Tue Jun 10, 2014 1:30 am by escher7
Received my $22 set of tubular picks a few days ago and notwithstanding some comments, they are very well made and worked on both my tubular locks on the first try.
The handles appear to be aluminum with well machined knurling. The tubes are stainless and the groves for the picks are clean and fit the spring steel picks exactly. The three sizes are etched onto the barrels including an arrow indicating how to position the device.
Never having used this type of pick before, I simply aligned the individual picks with the end of the tube, gentle inserted it into the lock while applying tension and the locks opened first time. Admittedly the bicycle lock and laptop cable were not difficult challenges, but it was a heck of a lot easier than spp. The package included spare rings, 4 spare picks and some short pins the purpose of which I have not figured out yet. The rings are a white elastic material, not standard O rings, but they seem to function properly. And there are always O rings at the local hardware store if they fail.
On the negative side, there is no ability to lock the pick with a tension collar, and trying to measure for cutting a key would not be easy, but then I bought them as picks, not as a locksmithing tool.
I remain amazed at how, even given the cheap labour, the Chinese are able to machine a tool of very high quality, ship it all the way to Canada or the U.S. for free, and still make a profit.