The Guide to Pick Maintenance

[Outolintu]

This is a bit offtopic, but anyway...

Don't even let people know you have them, unless your working and you can't avoid it. YES this means you CAN'T show them off to your friends

I agree completetly ...I am mostly an optimist, but I try to stay realistic at the same time; the world is not a fair place and if you tell all your friends (or even one, he/she will tell the others for sure) that you have lock-picks and know how to use them they will not forget.
Meaning that when something gets stolen one of your friends says: "Hey guys do you remember how xxxxxxx showed his lockpicks once?" And about half a minute later everyone is sure that this poor xxxxxxx is behind the theft...
I dunno how well I made my point with the story, but in a nutshell:

If you show picks to friends they will think that you have criminal intentions. (It's sad that people don't see picking as a puzzle-solvers hobby )

...I dunno if this makes sense to you, but I think that it's good to have a healty little paranoia

[Geek142]

Hi

Well i would have to disagree with you there....

It depend what type of person you and your friends are, If you are a immature person then the people you hang around with are mostly the same. But on the other hand you might be a mature person and wont go making a mountain out of mole hill and might accutally believe you that your intentions are totally just for fun and a hobby and nothing more and if your friends are as good as mine they wont go around telling everyone.

Just to clear something up. When i say if you are immature then your friends are probably the same i dont mean that about everyone. I know heaps of normal well functioning mature people who hang out with immature people due to there just the kind of people that they like. I didnt mean to offend anyone by what i said in this post.

Geek

[omelet]

It might not be an issue of being mature or not, but rather if you have explained it well enough to your friends. Another possibility is that your friends don't actually trust you and believe what you're saying. This may be because you aren't explaining it well enough or are a shady character to begin with

[frostbyte]

My friends know I've picked this up as a hobby, and they just laugh and let it go since they're used to me doing unusual things, and they also know I'm an honest person. I'm working on interesting some in picking the hobby up as well.

[quicklocks]

it comes down again to opening peoples minds to other pass times. you have to educate them as with all hobbys there are stereo types eg.
train spotter = spotty guy with a anorak and a notepad sitting on wet railway stations
modle railway enthusiast = 50 year old man in his loft with a track watching trains going round wist he makes wistle noises
re-enactor = military nut this person is likely to be carrying some sort of weopon at all times
computer programmer = 17-18 year old spotty youth sitting at a pc getting exicted at algorythms ect.
diy enthusiast = a person who has trouble using a screwdriver but must have every known power tool to man and most they have only used once in the last 10 years
the list can go on and on
but it seems that the publics and friends tend to think that if you like to pick locks then you are a wonabe thief. so its up to YOU to show them otherwise. about the only place on the planet ive noticed where it is different seems to be germany where there its considered a 'sport'
i myself have had to educate my family and friends. this has in some cases been let them have a go ive got a real easy lock and let them pick it when it opens i look at their faces and the smile thats there and say "thats why i like to pick locks"

[Outolintu]

I don't want to say that I wouldn't trust my friends to understand this as a hobby... I think they should understand if I call them friends no matter how immature (Friendly teasing is another thing )

...But the problem is, that they will propably tell to their friends and/or family and so on, and it will work as a broken telephone. No matter how good I explain it to my friends, their friends and relatives might get the wrong impression.. (especially if they just overhear the conversation) And I don't have time to tell each and every one. Of cource I could do my best to make sure that the rumours don't spread, or that the information wont chance too much, but as I said, I am a bit paranoid about things that might seem to be illegal... I think that's just healthy

But I dunno, this is just my oppinion, feel free to share your hobbies with your friends and family, I just like to keep things like this inside the family