. These are my absolute favorite picks so far because of the material they are made from. Most of the well known pick manufacturers use 301 full hard stainless steel, or something pretty closely comparable. The SouthOrd Max picks are made from 301 high yield stainless steel and it is significantly stronger than the full hard 301 stainless. It really makes everything else feel flimsy by comparison. The SouthOrd Max picks have become my go-to picks because they are so damn tough. I still use all of my picks to some degree but I use the SouthOrd Max picks probably 85-90% of the time. They are some of the more expensive picks on the market but I feel that their durability definitely justifies the price. I would recommend them to anyone who is interested in getting themselves some picks that do a great job at handling heavy tension picking. The rake selection for the SouthOrd Max picks is a little meager and there aren't any Bogotas, but I think that's ok because you really only need this level of strength for the SPP style picks that are used for prying. Rakes don't typically have to sustain as much sheer force as SPP picks do so there really isn't a need to make rakes out of high yield 301. Anyway, that pretty much sums up my pick collection and preferences. I have recently acquired some high yield 301 shim stock in 0.025" thickness so I think I'm going to try my hand at making some of my own picks. I like to get elaborate when I build things so I think I'm going to model up some 3D masks that I can print up on my 3D printer and use them to spray an enamel mask onto the metal and then I'm going to cut them out using a salt water electro-etching process. I have a design I've been working on that I think will make for some very nice picks. I'm still deciding what I want to do for the handles though. I"m thinking I might go with a skeletonized aluminum construction (you probably prefer the term "aluminium", I apologize for my backward American habits lol). It will take a bit more work than other options such as wood or plastic, but I think the end result will be really nice and worth the extra effort. Btw, sorry for rambling on a bit. I know I just laid down a wall of text and I don't blame you if you didn't bother reading this far lol.
I bought a Goat wrench directly from Sparrows and it is just so expensive with postage. It's a great tool but to look at this small piece of metal that costs sooooo much.
@@lockmania-locks I need one to add to me kit. I've got the smaller one from sparrows. I think it's called the mantis or something. Kinda hard to work with and I've got small hands lol. But I guess it's better than nothing.
Nice kit , gotta get a .018 gem - good to do this vid. now & again as a kit can (slightly) change & i would imagine new subs are asking you what you use , good vid. mate :)
Hey Lock Noob .. first of all thank you for all the content and information you share .. absolutely top notch !! Quick question .. would love to see your current go to set .. I’m assuming your Multipick set is probably the core, but would love to see what you’ve changed !! I’ve got the Palmer ‘Big Kahuna’ set and some various Peterson ( love the Gems too ! ) and Sparrows thanks to you reviews and insights ! Cheers !!
Which of those .020 sparrows hooks is considered the "medium"? Just curious because they don't list any of their hooks as "medium hooks" on their website, I think they categorize them as "steep" or something like that.
That’s a very interesting question... hard to say but possibly £200 +/- £50? The Max picks are £10 each for a start, then there’s the case, Mad Bobs tools... yeah, more expensive than I would have thought. Guess it’s evolved over a few years so never seemed a lot :-)
Did a quick scan in your vids,looking for the cable tie handle making for picks. Ive used popsicle sticks from the hobby shop,and shrink tubing.But your handles made from,what I think you said was cable ties,looks comfortable. Do you have a link to that video showing making handles from the ties?
the curved ends are sort of a carry over from my prototype and the Goat was an in joke as we were thinking about names centreing around mythical creatures, one of which was the chimera which has a goats head centre to the beast. So instead of Chimera or something exotic, we joked about calling it just the Goat and the name stuck as it sort of does!
Lock Noob could you recommend a couple of hooks, their thickness and a couple of rakes that would be good ones to initially buy. Like a lot of people when you get into lock picking you don't spend lots of money because you don't know what to buy and you could end up giving up on the hobby/ sport. So you usually start of with cheap kits and cheap picks thear really need to improved on to advance your skill. Much appreciated.
Get a sparrows "worm" and their "full dent". You can use the full dent to rake and pick. Get the top of the keyway tension set and the basic bottom keyway set. Euro hook, standard hook, shallow hook, and snake rake. That should do you really well to start with for pin tumbler locks. 25 thousandths to start. Move down slowly to 23 or 20; 18 then to 15. Peterson or southord is great as well, sparrows is just cheaper with the same quality.
@@skiball83 Thanks for the advice. I have been doing ok with the Goso picks butt they are thunk and quality ain't that good. Also been using a H&H Jacknife that gets into narrower keyways. Made a few variants myself of hooks using the jacknife picks. I'll check out the costs of your recommended picks and start purchasing. Many thanks
@@LockNoob yeah! I'm finally trying this out for the first time. I ordered the southord 14 piece set. And could a bunch more picks and rakes and tensioners on sparrows site. Also ordered the sparrows revolver practice lock. Do you have any advice for a noob like me?
@@LockNoob My kit: Started with a Southord PSX 14 Set Talking/mailing with you i added a short & medium hook from Multipick, and short & medium hook from Peterson. Both Multipick/Peterson feel a lot tougher then the PSX set, Peterson is my #1 for now. I also added the Madbob 6 piece pry bar set. Not a happy marriage, in hand picking the Madbob pry bar feels awkward. I bent 2 straight pry bar so i can hold it better. Your Mirror set is just what i need i think. I have a few locks with tight keyways, so i was looking for some 0.015” Bosnian Bill did a review for some picks from Hank Fisher, Hank the Roover, they looked great. So, i bought myself 1 handmade 0.015” pick and allong the road i asked Hank for a special tensioner. Both came out ridiculous great. And that’s my kit so far. The PSX picks are slowly leaving my not to big pick case, they get upgraded with picks from Multipick/Peterson/Hank
I meant to publish this vid around December 2018, but my kit hasn’t changed so I thought it would be interesting for you all to see what I think is essential. You gotta be good to make it in and stay!
All we need to find is a good picker 😂😂
Nice to see the update. That Sherman case is one of the best out there for carrying a lot of stuff, in a small space.
It really is awesome :-)
Definitely a perfect selection of picks for every event, I think my EDC kit is pretty much the same. 👍
That’s cool to hear :-)
It's interesting to get some insight into the habits of other lock pickers and see what tools they tend to gravitate toward. My very first pick set was a Goso set. That was the set that I used to pick my first lock. They aren't very good picks but with a little bit of sanding they can be serviceable. After getting that first lock open I was hooked and started collecting locks as well as picks from a lot of different manufacturers. Next I bought a set of Klom picks. They were very rough and definitely needed sanding, but with a bit of work they are actually pretty usable picks. The rubber grips are really comfortable to use and the sheer number of picks you get for the price is hard to beat. It has so many different hook profiles, not to mention a good amount of rakes and even a nice selection of wafer lock picks. I still use the Klom picks sometimes, even to this day. I then decided to get myself a Sparrows Tuxedo set. It is pretty basic but the case and thin profile make it easy to carry around in the back pocket if you need something that you can keep on your person as a just in case, every day carry set. The fine point tip on a few of the hooks can come in handy when dealing with nasty paracentric keyways. I also bought the Dangerfield Praxis set (which I'm fairly certain are manufactured by Madbob because they look identical to Madbob picks). It's a pretty nice set that will get the job done in many circumstances. I also didn't own any thin picks at the time which prevented me from tackling some of the smaller and narrower keyways. The 0.015" picks that came with the Praxis set were a nice addition to my collection. Since by this point I had really dove in to locksport and knew that I was definitely a lock picker for life I decided to buy myself some really nice tools. From prior experience with tools in general I knew that German craftsmanship is usually pretty impressive, so I decided to get myself some of the Multipick Elites. By some I mean all of them lol. I now own everything in the Multipick Elite product line for both the 0.6mm and 0.4mm collections. I also was in need of dimple picks and the Elite G-Pro dimple picks were the nicest I could find on the market so I got those too. Last but not least are my most recent purchase, the SouthOrd Max 0.025" picks. These are my absolute favorite picks so far because of the material they are made from. Most of the well known pick manufacturers use 301 full hard stainless steel, or something pretty closely comparable. The SouthOrd Max picks are made from 301 high yield stainless steel and it is significantly stronger than the full hard 301 stainless. It really makes everything else feel flimsy by comparison. The SouthOrd Max picks have become my go-to picks because they are so damn tough. I still use all of my picks to some degree but I use the SouthOrd Max picks probably 85-90% of the time. They are some of the more expensive picks on the market but I feel that their durability definitely justifies the price. I would recommend them to anyone who is interested in getting themselves some picks that do a great job at handling heavy tension picking. The rake selection for the SouthOrd Max picks is a little meager and there aren't any Bogotas, but I think that's ok because you really only need this level of strength for the SPP style picks that are used for prying. Rakes don't typically have to sustain as much sheer force as SPP picks do so there really isn't a need to make rakes out of high yield 301. Anyway, that pretty much sums up my pick collection and preferences. I have recently acquired some high yield 301 shim stock in 0.025" thickness so I think I'm going to try my hand at making some of my own picks. I like to get elaborate when I build things so I think I'm going to model up some 3D masks that I can print up on my 3D printer and use them to spray an enamel mask onto the metal and then I'm going to cut them out using a salt water electro-etching process. I have a design I've been working on that I think will make for some very nice picks. I'm still deciding what I want to do for the handles though. I"m thinking I might go with a skeletonized aluminum construction (you probably prefer the term "aluminium", I apologize for my backward American habits lol). It will take a bit more work than other options such as wood or plastic, but I think the end result will be really nice and worth the extra effort. Btw, sorry for rambling on a bit. I know I just laid down a wall of text and I don't blame you if you didn't bother reading this far lol.
I read it! Thanks for taking the time :-)
Great set. I don't have a Lunatic or Atilla yet. A good kit is usually a mix of a number of brands. ✌😎
I agree. The Lunatic is really good in wide keyways :-)
Well thought out and tested kit. Can never have to many picks my friend. Awesome video 👍🤘🖖🍻
Thank you :-)
Nice EDC, nice to see a variety of different makes and styles.
Thanks for sharing 😘😘👍
Thanks PB :-)
Brilliant mix of picks for a carry case. Looks similar to mine but many more tension tools. Will likely duplicate.
Can never have enough :-)
Great selection of picks for any situation!!!
All if my favorites are in there!!!
Thank you for sharing this!!! 👍
👏👏👏👏👏👏
Thank you :-)
Nice kit bud. There still a few things I need to add to mine. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for watching :-)
Super lock kit. Only two and a half years?
Your skills are of such a pro my friend. 👍👍👍👍♥️
Cherokee well it’s 2 3/4 years now :-) 😉
Nicely thought out kit there. Definitely looks like it would get through about anything in front of you. 👍
Well, 80% I recon :-)
Tension tools are like clamps for woodworking, you simply can't have to many... Even if we only use 5 most of the time 😂
Too true :-)
Very nice set i Hope that ukbumpkeys Soon Will have the goat wrench
I bought a Goat wrench directly from Sparrows and it is just so expensive with postage. It's a great tool but to look at this small piece of metal that costs sooooo much.
@@roysammons2445 Yeah i know that is why i want to wait
@@lockmania-locks I need one to add to me kit. I've got the smaller one from sparrows. I think it's called the mantis or something. Kinda hard to work with and I've got small hands lol. But I guess it's better than nothing.
@@tennesseetarantulas5129 i have that one too i like it but IT don't Work to All tubular locks like the goat do
If it gets in more People’s kits, then that’s a good thing :-)
I think we all have loads and loads of picks and tensioners!
We do indeed!
Interesting, your pick set and mine are similar in some ways but quite a bit different too.
How do they differ the most? :-)
Nice kit , gotta get a .018 gem - good to do this vid. now & again as a kit can (slightly) change & i would imagine new subs are asking you what you use , good vid. mate :)
I love the 0.018 Gem :-)
You could almost switch our kits without noticing the difference. I haven't tried the Southord Max picks, maybe soon...
I really like them. 0.023 and super strong :-)
Hey Lock Noob .. first of all thank you for all the content and information you share .. absolutely top notch !!
Quick question .. would love to see your current go to set .. I’m assuming your Multipick set is probably the core, but would love to see what you’ve changed !! I’ve got the Palmer ‘Big Kahuna’ set and some various Peterson ( love the Gems too ! ) and Sparrows thanks to you reviews and insights ! Cheers !!
Thanks for the posts!! Love your work!!
What kind of case is that??
thanks for the"whats in my bag tour"
You’re welcome :-)
A great set Ash my friend👍😊👍😊😎😎
Thanks Leon :-)
Your travel set will probably might attract attention of the airport customs. 😄
Lol, for sure :-)
Ha, i have most of the same picks and tension tools. Great to know that i have pro grade stuff.
Good to know :-)
That's a really nice set of picks.
Thank you :-)
Which of those .020 sparrows hooks is considered the "medium"? Just curious because they don't list any of their hooks as "medium hooks" on their website, I think they categorize them as "steep" or something like that.
A really nice mix of picks and tension bars. What would you guess the value of the kit is worth( just a rough est. would be nice)?
That’s a very interesting question... hard to say but possibly £200 +/- £50? The Max picks are £10 each for a start, then there’s the case, Mad Bobs tools... yeah, more expensive than I would have thought. Guess it’s evolved over a few years so never seemed a lot :-)
Did a quick scan in your vids,looking for the cable tie handle making for picks.
Ive used popsicle sticks from the hobby shop,and shrink tubing.But your handles made from,what I think you said was cable ties,looks comfortable.
Do you have a link to that video showing making handles from the ties?
ua-cam.com/video/pkY7ciomCHY/v-deo.html
@@LockNoob Thanks bud.Much appreciated.
Please can you say why the ends of the goat tubular lock pick are curved the way they are and why is it called a goat pick. Thanks.
the curved ends are sort of a carry over from my prototype and the Goat was an in joke as we were thinking about names centreing around mythical creatures, one of which was the chimera which has a goats head centre to the beast. So instead of Chimera or something exotic, we joked about calling it just the Goat and the name stuck as it sort of does!
Thanks for getting back to me with your "interesting" answers! Keep up the good work, your presentations are excellent and very informative. Ade.
Ash that is one bad ass kit
Thank you :-)
What set do those first two sparrows come in?
well done uve got a nice set up there in your pick set very well xplained very good thanks stiglocks..r..
Thank you :-)
That is one awesome kit!
Thank you :-)
Very nice setup you have
Thank you :-) I love my kit :-)
Lock Noob could you recommend a couple of hooks, their thickness and a couple of rakes that would be good ones to initially buy.
Like a lot of people when you get into lock picking you don't spend lots of money because you don't know what to buy and you could end up giving up on the hobby/ sport. So you usually start of with cheap kits and cheap picks thear really need to improved on to advance your skill.
Much appreciated.
Get a sparrows "worm" and their "full dent". You can use the full dent to rake and pick. Get the top of the keyway tension set and the basic bottom keyway set. Euro hook, standard hook, shallow hook, and snake rake. That should do you really well to start with for pin tumbler locks. 25 thousandths to start. Move down slowly to 23 or 20; 18 then to 15. Peterson or southord is great as well, sparrows is just cheaper with the same quality.
@@skiball83 Thanks for the advice. I have been doing ok with the Goso picks butt they are thunk and quality ain't that good. Also been using a H&H Jacknife that gets into narrower keyways. Made a few variants myself of hooks using the jacknife picks. I'll check out the costs of your recommended picks and start purchasing.
Many thanks
For sparrows their tuxedo kit is good value for the money and has a good lineup for starting out
@@roysammons2445 i own a h&h jack knife lol. Its my edc. Its pretty good for the money
@@f4u5tus I have seen that kit as advertised by Bill and Lock Noob. I think I may take a look at it again to weigh up options.
Thanks
Good job on 85k
Thanks!
i feel like the goat tool could of had comb picks instead of the fins
What are those spoox handles made of?
Not sure, some kind of semi hard plastic tubing :-)
Thanks for sharing really interesting, where do you get your gems from?
Direct from Peterson at a horrible price :-)
Thank you Lock Noob
Thanks, Jim :-)
Another amazing video im so jelly man
Thank you :-)
Nice one.
Thanks :-)
Its time lock noob... Its been a year
Spoiler... it’s not changed very much - I’m stuck in my old ways!
what do you use to tension american tubular locks?
The Goat Wrench from Sparrows :-)
Who makes that case?
Spencer's Mustache Sparrows Lock Picks Sherman case
@@LockNoob thank you
You inspire me❤
Thank you 😊
@@LockNoob yeah! I'm finally trying this out for the first time. I ordered the southord 14 piece set. And could a bunch more picks and rakes and tensioners on sparrows site. Also ordered the sparrows revolver practice lock.
Do you have any advice for a noob like me?
Prezzo?
Huh?
Hello
Hi :-)
0:57
ok then :)
Giveaway?!? :-)
Hahahahahahaha! Nope ;-)
💪✊🤗
....pfff i'm
jealous
What’s you kit like?
@@LockNoob My kit:
Started with a Southord PSX 14 Set Talking/mailing with you i added a short & medium hook from Multipick, and short & medium hook from Peterson.
Both Multipick/Peterson feel a lot tougher then the PSX set, Peterson is my #1 for now.
I also added the Madbob 6 piece pry bar set.
Not a happy marriage, in hand picking the Madbob pry bar feels awkward.
I bent 2 straight pry bar so i can hold it better.
Your Mirror set is just what i need i think.
I have a few locks with tight keyways, so i was looking for some 0.015” Bosnian Bill did a review for some picks from Hank Fisher, Hank the Roover, they looked great.
So, i bought myself 1 handmade 0.015” pick and allong the road i asked Hank for a special tensioner.
Both came out ridiculous great.
And that’s my kit so far.
The PSX picks are slowly leaving my not to big pick case, they get upgraded with picks from Multipick/Peterson/Hank
Ha! This video has/had a lock company add on it LOL
Awesome, lol :-)