I think the best way to handle this subject is simply to show a picture of the pick, give a brief description of what it can be used for, and tell you what my experiences with its usefulness or gimmick factor. From there, you can make your own decision. I’ll try to use the most common name first, followed by any trade or manufacturer’s names. In some ways, this can be like cryptography because some of the names are used on more than one tool…

Name: DeForest Diamond, Offset Diamond

Category: Hook

For: Single Pin Picking

My opinion: VERY Useful, a must have item.

Name: W-Rake, Zipper

Category: Rake

For: Kinetic attack, zipping

My opinion: Useful

Name: Bogota, Triple-Peak, Double-peak, Worm

Category: Rake

For: Raking pin tumblers open or obtaining a false set.

My opinion: The Triple peak and Worm are SUPER Useful. Must-have items.

Name: Double Ball (Snowman, 8-Rake), Ball and Half Ball

Category: Rake

For: Raking single and double-sided wafer locks.

Useful or Gimmick: Gimmick. Any rake works just as well as the ball rakes.

Name: Small Half Diamond

Category: Rake, Improvised Hook, and Kinetic Attack tool

For: The diamond can rake pins, replace a short hook, or be used as a zipping tool. You can also use it to pick simple dimple locks.

My opinion: An old school tool created when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, but still a good general purpose pick.

Name: Standard Hook (Short Hook, Hook #1, H1)

Category: Hook

For: Everything. SPP, raking, zipping, rocking, etc.

My opinion: A MUST HAVE pick. Carry an extra just in case you break one.

Name: S-Rake, Snake Rake

Category: Rake

For: A great tool for raking either pin tumblers or wafer locks. Very effective on locks containing standard pins. When used on spools, it’ll often give you a very fast false set, allowing you to continue SPPing with your hook.

My opinion: Very useful.

Name: Medium Hook, Peterson Gem

Category: Hook

For: SPP, raking, zipping.

My opinion: Useful. Indispensable. This is my go-to pick. I carry both 0.025″ and 0.015″ thicknesses.

Name: Deep Hook and Postal Hook

Category: Hook

For: Single Pin Picking postal boxes.

My opinion: The profile is too tall to fit into most keyways. I’m told it’s a necessary tool to pick postal boxes, but have never done it and probably never will, so don’t bother carrying one.

Name: L-Rake, City Rake, C-Rake

Category: Rake

For: Uses the rocking technique to simulate the key bitting. Works well on standard pins.

My opinion: Useful. A nice-to-have pick, but not critical.

Name: SSDev Hooks (set of 3, increasing hook depth)

Category: Hook

For: Accessing very deep cut pins in Euro locks.

My opinion: Very Useful. Not used every day but indispensable when you need them.

Name: Lifter Pick

Category: Hook

For: Precise positioning of pick on the key pin. I am told that this is a useful pick for picking Medeco pins. I have picked on a lot of Medecos and tried this pick several times and see nothing advantageous to it.

My opinion: Gimmick. Doesn’t do anything that your hook can’t do better.

Name: Single Peak

Category: Rake

For: Raking pin tumblers

My opinion: Gimmick. results no different than double or triple peak or the half diamond.

Name: Offset Hybrid (Unique pick to Sparrows)

Category: Hook

For: Single Pin Picking (SPP)

My opinion: Useful. Slightly different feel than short hook and with the diamond shaped tip is easier to position on the key pin, so it is very popular with speed pickers.

Name: Offset Ball, Offset Half Ball, DeForest ball

Category: Hook

For: Same as DeForest Diamond, for high lift of pins in the back of the lock.

My opinion: Useful, but most people choose only the diamond or ball tips, rarely both.

Name: Knife

Category: Tool

For: Bypassing unshielded locks. The narrow blade is usually 3” and made from 0.030” material.

My opinion: Useful. Use this tool first when facing older padlocks that might not be shielded. It might save you a LOT of work AND amaze onlookers wen you pop the lock open in about 3 seconds.

Name: Mini-Knife

Category: Tool

For: Shimming or decoding combination locks. Blade is 2” and made from 0.012” material.

My opinion: Useful. I carry one in my EDC and often use it on combination locks.

Name: Probe

Category: Tool

For: Picking finger pins. Defeating bottom pin on Schlage Everest.

My opinion: Useful if you pick those types of locks.

Name: Extractor, Harpoon

Category: Tool

For: Removing broken key fragments from the keyway.

My opinion: Useful. No other tool can substitute for this one. Good for roasting marshmallows.

Name: Slim Jim, Full size and mini

Category: Bypass tool

For: Quickly opening spring loaded doors, gates and latches.

My opinion: Useful, especially on “high security” doors with shielding blocking the locking bolt.

Name: Wafer Lock Rakes/Jigglers

Category: Tool

For: Raking open single and double sided wafer locks.

My opinion: Useful

Name: Warded Lock Bypass Keys

Category: Bypass Tools

For: Opening all known warded locks

My opinion: Very useful. No other tool can open warded locks as fast as these. In my EDC add-on kit.

Name: Jiggler Keys, Small and Large

Category: Rake/Jiggler

For: Opening wafer or pin tumbler locks.

My opinion: Useful

Name: Cross Lock Tryout Keys

Category: Rake/Jiggler

For: Opening simple cross locks

My opinion: Gimmick. I’ve tried these hundreds of times and have only gotten a few opens on the simplest of locks.