You don't need 40 picks. You need the right handful, and you need to understand what each one does. Most beginners buy too much, too fast. Here's what the tools actually are.

Short Hook

Your primary SPP tool. Reaches individual pins at the shear line. The one pick you'll use 80% of the time. Get good at this before you add anything else — most beginners rush past it and wonder why they can't pick locks.

// Essential

City Rake / Snake

Raking — rapid back-and-forth motion to set multiple pins at once. Faster than single pin picking. Less satisfying, less educational. Still useful on cheap locks and for warming up. Don't let it be a crutch.

// Stage 1

Tension Wrenches

The most important tools in the set — and the ones beginners pay the least attention to. Top-of-keyway (TOK) and bottom-of-keyway (BOK) tension behave differently. Learning to control tension is the real skill. The picks are almost secondary.

// Critical

Medium Hook

For deeper keyways and locks where the short hook can't reach the back pins. Your second most-used pick once you're past beginner locks. The step-up when you hit your first lock the short hook physically won't work on.

// Stage 2

Dimple Pick

Completely different geometry from standard picks. Required for dimple locks — Mul-T-Lock, DOM ix, and similar. Standard hooks physically cannot reach the pins on these locks. A separate skill to learn, not a progression of pin tumbler picking.

// Specialist

Disc Detainer Pick

A rotating tool for disc detainer mechanisms — Abloy and similar. No standard pick works here. This is its own discipline entirely. The Sparrows disc detainer pick is the community starting point. Once you pick an Abloy Classic, you'll understand why the Protec2 is the standing challenge.

// Specialist

These locks have resisted the locksport community at scale. Some have disputed picks on record. Some have contested videos that haven't been accepted. None have a widely verified, community-accepted open pick. The distinction matters — we're not saying it's impossible. We're saying the standing challenge is still open.

Wanted

Abloy Protec2

Disc Detainer · DBS

One disputed video pick exists (circa 2017) that the community has never broadly accepted as verified. The Disc Blocking System locks all discs into a single mass under tension — defeating standard manipulation. The challenge remains open.

Disputed / Open

Wanted

EVVA MCS

Magnetic Code System

Rotating magnetic elements instead of mechanical pins — there's nothing to feel. Standard picking approaches don't register. Decoding methods exist in theory but a clean sport-standard pick is not on public record. Extremely rare in the field.

Contested

Wanted

Abloy Classic
Disc Detainer

Disc Detainer · Original

The predecessor to the Protec line. Older design without the DBS system, so theoretically more approachable — but in practice, verifiable picks are extremely rare and contested. A genuine disc detainer pick and serious patience is the documented approach.

Rarely Verified

Wanted

BiLock

Dual Locking · Two Rows

Australian high-security lock — two rows of pins accessed simultaneously from either side of the key. The geometry makes standard SPP extremely difficult. Sits at the brown/red belt boundary. Legitimate picks exist but remain rare enough to be notable each time.

Red Belt Boundary

// "Not publicly verified" means no community-accepted, independently verifiable standard pick on open record.
// This is a sport. Locksmith bypass techniques and destructive entry are outside scope. The rules matter.
// If you've got a verified pick we haven't accounted for — the community forums are the right place to document it.

The locksport community polices its ethics harder than most hobbies. This isn't just PR — people genuinely care. Here's the framework most of the community operates by.

// Based on Locksport International's Code of Ethics — full version at locksport.com