Does your country have a TOOOL chapter? If not the TOOOL nl community can point you in the right direction
lockpicking
A lemmy community dedicated to the sport of lockpicking. Information about our belt system can be found at https://lpubelts.com.
#Rules
Rule 1 - Possibly Illegal or Inappropriate
We do not facilitate illegal or inappropriate activities, which includes picking locks that are not owned by you. Also, be sure that you are familiar with any legal issues for your state or country.
Rule 2 - Lock Not Owned or In Use
Though asking for assistance in regards to how to open a lock is permitted and encouraged, the lock must not be in use. Any submission looking for assistance in opening a lock that is implied to be, or is visibly in use (eg. a deadbolt still attached to a door, or a padlock with anything secured by a closed shackle) will be locked or deleted. Posting about picking locks or having picked locks in use is also not allowed even if they are your own.
Rule of thumb, lock is "in use" if installed.
Rule 3 - No Emergency Services
We do not provide emergency assistance for opening locks. These violations also generally violate our no "in use" locks rule.
Rule 4 - Being a Jerk
Hate speech, bigotry, and personal attacks are not allowed.
Rule 5 - No Astroturfing
Absolutely no astroturfing.
Definition:
Astroturfing is the practice of masking the sponsors of a message or organization to make it appear as though it originates from and is supported by grassroots participants. It is a practice intended to give the statements or organizations credibility by withholding information about the source's financial connection.
Rule 6 - Off Topic
Posts must stay on topic. Off topic content will be removed at our discretion.
Off topic includes posts asking for lock recommendations, evidence of a lock being picked, and anything not having to do directly with locksport.
Rule 7 - No Stock Photos on Picking Advice Threads
No stock photos on picking advice threads in an attempt to circumvent Rule 2.
Rule 8 - No posts about broken tools or equipment
As some users have demonstrated an inability to discuss this in a productive way, posts about broken tools or equipment will be removed.
This is primarily to address posts commenting on the quality of products (or lack there of) contributing to their breaking.
Rule 9 - No low effort posts / Memes
/c/lockpicking is a subreddit to discuss topics and build a community around a skill, low effort posts and memes take away from that spirit. Including but not limited to photos of keys, Memes, etc
It seems like only English and German/Dutch speaking chapters exist. I'm based in Denmark.
Still, I'll try reaching out to them. Thanks for the tip!
Sparrows are generally garbage, Peterson are OK-ish but overpriced and the company's a bit shit. I'd maybe go for Moki's minimalist set or one of the Multipick sets. Multipick's often seen as one of the best if not the best maker of picks, but they'll definitely cost you.
Here's a doc that has basic info on what you'll want to look for when buying picks, and an overview of the most popular vendors, compiled by an LPU member (Lockpickers United, started off on /r/lockpicking but there's a Discord server too).
If you join LPU's Discord, you can hop on to #lockpicking-serious
or #lockpicking-lounge
if you have questions
The resources you've sent already seem to be a great help in my lock picking research. Thank you for your thorough response 👍
You're welcome, happy to help.
I'd say the main thing to keep in mind is that you're probably not going to need any very exotic profiles for a while (if ever, really), so don't go too crazy with the picks – yet 😁 Moki's Minimalist set is a good reference, start off with 0.6mm picks at least, and you can get similar profiles in 0.4mm too if you want to be able to pick locks with thin keyways (they're pretty common in Europe) and can fit them in your budget – or at least say a 0.4mm medium and deep hook. After a while you'll learn enough to know if you need something that you don't have. Having a large variety of tensioners is probably much more important than having a large variety of picks, but again you'll be fine for a while with a basic set of a few TOK and a few BOK tools like in the Minimalist.