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I bought my Sparrows Tuxedo with the intent of carrying it around. But while it's not illegal in the UK to have picks, I am not so sure now that I want my picks to be that "on display" and the whole pick case does take up quite a lot of horizontal room I could use for other things. I would rather keep my picks to myself and only pick my lock of the moment when I have some privacy rather than keep my picks in my pocket organiser with the rest of my tools and gadgets that people see me go in and out of frequently.

So, I had an idea. My Tuxedo set is the new one that comes with a 0.015" hook along with the rest of the thicker picks. I used my tin-snips to cut the handle at the 8.5cm mark and did the same to my after-market sparrows 0.020" Steep hook. Filed the edges down a bit and now I have a really nice quality but more portable and easier to find somewhere to put them, picks for EDC purposes. No handles means perfectly flat.

So my plan is to have, all in 0.020" Sparrows: Short hook, Steep Hook, best buster snake rake, Triple-peak, City Rake. I think that, along with the hollow half diamond from my bogota set should give me a nice handy picking capability if I want to practice on what ever lock I bring out with me or if there is a legitimate need to try and pick something.

Any thoughts about this plan? I am a resource guy, I love having little swiss army knife type tools, little leatherman micra's, etc You know. Now that I am back into picking more than ever in my entire history, I like the idea of carrying picks with me too much to not do it. I would be interested in your thoughts.



That is my 0.015 from the Tuxedo for an example.

Curious. If you are not a locksmith, who does anyone carry around lockpicks?

People ask. Improvised bypassing only goes so far. Something to toss in your vehicle would be enough, but where is the fun in that?

LOL. That makes sense. I actually have to remove locks from mini storage buildings for my sister from time to time. I always keep a small set in my truck.

I got you tho.

I am known my friends, family and colleagues as the guy who has everything on him. Literally? no. But my EDC is such that I am satisfied, I have some basic capability to pick locks in the vastly unlikely case I would need it (or if I am practising with a little lock I take out with me, a Boker Plus Tech-Tool 3 (soon to be a 5 version when I get around to getting one), Leatherman Micra, Mini screw driver and a few useful sized bits for it, a mini pry-bar gerber shard, spare phone battery and powerbank + cable of course. Probably a bit more I cannot think of off the top of my head. But that is just on my person. Oh some basic first aid, plasters, gauze, wound wipes, would closure strips etc. Just a mini one though, enough of all this that I can easily carry it without it being cumbersome or uncomfortable. I have been in situations where I have needed all of it, with the exception of the picks.

That jacknife is nice, although still falls into the category of "Where could I fit this?". Whereas having ultra thin (no bulky handles, just full tang pick) you can put them anywhere, jeans tiny pocket, wallet, anywhere they won't get bent.

Here's mine. Basically the same concept. I carry them in my wallet and so I need the heat shrink to keep them from wearing through. I've shortened the pick down some now, to credit card length. The peterson prybar is perfectly flat, and that's why I chose it.