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Re: South Ord Vs. Sparrows Vs. Petersons

PostPosted: Sat May 30, 2015 8:13 pm
by ohvlock
Just broke a South Ord regular Pick today they are very brittle / garbage DONT WASTE YOUR MONEY! they seem to be low quality , you get what you pay for in most cases I guess. My peterson pick I like better Super Strong yet flexible, nice handle material and blank through construction too. you then can Feel everything. Hope to try more brands / styles :serkeypin: :stddriver: :stddriver: :stddriver: :serkeypin:

Re: South Ord Vs. Sparrows Vs. Petersons

PostPosted: Sun May 31, 2015 6:34 am
by escher7
Don't like Peterson thin picks - they bend and stay bent. No spring. As for Southord, I can hang a 2 1/2 pound weight from a Max hook without any distortion; try that with a Peterson!
My main complaint is Peterson's "government steel". There really is no such thing unless they mean "mil spec" which all three brands meet - it's just advertising hype. Sparrow and Southord both use similar high quality stainless and if you are breaking them you are using far too much leverage.
Bottom line: They are all well made quality products and to suggest that one is superior because of the steel is misleading. You may prefer the feel or design of one, but that is not a quality issue.

Re: South Ord Vs. Sparrows Vs. Petersons

PostPosted: Sun May 31, 2015 9:26 am
by mdc5150
I think it all depends on the particular production run of picks, and how they are used. I just replaced a Peterson slender gem after using it on a regular basis for 3 years. I use it for IC cores, Schlage, American padlocks etc.

Re: South Ord Vs. Sparrows Vs. Petersons

PostPosted: Sun May 31, 2015 9:49 am
by ohvlock
well said and good advice. I am not necessarily partial to any brand as long as they work. I can say I would not buy south ords regular picks again. After inspecting further I have a standard steel peterson pick with rubber handle. Its strong and you can feel quite a bit more over the southord regulars. Depends on the run, there is likely allot of truth to that to anything mass produced. Id like to try sparrows, and others too.

Re: South Ord Vs. Sparrows Vs. Petersons

PostPosted: Sun May 31, 2015 12:17 pm
by Deadlock
allotment.jpg


This is an allotment.

Re: South Ord Vs. Sparrows Vs. Petersons

PostPosted: Sun May 31, 2015 11:38 pm
by escher7
ohvlock wrote:well said and good advice. I am not necessarily partial to any brand as long as they work. I can say I would not buy south ords regular picks again. After inspecting further I have a standard steel peterson pick with rubber handle. Its strong and you can feel quite a bit more over the southord regulars. Depends on the run, there is likely allot of truth to that to anything mass produced. Id like to try sparrows, and others too.


You must have received a flawed Southord pick if it broke easily. Although I like Southord and find their products and customer service excellent, I did break a rake once due to an inclusion in the steel. They replaced it for free, although they don't normally do so on the low end products, (understandable as they are so inexpensive it would cost more to mail a replacement). At $1.65 you can buy a back-up or two of your hard use picks. On the other hand their Max line picks carry a life-time warranty and while expensive ($11.95), are by far the toughest picks out there.
Sparrow is also an economical choice and have added some new products lately. I like their new King and Queen set. Sparrow makes very high quality picks and their site has a good description of the steel used etc. The one minor problem is that you can't order single picks and must buy one of the sets. I also like Sparrow cases. While not top quality leather like Southord, they are well designed, economical and made of tough nylon. Their "Sherman" case ($12.50) easily accommodates my extensive pick and tension kit.
Again, it all comes down to personal preference, but I wouldn't write-off a company over one bad pick. I'm sure they all let a bummer slip through once in awhile.

Re: South Ord Vs. Sparrows Vs. Petersons

PostPosted: Mon Jun 01, 2015 12:18 am
by sleepyrz
you can buy a single pick from Sparrows......

only bad thing that I can say about Sparrow is there shipping time I ordered some pics from them on the 6th and still have not received them

Re: South Ord Vs. Sparrows Vs. Petersons

PostPosted: Mon Jun 01, 2015 12:20 am
by WolfSpring
Talk about necro post...

Anyway, I still to this day use southords more than any other pick, I have picked everything with them without major issues. if you broke one that easy it is either a bad pick or you are a bad picker or very heavy handed. I am not going to say they are the best picks, but I will say if I can pick medeco, best, american 5200, hell every lock I've ever laid my hands on with one except Emhart and my S&G, which only because the keyway is too thin, i'm pretty sure they do the job well. I've broke a peterson, I've broke sparrows, I've broke southord, all the same way, forceing them to do things they were not meant too, a lot of times handcuffe or very restricted keyways, they bend first then I bend them back and eventually they break. I don't pick as much as I used to and I mainly only pick now for work and out of necisitty but I pick Best E and F keyways almost weekly due to F-tards loosing keys and the southord gets me in quickly. I am too cheap to buy another petersons or I'd go with them and I only have sparrows because they were free and I've bent them as well over the years, but less than 2 bucks for a southord does it for me, that or a homemade. I do more teaching than hobby picking and every class I suggest they start out with some cheap southords till they get the hang of it in case they break one they don't feel bad.

I'd re-look at the quality of your pick or the style of your picking before you say don't waiste your money. I was picking 5200s and medecos with a southord before I even knew what a peterson was.

Re: South Ord Vs. Sparrows Vs. Petersons

PostPosted: Mon Jun 01, 2015 4:25 pm
by Doogs
Great thread wish I had read it when I first got into the sport but it is what it is.

I have Southords and Sparrows as well as a monster set of Kloms and Soubers multi-lock tools. The Southords (PXS-14) are my go to and I find they are adequate although the hooks are getting a little tired from use. The Sparrows (The Grad, purchased for the tweezers) are decent also but I don't use them much as they aren't in my pick case. The Soubers are handy for the Abus EC75's and other dimple locks as they fit into the keyway and get around the warding well but I don't own a Multi yet so no idea how well they will work for their intended purpose. The Kloms (32 piece Navigator set from aliexpress.com) are a desperation choice when stuck on a lock and the postal hook has come in handy but were a great price ($18.00 Can) and something worth looking at if you aren't sure about how serious you want to get into the sport.

As for Petersons I still haven't bit the bullet and need to contact them to see if I can even purchase them as I'm not an "approved" customer. I might be able to since there is no restrictions on lockpicking tools in Ontario but it's something I need to look into. If any of the Canadian crew has ordered from them let me know.

Re: South Ord Vs. Sparrows Vs. Petersons

PostPosted: Tue Jun 02, 2015 1:55 pm
by rerun12
while im a fan of SO, sparrows, HPC and others, a peterson will always be the first pick i grab from my kit. my $0.02

Re: South Ord Vs. Sparrows Vs. Petersons

PostPosted: Thu Jun 04, 2015 7:25 pm
by DroppedTensionWrench
I like Sparrows, and Peterson. Both companies have really annoyed me semi-recently with shipping issues. They are good quality though. Even the old PXS14 southord kit I use to have treated me well. I will try more southords next purchase. It never hurts to shop around and try new picks. I did bend a HPC before on a challenge lock. I don't blame the pick though, you can't set warding.