So, I've been playing with these quite extensively the last day, here's what I can report back so far.
The two most effective tools in my hands were the snapper with the black pen tube at the top of the photo, (snapper # 1) and the 4th snapper down, (snapper #4.)
#1 and #4 have been the most comfortable in my hand, and have been the most effective on the locks I've tested them against. Snappers #2 & #3 were comfortable to hold, but are underpowered for me and were not as reliable. Snapper #5 had good power and perormance, but the ergonomics are off, causing it to twist and slide in my hand.
Both of these snappers benefit from the addition of some heat shrink tubing to aid in grip and impact absorption. I also think it makes the tool look more professional. 1/8" HS tube works well.
However, while snapper #4 works well, my real favorite is snapper #1. It works better in my hands - I went through this double lock set in under a minute.
I decided to mod mine more extensively. I began by adding a short length of paracrod to the tail, which makes the tool much more comfortable and secure in use.
However, what was really bothering me was that I had to carry a separate tensioner to use this tool.
I've been spoiled by the Bogota's nested design, so I decided to create a nested wrench for my snapper. I nipped off a bit of street sweeper bristle, bent it to a curved profile that matched the thumb ramp of the snapper, and polished it up.
To hold the tensioner in place, I have used a double heat shrink tube. The first layer is applied directly to the thrumb ramp, for the purpose of impact absorption. It also provides friction for the tensioner. Then I placed the tensioner on top, and melted a second section of heat shrink tubing on top of it. This has formed a 100% secure, form fitting tensioner sheath, that allows the tensioner to be stowed on board when not in use.
It sort of hides in plain site until it is needed:
Note how the wrench is slightly curved to fit the profile:
When I was re-installing the pen tube, which is originally designed as a finger protector, I discovered that it works as a perfect, integral tip protector. The fine tips on these snappers are very easy to bend, much easier than a normal pick, and I was worried I wouldn't be able to carry mine in my gear bag.
However, by sliding the pen tube forward, it creates an integral, crush proof sheath that allows the snapper to be carried without fear of damage.
Here's how thin the tips are:
With the pen barrel slid forward, the tip is 100% protected. The metal foldover holds the tube very firmly, so there is no side to side play.
Together, these three mods make the tool much more fieldable, and I think they should be integrated into any future design.
I plan on testing these tools out for another month or so, and then doing a very detailed write up.
I will be testing them against a variety of locks, and then have a sort of "Raimundo's Customs Competition," where the snapper will be pitted against the Bogota's 1, 2,3 hump designs, as well as a Sabana. I'm planning on running each pick against each lock 5 times, over 5 days, and then averaging out the time to open per pick, per lock. I will get photo and video of this.
However, I am running out of deadbolts to test (most of my collection is padlocks) so if anyone here can lend me a few deadbolts for testing, that would greatly help this review, as all I have on hand are the boring Kwiksets and Defiants. I will mail your back to you after the review is completed, and mention your contribution in the review. Please PM me if you're interested.
-mark
It's very interesting to contemplate how effective the new trigger will be, and how much that will improve reliability. As for increased comfort, the welt on my thumb can already attest to the necessity of that.
