Lock Noob reviews Bon Courage Kyreal 0.020-inch, 18-piece pick set

Lock Noob’s take on the Bon Courage Kyreal 0.020-inch, 18-piece set lands in the part of locksport where gear choices stop being cosmetic and start affecting real work. A thin pick set can open doors that a chunkier tool cannot reach cleanly, but it also asks you to accept different feel, different stiffness, and a different balance in the hand.

What this review is really testing

This matters because Lock Noob is not approaching the set as a casual unboxing. His channel is built around new and intermediate pickers, with technique talk, tool reviews, and plenty of real lock work, and the channel snapshot sits at about 486K subscribers and 1.9K videos. He also identifies as a tool designer who works with makers including Sparrows Lock Picks, Multipick, and Wendt, which gives the review extra weight as a hands-on evaluation rather than a generic product glance.

That context is important for the Bon Courage KYREAL line. The set is not being treated as a one-off oddity, but as part of a broader wave of budget-oriented kits that try to look complete on day one. When a reviewer with design experience looks at an 18-piece package, the question is not simply whether it has enough parts. The real question is whether the shapes, tension tools, and finish work together well enough to help you build skill instead of cluttering your case.

Why 0.020 inch changes the game

The thickness spec is the headline for a reason. In mainstream locksport guidance, 0.025 inch is commonly the thicker everyday benchmark, 0.023 inch is often used for medium and some narrow keyways, and 0.020 inch pushes further into tighter keyways and more restrictive warding. That means the KYREAL set is aimed at situations where a thicker blade may bind, scrape, or block your movement before the pick ever gets to do useful work.

In practice, that thinner profile can be a real advantage on locks with narrow pin-tumbler keyways, awkward warding, or cramped geometry that punishes broader tools. You get more room to maneuver, better access to the pin stack, and a lower chance of fighting the lock body every time you set a pin. The tradeoff is just as real: a 0.020-inch pick can feel less rigid than a thicker one, so feedback, control, and leverage become more sensitive to your technique.

That is why the set’s thickness is more than a spec-sheet detail. It tells you what kind of lock work the kit wants to support. If your practice often drifts toward tighter cores, restrictive warding, and situations where a standard 0.025-inch pick feels crowded, the KYREAL’s profile makes immediate sense.

What the 18-piece layout gives you

The marketplace descriptions paint the set as a full kit, not a stripped-down specialty bundle. One recent listing describes it as 0.5 mm thick with 7 tension tools, and another calls out stainless steel picks with black or blue handles plus a carrying pouch. That combination says the set is trying to cover both reach and portability, which is exactly what you expect from an all-in-one beginner-to-intermediate package.

The upside is obvious. An 18-piece spread gives you enough variety to explore different hook shapes without having to assemble a toolkit one piece at a time. If the tension tools are genuinely usable, that matters even more, because a thin pick set without decent tension support can turn into frustration fast.

The risk is redundancy. A lot of experienced pickers eventually lean on a small handful of favorite profiles, and once you know your own habits, some of the extra shapes in a large set stop feeling essential. That is why a kit like this succeeds or fails on consistency: if the finish is clean, the handles feel stable, and the included tensioners are actually useful, the set can accelerate practice. If the shapes overlap too much or the tooling feels sloppy, the extra count just adds weight to the pouch.

Where it fits in a real toolkit

This is the point where the Bon Courage KYREAL set separates into three possible jobs. As a main kit, it works only if your day-to-day use leans heavily toward tighter keyways and you prefer a compact, budget-conscious setup. As a slimline supplement, it makes much more sense, because you can keep it beside a thicker everyday kit and pull it out when the lock calls for thinner steel.

It also has real appeal as a backup or travel set. The carrying pouch, the 18-piece spread, and the 0.020-inch thickness all support the idea of a kit you can keep ready without dedicating your premium tools to every practice session. For newer pickers, that can be a smart way to buy once and grow with the gear. For more advanced hands, it can be an inexpensive way to add narrow-keyway coverage without retiring the tools you already trust.

The comparison to the Covert Instruments APEX set helps frame that decision. An independent locksmith review has already put the KYREAL line in the same conversation as a more recognizable benchmark, which is useful because it shows where the set is being evaluated in the market. That comparison does not make the choice for you, but it does underline the central question: do you want a budget kit with thin steel and broad coverage, or are you looking for a more established reference point?

Bottom line for serious pickers

The Bon Courage Kyreal 0.020-inch, 18-piece set is best understood as a practical answer to tight locks, not a universal solution for every lock on the bench. Its thin profile, 7 tension tools, stainless-steel construction, and compact pouch make it appealing where space and access matter most. The set earns its place when you need maneuverability more than brute stiffness.

That is why Lock Noob’s review lands where it does. A thin, roomy kit like this can be exactly the right move when a lock’s keyway is the obstacle, but it is not the kind of purchase that should replace a well-chosen core set unless your work truly lives in narrow, restrictive cylinders. When the steel gets this thin, the best question is not whether the kit looks complete, but whether those 18 pieces will spend more time solving problems than sitting in the case.