Picks & Tensioners

so picks and tensioners um my first set was the tool necessary nine um these here plus uh Z Bars um it's pretty much the same as the uh cover instruments uh Genesis set um from my understanding it is uh same manufacturer I don't know if uh cobt instruments makes them in house or shops them out but um I believe either they are making them for Tool or tul is using the same uh source as covered instruments um so we get the two rakes four picks and uh three tensioners so uh these are Z bars so they do bottom and top of kyway um in 30 40 and 50,000 um ZB bars are um excellent um I had issues with them at first um I was picking in hand and picking padlocks because that's where most people start with padlocks hand in hand um I found that top of the qway would often pop out especially in something like the American locks of 1100 um I'd get partway in and boom this would be flying across Ross the room so I ended up disliking these um to start however um they are actually one of the better uh tensioning tools because um you're applying tension on end um use a thicker one you want to use as thick as will fit in the keyway so you're applying tension along the The Edge um so you're you have this the full thickness um it's not going to bend um and it will give you much more feedback coming back um with flat bars um you're playing tension and you're bending along the thin and like if if I applied like this I could Bend this if I wanted to um whereas if I try that with this uh I don't have high hopes for that um I'm guessing I probably would not be able to um so so the Z Bars end up uh giving much better feedback um then you get things like the moky heavy bars um these start approaching thicknesses where it doesn't really matter um that this could fit in the lock that'd be great but um yeah bending this I might be able to just because this is long enough I'm getting good leverage but in here no not going to happen um so my recommendation is ZB bars um if you are going to be picking in hand then ergot Turners like uh these from covert instruments um are going to be decent for you um I don't actually recommend these for in aice um these ended up being not terribly useful for me because I bought them because I didn't like the Z barss for top of keyway um these did end up staying in easier for me but then once I started picking um door locks effectively um in a vice uh they become they became much less useful um I'm not they're not a bad thing um and if you like picking in hand yes I definitely recommend them um the having being able to put your finger across like this rather than having it straight up up like that is much more comfortable um but if you're going to be picking an advice like I do um I'd say Z Bars and heavy Flats um I think the moys are topnotch they're long um you got two lengths on the end for um depending on how much of a stand recess the keyway is and they're really well made and of course 301 I yield so um yeah at least I think the tensioners are as well I know his uh pix are I think the tensioners are as well so they're not they're not going anywhere um for the picks themselves so uh Nary 9 is actually a pretty decent um Starter Set comparable in build to the Genesis um compared to the Genesis um you get two extra picks uh you get the spoon and you get the half Diamond um I did so I modified the half diamond and the medium flat slightly um so they'll look a little different than what I got here but um the spoon and the round are the same and then same with the rakes um so these two aren't uh people's top picks so um I mean the spoon can be kind of nice for people starting out um a little handy for reaching under zero lifts if you need to I haven't really found much of a need for it um I have taken to really liking the half Diamond um I have rounded off the very end of it so that it doesn't catch on anything when I uh leverage it um but I've ended up using this a fair bit especially for um the twisting technique that I end up using on like the GOP the go z um the 6 ASA ASA 600 with gins [Music] um yeah very uh very handy I think um and I believe the Genesis does not have that um I believe it's just these four uh and with the Genesis you get uh a case instead of these two picks but uh if you're doing this just in your H you know home apartment whatever um don't have much use for a pit case I ended up buying a sparrows uh and found it's just sitting sitting here taking up space um I there's there's no Meats around me to go to I mean I wish there were but um so I'm just I'm not taking my picks anywhere um it's not like uh use them for everyday carry or anything like that I don't plan on picking any locks uh suppose if I uh you know was working at a job where uh you know i' want them to pick uh on break that kind of thing having a case is nice um so for me it's not a direct you know one or the other it really depends on your circumstances so if you think you need a case G is great if you don't I would actually go for the necessary nine um because you never know if you end up falling in love with either of these um I did not for the spoon but you might um I did for this you may not but it's always nice to have others to try and uh cases are pretty easy to um come by uh you don't need anything fancy um so uh next I got sparrows monkey boss which have the uh it kind of stepped um tip on them um I am not I haven't liked that terribly much I find that you have two points where you can catch the tip of the pin so if you're if you're pulling this along and you're not sure exactly how far down the pin is uh as far as uh and in the chamber its chamber um when you catch something it's like are you catching it here are you catching it there can it these are so close together it's really hard to tell but I feel um where uh where it's catching I it could be on the warding um so I just I ended up filing the end down a bit so now it's more of an angle um sort of like a gem uh or pointed depending on um so I find this uh more comfortable because uh it's not a you don't get a distinct um catch at the lip with it rounded off so I plan on modifying the rest of these in a similar manner uh one drawback to both to the tool cover instruments and the sparrows are the shoulders um you'll see that it's a right angle not quite right angle because it's rounded here but uh it's within the handle here so it's a little hard to see sometimes but um better when you're comparing it to something like a Jimmy Longs um so you can see how it's got a very nice sloped shoulders um Jimmy had uh posted on his website um result of uh kind of an analysis on uh how the force behaves uh on the pick um so uh anytime you have a sharp angle like this it creates a weak point and so you know this is going to break [Music] um that's going to be a likely place for it um whereas uh something like Jimmy um if it's if there were the same thickness um this will be much stronger more stable um these happen to be 15 now so they're pretty light um fortunately right now jimmies are hard to get a hold of I got lucky with those um but uh they're definitely they're top patch um unfortunately I don't own any Moi picks um however his if you're looking for like a first set um the Jimmy basic are great if um he has them available um hopefully once he gets uh his uh sourcing uh straightened out um they'll be available on a more regular basis uh but moi's uh Gold Digger on the less expensive side um and then if I was starting over right now and didn't have any of these but knew what I knew now I would get the Moi uh Reverend set um they're 3 one high yield steel um he has uh there's basically um in the handle uh portion um another pick tip cut in out so you can snap off the uh outer part of uh kind of the handle portion and you'll have another pick if if you break a tip um so basically it's two picks in one they're the same pick but you you get it has its own replacement built into it I think that's just amazing idea um I believe he got more thicknesses a available now um but uh last I looked they were 19th th um pretty much everything he had um which is a really good uh Point um it's not so thin like I would not recommend 15, to beginners um because there's a tendency to use way too much foring picks and way too much attention and end up bending uh picks um so 15 th are not going to hold up um 25 that's what the necessary nine are um Genesis are um they hold up really well but um and uh both of those are 301 high yield as well um but they have a little bit more trouble fitting into some of the narrower keyways um paracentric ones that are all squiggly um but like 19 or 20 that's what uh these sparrows are uh they're pretty stable um there's some debate over whether Sparrow actually uses 301 high yield um I I believe for the monkey pods they explicitly state I'd have to double check again but um on others they just say 280 PSI um or kpi forget which um I think it's supposed to be kpi but um I don't know exactly what they're using um these have held up pretty well I have not bent them um definitely not broken them um and I've I've used these fairly well um so I suspect at least these are 301 high yield uh not full hard um but again um do your research on that if you go if you're going to go The Sparrows route um oh yeah the Reverend so in addition to the good thickness um he's got both flat and pointed tips um the flat are great for when you're starting out or if you just want some of the extra stability um because you have a flat portion for the PIN to sit the point of the PIN to sit on and you don't have to be super precise of where uh the pick is um and then it also has uh set of uh pointed in there which are really nice for when you going to get super precise on some of the advanced locks um or you need to sneak into a really tight um keyway um so you get uh both picks that are going to be good to start off with and picks that would be you know take you black Bel and Beyond um I mean I picked black belt locks with uh [Music] using these and a couple of the monkey Paws um actually I don't even think this one so I think I'll use those two and that so these are the these are the majority of what I use um or maybe this one too yeah because I got the marks on there so uh you know brown red black you know I mostly have done that um so you don't need um some of the super pointies uh or you know the really narrow pointy ones to do the majority of locks even U things like you know ASA 7 700 and go Z that kind of thing um but it's definitely nice to have them um there's no rakes in the Rend set so rakes are nice to have um in certain circumstances um some people have fun raking locks um I found it was interesting the first few times I tried it and then lost all interest um I have used it on a a um small format interchangeable cylinder um to try to get it open to control because it's in a housing and I don't have a key for it control key for it so I can't get it out so I I I could rake it to uh open but sometimes you get lucky you can rake it to control but so far I haven't had any luck with it um that's about the only use I have for a rake at this point having two rakes kind of useless for me um because even you know four versus five you just you just move the four more um so and raking is not good for you can't use uh rakes for belts past what is it I think you can use it for Orange um but you know at least yellow but white and yellow and then so you know my bother um so personally I don't think uh taking up slots that where it could be a pick instead that you might find useful um and then you have things like the valaran set from laaw um I see that recommended a lot uh I think uh or La lock uh but they're they make good stuff but that set in particular I personally don't recommend because of how many rakes are in it um if you're not an entry Specialist or a locksmith um it basically using it out and about um on locks that basically you should be picking unless you're hired to do so um it's not a set that's really going to be terribly coste effective uh because of so many uh slots that are taken up by rakes that could be picks instead um or just simply cheaper um oh and then uh you get both Z Bars and pry bars um in the Reverend set so uh you're going to have exactly the type of ones that I recommend using um and you don't have to buy any additional so yeah um I don't actually I own Moi uh tensioners but I don't own any mokey pixs yet however um based on what others I've said about it and just the specs I've read and knowing what's in it um yeah I feel pretty confident in recommending them um I would like to own some at some point um I do have some of his pick blanks that I'm making some picks out of um but uh don't have any uh en's actual picks yet but there be um so you may notice that these are pretty fat um I find uh with my hands uh anything small difficult to deal with um so a cheap uh these are ones I bought in the 90s you know back then I I think I raged open with this like two or three locks and then pretty much that's all I did they just fell on the Wayside um these are pain uh cut India you know I tried wrapping them with some tape just to make them a little usable but um but this is the way a lot of them come so The Sparrows will be like this um easier view of the type of shoulders I'm talking about on the [Music] um and this is just no fun to try to do anything with um the tool and cobt instruments are a bit better because they have the scales on them kind of see there which makes them a little bit thicker but I still feel find the length uh a little short um so I designed and printed out these handles um currently uh I've got a few different sizes um I'm planning up uploading more um these haven't even been trimmed but um I find them much easier to deal with I tend to pick overhanded just because it's more comfortable with my hands and uh the type of tummers I get um the DBS does help with more broad trummer but um sometimes you know my thumb will start going or whatever and I find picking like this um I'm more likely to have my thumb start going which then gets the rest of my arm going even with the DBS which can be a real pain um so I find an overhand grip uh much easier um and with the overhand and uh where trying to hold this overand um you know it ends up kind of in the Palm really uncomfortable and I don't have any control over it it just it's just kind of free in there even with my fingers on it it's really hard to get a good position um whereas with a nice fat and long uh handle um I got a nice grip on it um plus my hands sometimes uh I'll just lose um muscle tension um so I'll just drop things so the thicker handles I'm much more likely to hold on to it whereas with the thin stuff you know I'll just drop it um and in this direction uh you know doesn't cut into your thumb webbing or anything like that and it's long enough that you know the times you want to reach forward with it it doesn't just you know drop past or anything like that so but everyone looks different but I found um I didn't find any handles big enough uh so I know so now there's a variety because there's a fair number that are the similar size to like what Peterson has um so it's just nice to have have a variety uh Lok and Moi are already large um and uh with the mokis you can you can get handles right from him and you just screw them on um to me they look excellent um like they would work for me and I wouldn't need any special handles on them uh I might end up doing something a little bit thicker but um yeah I I want to I do want to give them a try some point um jimmies he makes wonderful stuff um he's got the resin handles uh injection mold on it um unfortunately it does mean that can't make your own handles put on it I find these um okay I can pick with them um they're not as comfortable as these but they're not anywhere near as uncomfortable as unhandled uh even covert instruments and especially sparrows um so yeah these are these are pretty nice um I I would like them just a little bit longer for in my palm because I I would like it coming about there um and a little bit thicker because I kind of lose track um about the rotation where it is um if I was picking like this uh they'd be about perfect for me so there are times when I do pick like this and uh these are perfectly fine for that I really haven't used these much uh because they're so thin um I'm reserving these for basically you want to use as thick as will fit in the keyway as you can get away with with both tensioners and picks just because you want as much um feedback and you don't you want to lower the risk of bending or breaking things as much as possible and that's the way to do it um yeah that covers it on uh thck and tensioners so thanks

Channel: Marson

Views: 62

Keywords:

Id: OsnqtgpKAGs

Length: 31min 24sec (1884 seconds)

Published: Thu May 30 2024