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Anyone use these tools and what do you think? Did you find them useful, limited use, overpriced, etc.? Thanks.

I posted a bit about them on another forum not long ago. The flat 5 set is pretty good; I know loads of people love the prybars but I haven't had any experience with them so I can't compare or anything.

Here's a pic of the flat 5's (ignore the URL, I didn't know the difference between these and prybars when I got them lol). From top to bottom, 1 & 2 are identical apart from thickness, likewise for 3 &4. In each pair, one is rigid-ish and the other is pretty flexy. I don't use the flexible ones so for me it's more like the flat 3 lol, but the flexy ones would probably be better for raking if you don't have a good touch for it. They do come in handy for really narrow keyways at times but you lose some feedback because of the flex.

The bottom one is rigid-ish, same as the stiffer 2 of each pair. Small end comes in handy for locks with small keyways ie. certain padlocks, and can also open some warded padlocks. The larger end I mostly use to aid turning stiff plugs once fully picked, so I don't put too much stress on the wrench that's already in there. It's OK for bottom of keyway tension on standard yale profiles but it does have a tendency to slip if the keyway is well worn.

If we're talking schlage, the mid-size one is better for BOK. Limits your space more than the right sized L wrench would, but it's ok. As for kwikset, same deal but it doesn't limit your space just as much... BUT... I just picked a kwikset with that one, and after it was fully picked I had to tension the top and give the bottom wrench a little jiggle cos it was preventing it from turning further... so be wary of that. Again, standard L wrench doesn't cause that problem for some reason. Neither does TOK, obviously.

One thing to note, I pick a variety of locks, both euro profile and rim... whether the pins are at the top or bottom I find it more comfortable to use BOK. So if you wanna go strictly TOK for rim/mortise, then these will be great. But if you're like me, I'd rather use a standard wrench for those. The short ends are perfect for using BOK on euros though, I never pick them any other way.

Apart from the largest one, I don't really bother with the long ends apart from padlocks with non-removeable weather covers... and that's only if I have to use TOK. Again, in those scenarios I'd rather use a standard wrench and BOK if I can get away with it. I'm a strange man. Anyway, hope this helps... I'd say these will probably cover a wider variety of stuff than the prybars would, but I can't say for a fact. Depends on how much variety you run into though I guess.

I used to have a set of these when I bought "Ken's Set" they were fairly useful, I didn't use the super thin ones very much but it did like the other 3 tension bars. price is alright I think, although it is easy to make similar tension tools from wiper inserts or street sweeper bristles.

Thanks for your feedback, I've got both prybars and I use them for TOK and Sdhlage BOK. I'll have to consider them.

I have one of the Flat 5 that came in my "The City" set. It's okay, I tend to use ones I've made more though. If I suddenly lost all of my tension wrenches and ability to make them somehow though I'd get the Prybars instead. I'm not sure about the extra sizes as I only have one, but to me they just seem like a cheaper version of the Prybar anyways. Oh, and I never use it for BOK, I may have tried it and don't remember, but 100% of the time I use it for TOK.

Those are absolutely horrible tensioners. I have them all and I have tried to use them on various locks. They flex way too much. The feedback is null. Get the prybars instead in both widths.

Ouch! The flexible ones offer shitty feedback in my opinion, but the others, while they still have some flex to them, have pretty good feedback if you ask me. I never really bothered with them for a long time, but I've started using them more and more over the past few months and I've grown really fond of them. I prefer more tension too, although maybe not quite as much as you do lol. Do you prefer the prybars just because you can really pile it on with them? I can just see you with one of the flat 5 now... "what the fuck is this fucking bendy shit, fuck this!"

I'll have to get my hands on the prybars when I can. I have a couple of tensioners which are super rigid, no flex whatsoever and I do like them a lot. I'm assuming they're ok for yale profiles (1A/Y1 style)?

What about the "Three Serrated Tension Tools"? Anyone have any feed back on them? I was thinking about ordering them. I'll order the prybars for sure but are the Flat 5 and serrated 3 for BOK too or are they just made for TOK?

I have them and never use them because they are far to short for a start, the large one is way to large and the 2 smaller ones are just a waste of good steel.

sideshownick...

I take it that means they are intended for TOK then?

Save your money and make your own, TOK or BOK they really don't work well because they are to short and fat or to short and thin, and that makes it difficult to pick with them. Give them a try by all means but i would have rather put my money to good use elsewhere.

I have all of the above and agree with xeo and mick. I think the "3 Serrated Tension Tools" are for BOK, the head is too long to get a snug TOK fit but regardless, as mick stated they are too short and too narrow. The "flat five" are too flexible and they are so thin that you get lots of rotation within the keyway before you even get to applying tension. Perhaps they are intended as "feather touch"? I don't know and haven't found a lock that they are well suited to.

0.078 inch (~2 millimetres) music wire is good for making your own TOK tension wrenches. You can make one end for BOK and the other for TOK. Kokomo posted a good video on making snug TOK wrenches from 0.078" music wire. For some keyways if you want BOK you will need thicker music wire (~3mm).

I was not impressed with the serrated tension tools-3 either, but they came with my Peterson 9 pc plus set. The pry bars are a better value IMHO.

Every now and again I will give them a shot but it always ends up with me pissed off at how shitty they are.

this thread has me questioning my tension pressure, for me the 3 "thicker" tension tools in the flat 5 were more then enough for the locks I have pick with them(schlage, American 5200, Brinks, Abus, defiant, kwikset, Master few corbins), if I was flexing one of those I felt I was using way too much pressure on the lock.

has anyone here actually measured the amount of torque or pressure they are using while opening a lock? if not I might try to find the time to test on a few of the locks I have.

I would be especially curious to the amount of pressure Xeo uses as he has snapped prybars.