Review: Tactical Keychains - TiPiK

The maker of the WTF tool, the recently well publicised TiKeY, (not to mention the very cool Keychain Grenade ,  Brad of Tactical Keychains also put together a very bad-assed set of lock picks, made to fit his TiKey (or in this case, his equally cool TiKeY Mini).

This very well crafted set of titanium lock picks, includes a variety of pick types, most of which are very uniquely designed.  These are the TiPiKs.

As well as your more standard "hook" types, brad has designed several combination rakes, with both half-diamond and half-round elements.

He also included a twin-faced tool, for double sided cam-locks (as seen in a lot of small cash-boxes, glass display cases and teenage diaries, apparently).

Each of the picks ends in a "quick flip" head, with a 3/16" hole to mound neatly in most key-keepers.

As well as the seven picks in this set, there are also two tension wrenches; one with a standard key-hole hole, for secure mounting, and the other with an ingenious and very highly machined "clip-on" tension wrench, which due to its high tolerance construction, and the innate properties of titanium, simple clips in and out of the far pin of the MINI TiKeY key-keeper, held in place by the tensioning washers.

What this leaves you with is a very compact set of very highly engineered picks, including two tension wrenches, in a very innocuous but pleasant looking package. I had my TiKeY MINI anodized in "steampunk bronze and blue" because that's how I roll, and I've really enjoyed using the set, and having it sit in my pocket, ready to pull out and fiddle with my collection of practice locks when I've had some time to kill.

Brad and I agree that the size of the head of the tension wrench can make it tricky to place, but the convenience of a small set more than makes up for the need for more dexterity. Compare it to the Oscar Delta titanium Bogata set, and you'll see for yourself.

Home Front: help Brad out! WTFs, TiKeY, TiPik sets!

You may remember the TiKeY that I recently covered (the article was picked up by Recoil Magazine, awesome, thanks guys) and the titanium WTF tool I covered a while back.

After being inundated with hits, and requests for product, it sounds like his lathe has up and died.
For those who don't know, as well as the WTF, TiKey sets and the TiPiK's (review to come this week, I hope), Brad is also the creator of the Bottle Grenade and has his fully funded TiPen project in the midst of production.

Brad needs your help need help! His lathe is going to cost 4-6k to fix, so he is doing a massdrop.

MassDrop link for the mini-TiKeY & TiPiK sets
https://www.massdrop.com/buy/tikey-tipik

also one for the WTF's
https://www.massdrop.com/buy/wrench-that-fits

Review: Oscar Delta - Ti pick set

I have been getting into lock picking recently. and wanted to show you some of the sets that I have acquired. I have had some experience over the years with locked doors, and different means of defeating them, Leaving my keys in the house, locking my keys in my car, a locked filing cabinet at work with critical medical records trapped inside, and no one knowing where the keys were.

Knowing how to open doors quietly and neatly is a really important skillset, especially in a disaster or survival situation when the usual resources are unavailable (ie: locksmiths). A smashed down door is no longer a door, a broken window is no longer a window.

I got in touch with my friends over at Oscar Delta who specialize in this kind of thing, and they were kind enough to ship me this very cool set of picks from their "Restricted Products" catalog, the Titanium Euro Bogota Picks, which arrived in one of their excellent GO-Tubes, very similar to their Deep Carry Tube that I have previously covered

The Bogata picks (a multi toothed "rake" and a single toothed "pick") both feature a twist midway, making the tensor end easy to grip when working the tools.

Having each tool end with a tensor (the part of a set used to apply pressure to the inside of the lock plug) means that the two tools make a full set, when you use one type of head, the others tail is used as the tensor.

The smooth titanium of these picks make them both comfortable to hold and manipulate, but also give them a very nice feel when working a lock.

I also found that the rounded, smooth edges of the picks, and along their lengths held their shape nicely. The flex that titanium offers, as well as its resistance to wear has meant that these tool have retained their finish even with my rather crude picking technique. This also would be of help not dinging up the inside of the locks I work on either, an essential aspect when teaching myself around the house.

As well as the tools themselves being nicely made, and working well (rakes, they really work!) The kit itself was a nice package.

The two tools were held together in a length of thick black PVC tubing, so they didn't rattle around within the GO-Tube, and there is still plenty of room inside the tube to store other needfuls.

I wrapped my set in a couple of meters worth of paracord, which I happened to have in my pocket when I last used the tools, and promptly dropped it into he helmet carrier of my Platatac Bullock Echo daypack and promptly "lost" it. It just vanished into the folds of my bag, and carried kit. Took some real searching to dig it up again. This first worried me (where are my damn picks?) then impressed me (these suckers are hard to find..).

I'm really pleased to have added these tools to my collection, and look forwards to using them, and my other sets, and improving my skills. How about you?