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Hi guy's

New to the forum so not sure if this is the right place to post this, sorry if it's not.

Just ordered mysefl a set of Klom picks as I didn't want to splash out on a expensive set while I'm still new to the hobby.

they looked like a good deal, and i saw a few vids on youtube saying they were pretty cool, if a bit cheaply made, but i also saw a few comments saying the picks are just to thick to get into many locks.

I guess i can file the tension wrenches down to size, but is this going to be an option if the picks are to think?

What does everyone else think to klom picks?

Also I no doubt will break a few, and I figured that when each pick breaks, i would replace it with a much higher quality one, this way it will spread out the cost. But which picks are the absolute dogs bollocks?

I actually have a set of Klom picks as well, I like them, they are pretty tough, I havent found them to be too thick for many key ways, if you find they are, you can always take some sand paper to them in order to thin them out a bit.
There are a lot of variety of hooks in my Klom set, which I like, I haven't used them in a long time.

As far as other picks being the dogs bollocks ( a saying I havent heard in years, not since I lived in England) Peterson are very good picks, a lot of people on this forum have them. But in my opinion, you can't get any better than a nice home made pick. Be it your own after some practice, or by someone that is very good at making them.

I own a couple Klom sets, myself. They're terrific on automotive locks, especially Hondas, for some reason. They are a bit thick and clumsy for most residential, commercial, and padlocks.

My recommendation is that you just buy a small set from Southord, HPC, Sparrows, or another maker, if you want to practice general lock picking.

thanks for the quick replies guys, good to know my picks should be good enough to get me started, and I'll check out those other makes in the near future.

magician, is there some kind of reference doc somewhere to show me which of the auto tools work best in which makes/models of cars?. I'm more interested in getting to grips with padlocks and stuff first, but it would be good to know what i can use my picks for.

I got a Goso set and for the money I reckon it's very good value indeed. If it's the 22 piece set u got then the picks can do the following:

1 x dimple rake

Lots of hooks of varying thicknesses (some plenty thin enough for padlocks) and the thickest hook has a lovely little dimple cut into the end of it that's good for grabbing wafers on auto locks.

1 x 'saw tooth' rake. I broke mine but I REALLY loved it, found it great for raking padlocks but I think it's meant for auto locks.

Several double sided picks - these are for older auto locks and I find they work great, especially the one that's got a half diamond on one side and a rake on the other.

A few funny looking 'rakes', they look like half diamonds at regular intervals but too far apart for it to be a bogota. A lot of people say they haven't got a clue what these are for but I'm convinced (and they work great for it too) that they're for raking laser style auto locks. I say this because the shaft of the pick is very thin which is what you need for the double sided laser locks. The saw tooth is meant for laser locks too I think. There's also a thin shafted half diamond for single wafer picking of laser auto locks.

Then there's the 'half snowman' (shite I reckon) and a funny looking 'wedge' ended pick. I don't know what this wedge shaped pick is for other than normal pin tumblers but if anyone knows its specific use let us know!

The tension wrenches are good - you got a cool 3 toothed double ended auto wrench and 3 'N' shaped wrenches for pin tumblers. They vary in thickness so they should cover pretty much any lock.As these are quite long and go deep into the lock, I've seen them used for pushing the pins back up when you've picked a lock and rotated it 180 degrees and the top pins fall down into the keyway a little.

Then there's the case which is nice too!

So there you go - if I got anything wrong with this set I'm sure someone will let me know! I paid £22 for my set and I think it's incredible value.

If you've got the KLOM 32 piece set then I think it's only a little more expensive, you get plenty more picks and I hear good things about that set too. You get a couple more dimple picks in there which is summat I always wanted (got them now tho). My point is that GOSO and KLOM are one and the same company (I believe) so the picks are pretty much the same.

Hi thaks for the reply huxley, it's the 32 piece set i got, but what i was actually asking was weather there is a reference for the auto picks, as to which pick is suitable for which make/model of car. There's so many differnt picks and so manu cars that i'd have no clue of where to start

Well basically you've got the 2 types - double sided wafers and laser. The double sided picks are for the double sided wafers (obviously) and you can tell these by looking into the keyway. You shud be able to see the wafers at the top and bottom. Or you can just put a pick in there and feel for the wafers.

Laser locks look very different when you look at them; you'll most likely see 2 rows of teeth on either side. The thinner shafted half diamond rakes are for these. You apply tension then rake the one side followed by the other. Or you can put 2 picks in there at once and do it that way. The tricky bit is that different makes of car use different bits of the lock. By this I mean that car maker X (lets say VAG) uses the bottom left and top right parts of the keyway to move the teeth from. Car maker Y (lets say Peugot) uses the bottom right and top left areas of the key way to move the teeth from. If you don't know beforehand which side are used for the car you're looking at then it doesn't take much figuring out once you've put a pick in there. Just rake in one of the corners and you'll be able to feel if the wafers are springy or not. Once you got one of the corners then it's just the opposite corner that you'll need to rake as well. Hope that makes sense!

That's just a generic guide, if you want specific picks for specific cars then you can get them but they're not too cheap (well, the 2 in 1's aren't cheap) and for the hobbyist it probably isn't worth it.

Thanks man, thats helpful info

I just gota cut in here . . . Klom picks in my mind are ideal for the beginner, you get a great variety of hooks long & short ,in many thicknesses,Also some pretty good tension tools .
There are a few u-tube users that mainly use klom & have opened more padlocks & euro locks, multiple of kite marked cylinders than i remember.
I hear a few ppl say there to thick ! but ive never had a problem with them being to thick ever in 3 years.
I cant say this about the goso picks ! these are a tad to thick in my mind but like chris says you can sand them down.The tension tools in the goso set are just about useless

As you can tell im a lover for the klom picks, i swear by them

klom or a sparrows set & you'll be kicking ass as a beginner

the first and only set i ever bought.great variety and never had a problem with it great stuff

After a couple more cups-o-coffee, I realized that I was writing about my Goso picks. I concur with the majority on the evaluation of the Klom picks.

Here's a link to locksmitharmy's lock pick guide. http://www.locksmitharmy.com/lock-picks-manufactured.php