The Bare Bones Beginner Kit — Everything Included, Nothing You Don’t Need
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Choosing your first lock pick kit is weirdly difficult. Too many options, too much conflicting advice online, and a suspicion that whatever you buy will either be overkill or not enough.
The Bare Bones Beginner Lock Picking Kit was designed to cut through that. Here’s exactly what’s in it, why each piece is there, and how it stacks up against what you’d spend importing from overseas.
What’s Actually in the Box
No filler. No mystery picks that exist to pad the piece count. Every item in this kit has a specific job.
8 Picks — Hooks and Rakes (your choice of 20thou or 23thou)
4 Hooks:
- Short Hook — your most-used pick. Go-to for single pin picking on standard Australian locks. Versatile, precise, the one you’ll reach for first on almost every lock.
- Medium Hook — same idea as the short hook but with extra reach for deeper pins or longer keyways.
- Deforest Diamond — a wedge-style pick for manipulating pins in keyways where a standard hook can’t get underneath cleanly.
- Half Diamond — great for locks where pins are arranged in a way that suits a wedging action rather than a lifting one.
4 Rakes:
- Snake Rake — aggressive and effective on low-security locks. Great for beginners learning the feel of raking without overthinking technique.
- City Rake — a staple rake profile that does a solid job emulating the bitting of most common residential locks.
- Double Peak Rake — works on the withdrawal stroke, effective on locks with standard pin stacks.
- Triple Peak Rake — similar to the double peak but with different spacing; one of the most effective rakes available for quick opens on budget padlocks.
TOK Tension Set — 6 Pieces
Top of keyway tension tools, covering a range of widths and profiles:
- Smooth Rounded 25thou flat bar
- Dog Ear Squared 32thou flat bar
- Dog Ear 25thou flat bar
- Dog Ear 32thou flat bar
- Dog Ear 40thou flat bar
- Dog Ear 50thou flat bar
Six widths means you’ll find the right fit for whatever lock is in front of you. TOK tension is generally preferred with hooks — it clears the bottom of the keyway so your pick has a clean path to the pins.
BOK Tension Set — 2 Pieces
Bottom of keyway tension:
- 30thou right angle
- 40thou piano wire
BOK tension is typically used with rakes and works well for certain keyway shapes where TOK feels awkward. Having both TOK and BOK from day one means you can experiment and develop your own preference rather than being forced into one approach.
1 x Case — Bone Pouch
Handle or No Handle — What to Choose
The kit comes in two handle configurations:
With Coffin Handles — DLP resin handles with a protective coating, shaped for grip and comfort. If you’re new to picking and want something that feels like a proper tool in your hand, go with handles. They make it easier to control tension and pick position when you’re still building feel.
Without Coffin Handles — bare metal picks, full tang. A lot of experienced pickers prefer bare picks for the direct feedback — there’s nothing between your fingers and the steel. The upside: you can also fit any compatible handle from the Bare Bones range later, including the free 3D-printable Propeller or Bone Grip designs if you want to customise.
The Thickness Question — 20thou or 23thou?
Both are available. For most Australian beginners, 23thou is the right call — it suits the wide keyways on Lockwood cylinders and standard Australian padlocks, gives solid feedback, and covers the vast majority of locks you’ll encounter starting out.
20thou makes sense if you already know you want to tackle medium-profile keyways or you’ve done some research and have a specific lock type in mind.
Not sure? The Beginner Questions page has a straight answer for exactly this situation.
How It Compares to Importing
Let’s be direct about the numbers.
The most commonly recommended overseas beginner kit — the Sparrows Tuxedo Set — comes in at USD $32. Add international shipping to Australia (~USD $15), convert to AUD at today’s rate (~0.70), and you’re looking at roughly AUD $67 landed — before any potential customs charges, and with a 2–4 week wait on top.
The Bare Bones Beginner Kit starts from AUD $67.95 — in Australian dollars, shipped from Australia, with a local warranty.
That’s not a small difference. And the Bare Bones kit includes more tension tools (8 pieces across TOK and BOK vs 6 in the Tuxedo with NO TOK bars), the same professional 301 stainless steel spec, and picks designed around Australian keyways rather than North American ones.
You’re not making a compromise to buy local. You’re making a better decision.
Who This Kit Is For
This kit suits you if:
- You’re brand new to locksport and want everything in one purchase
- You’ve been watching YouTube and finally want to actually try it
- You want Australian-made picks without paying overseas prices
- You want a kit that grows with you — not one you’ll outgrow in a week or replace before you’ve started
It’s not a starter kit that assumes you’ll upgrade soon. The hooks in this kit are the same profiles experienced pickers reach for. The tension tools cover real-world variation. The only thing that changes as you improve is your technique — not your tools.
Ready to Start?
Grab the Bare Bones Beginner Kit →
Still have questions about which thickness, which handles, or which case? The Beginner Questions page has you covered — or flick an email to accounts@bareboneslockpicking.com and ask directly.







