Advantages?

[jamie79512]

What are the advantages to using a pick gun or automatic pick? I mean, it seems like there would be less feeling. By that i mean it would be hard to tell whats going on inside the lock, less... intimate you could say

[Schuyler]

It opens the locks.

Fast.

Consider it a quickie, not a courtship.

[jamie79512]

Ah i see.. But unless your a locksmith (or using the skill for illegal purposes), doesn't that take the fun out of lockpicking as a hobby?

[Schuyler]

A hobbyist is not a soldier, made to fit an ideal and drilled, dieted and indoctrinated until he does. Instead a hobbyist will naturally gravitate toward whatever he or she best loves about their particular field. In my case that is competitive speed picking. Often people say that raking takes the art or fun or whatever-else out of locksport. However, it is my bread and butter and opening low-mid security locks as quickly as possible is where I derive joy from this pastime.

There are:
*Lock collectors
*Competitors
*Teachers
Tool makers
Professionals
Security evangelists
*Socializers
Lock designers
Modelers
Researchers

And more, plenty more, probably obvious ones I'm not even thinking of. The fact is - nothing takes the joy and fun out of locksport. If someone wants to make an automatic or manual pick gun, they'll likely get a big goofy grin on their face as soon as they manage to pop a lock with it. A professional who finds a new model, or a cheaper one from an indecipherable website a group of pickers are ordering from in China, via the locksport community, will likely get a great deal of satisfaction when he improves his opening times or lowers his bottom line.

People say that one thing or another is anathema to this hobby every day, but the only thing I see odd is people making declarations about what is or is not locksport based solely on their own experience with it.

[Schuyler]

* ones are areas that overlap in the Venn diagram of my own experience with locksport.

Also - You were asking a question, not making a declaration, so I hope you realize that was supposed to be an answer, albeit long-winded, not an accusation.

[Jaakko]

Consider it a quickie, not a courtship.

Stick it in, shake and you are done?

[ToolyMcgee]

Anathema huh... I had to read that 3 times to get it in context so I didn't have to find the dictionary. Your hobby is competetive speed something alright, it's 2 in the morning!

Schuyler is right. What is considered cheating by one group is an artform to another. As a hobbiest I have no use for a snap gun, bump keys, pickgun, etc. Never used my homemade B&D pickgun because I don't want to wear out any locks, but much like an alcohol has to have a hidden bottle in the toilet tank I have my pick gun in the bottom of my tool box. Just in case...

As a person in general I just like to make things, so I have lots of stuff I will never find regular use for that is associated to my hobby. Taunted by the fact that if it can be made I must make it!

[jamie79512]

i see, just a matter of opinion. To me lockpicking is more about the skill, the intimacy. But to each their own right?

[ToolyMcgee]

Once again you have just barely failed to miss it. It's always about the picking, but just in what order and what else are your interests. For me it is about the spp'ing. Using, controling, and developing a sense most people choose overlook. Of course I really love mechanical devices, so it is also a love of locks. I'm an amature tool maker so it is also a love of making and using my own tools. For some people it's about competition and socializing, passing on the hobby to others. If you are a locksmith than a pick gun is a means to an end. Your job here is not to get to know every lock so much as be able to open them quickly.

There are many reasons a hobbiest might own a pick gun, but it isn't going to further your picking skills other than just adding an additional understanding of how a lock functions. It certainly can never replace hand tools and I think you will find most hard core enthusiasts and professionals have one, but rarely use it. Mostly because it doesn't develop skill, but it does look very professional and can be quite effective.

So, yeah mostly personal opinion and individual motivation.

[jamie79512]

Ah that explains quite a bit. I do understand why someone would have one now