SEREPICK Executive Kit

The SEREPICK Executive Kit is a pocket-sized set of tools, that may be help you get yourself out of an emergency. The kit contains a Bogota lockpick set (a single and a triple), 2 handcuff shims, a 70mm diamond wire blade, and a custom designed leather case.

Bogota Lockpick Set

The Bogota lockpick set is a very nice, miniature lockpick set. These handmade lockpicks are very small, but very efficient, and easily become the favorite tool of many lockpickers. The concept is that you only need 2 tools: a pick and a rake. Whichever one you are not using to pick, you use the “wrong” end to apply tension to the lock cylinder. The “single” is similar to a half-diamond lockpick, and is used for single-pin picking. The “triple” is a type of rake, and is used to set multiple pins quickly in attempt to get a lock opened faster.

Handcuff Shims

The handcuff shims are very thin pieces of steel with a key-style head. Insert the shim into the ratcheting mechanism (you may need to close the handcuffs slightly more while pushing in the shim). The shim will keep the spring-loaded teeth depressed while the cuff teeth can slide right over, opening the handcuffs. These should also be able to open PlastiCuffs. While this can be done with many materials, such as thinner tension bars, these are small enough that they may be undetected by an assailant.

Diamond Wire Blade

The diamond wire blade is a wire embedded with tiny diamond particles, making it a sharp saw-like blade. It can be used to cut rope, PlastiCuffs, and even metal objects. Cutting through a thick zip-tie took me several minutes, but the diamond dust will withstand cutting through many hard materials with little wear over time.

Summary

A key note here is that the idea is wrongful incarceration in an urban environment, or kidnapping. SERE stands for Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (Wikipedia). These tools are designed for military personnel in urban environments, or where they may be in danger of abduction or unlawful imprisonment. I could see these also being useful for travelers, or people visiting and living in dangerous areas. As a product targeted towards military, I think it’s essential. If you were captured, this could easily be overseen and may save your life.

The Bogota lockpick pair is now one of my all-time favorite tools. The design is fantastic, and I find it’s more comfortable for me to pick with than regular flat picks. The polished finish also looks great, nice and rounded, not like the sharp edges on cheap flat picks. Aside from being a great covert lockpick set for the military, these would make great lockpicks for locksmiths and security professionals. I’d recommend these to beginners and experts alike.

The handcuff shims are also extremely effective and simple to use. While this is also an absolute necessity in dangerous situations, this will find little use to civilians, and may get you in trouble more than help. (These are fantastic to show off at locksport meetings, though!)

The diamond wire seems the least useful to me, but I still see the incredible value in an emergency. This small wire is difficult for me to use, as I have large hands. A Kevlar cord/rope may be more useful for cutting to me personally, and also being non-ferrous, it wouldn’t trigger a metal detector (the other items still would).