Les -

I agree with you on liking the little mando picks. I have found them at US retailers by both Gibson and by Fender, so they both make them. I found a few once as "nonames;" but even here the availability in local shops is intermittent and unreliable. I don't recall ever seeing them at any of the web suppliers I look at occasionally, but I haven't gone looking for a place to have them shipped, since I've managed (barely) to get enough by patronizing my local buddies.

For those not familiar with what I think we're talking about, a Fender pulled out at random is 1.75 cm (11/16") wide x 2.49 cm (63/64") long. I use the "heavy" which is about 9 mm thick. A medium looks like about 8 mm thick.

In rough terms, 3/4" wide x 1" long. Once you get a grip on them, it's about like having a really tough fingernail right at the tip.

While it might seem like it would be hard to hold onto something so small, the fatty parts of the finger close down all the way around it and it's a very secure grip "close to the fist." You can control and vary how much "flexibility" you get just by tightening or loosening the squeeze, since the tiny pick lets the flexibility of your fingers participate.

On my last trip to "the guy most likely to have them" I bought all he had - which was 4.

John