Pocket pick V3 - History of the pocket pick.
I first thought of pocket picks when I was working on a new pick case. I thought if I could make the picks smaller the case wouldn't have to be so big. But couldn't find a way to make them small, yet as usable as a full size pick.
I slid open a utility knife to cut some leather, and the idea hit me. The very first version I called slick pick, made from wiper inserts, it had no internal tension wrench, no lanyard hole, and the track was almost the entire length of the handle. I would carry them in a small padded 410 shell Remington case about the size of a deck of cards, one of the slots had tensions wrenches in it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebZqXP3E2Ak
Then about 3 days later, I was taking the toothpick out of my Swiss army knife. The obvious thing struck me, I redesigned it. Still made from wiper insert, but this time with a slot for a tension wrench, a lanyard hole and a shorter track. I carried them on a beaded chain.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ATX22AY9cM
Once I saw how practical they could actually be, I totally redesigned it. I found a good supply of fish tape, with a great thickness, price and metal. I bought a couple hundred feet of it, and made version 3 to fit only that stock. The 2 previous versions had been sized for the largest wiper insert I had, so that I would be sure I could fit whatever I had at the time. But with a known stock, I could measure to fit. I measured to the hundredth of a mm the track spacing, the insert length, the thickness, everything. The result is a very nice, tight, practical pick/wrench combo that fits in your pocket or on a key chain.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaRWdWOYsJ4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zOZvdLuxZ0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_hPPhMkh0E
As for where to get them, I do not sell them. I gift them sometimes. Making your own is always an option, I have posted above a video in where I show you how step by step, no 3D printer needed. I see a couple other people have taken the liberty of making their own, This is exactly what I wanted to happen, that's why I made the videos I hope everyone who wants one can get one some how. But I think it would be a shame if someone was to make money off of the idea. The entire point is for it to be open source.
I have the .stl or .123d available for anyone who wants it, both for the stock I use, and the generic wiper insert version.
Print services like 3dHubs make it so you don't need your own 3d printer, you can pay via paypal for someone in your own town to print them out for like a dollar and a half each (canadian), the more you get the less they cost. But I highly suggest you watch my video and make them to the measurements of your material. It's not hard.
Hope this post can act as clarification as to where pocket picks come from, who invented them and the stages of evolution it when though before it became the indispensable tool I have found it to be. I hope some day one finds its way in to your pocket.
-West Coast Picks