RJZinda wrote:I'm a certified locksmith and I'm kind of surprised to find a site like this. How do you screen users and keep trade secrets. Don't get me wrong there is a lot I need to learn about picking, just concerned about the info in this site falling into the wrong hands...
The problem with the old time locksmith mentality is that it doesn't take into consideration the proliferation of the internet over the last 25 years. Before this forum there was alt.locksmithing where a lot of the same stuff could be read. I have an issue with "trade secrets" because they're not really anything that should be secret. Bad guys will always find out way of how to defeat a lock, an alarm, a car door, etc. Trade Secrets and the guild mentality of some locksmiths keep facts away from the consumer, and I feel has set the entire industry back from being able to innovate. When a bunch of us on this site picked Medeco for the first time a few years ago, we all strolled into our local locksmiths to show them, and they were so brainwashed by the advertising literature and by their sales reps that Medeco couldn't be picked, they would say we either rigged the locks, or the side bar wasn't installed, or not all the pins were there.
Sharing information and working with manufacturers to make locks more difficult to pick or bypass is the only way to go. It's also a huge disservice to consumers to sell them an old Kwikset or big box store Schlage and put BHMA Grade 1 or 2 stampings on it or the words "Maximum Security" or "High Security Deadbolt" The lock manufacturers need to take a more realistic approach in their marketing and to choose their words carefully when they're stamping works like high security on their boxes. Since locksmiths are at the front lines when it comes to educating the consumer and selling to them, being as forthcoming as possible is a good thing.
As far as this site, it isn't here to teach bored suburban teenagers how to pick locks and steal Cokes out of a soda machine. We have a pretty good ear for new users and try our best to weed out people asking certain questions that raise flags. There are also layers of security on this site where a new user cannot go into the Automotive and High Security lock areas and read and learn. If someone comes here and reads about how to rake open a wafer lock on a file cabinet or desk drawer, then I don't see the problem with us providing information, I see the problem with the company who thought it was a good idea to put a crappy lock on their product that a teenager with a paperclip can rake open in 20 seconds. (Please note that if someone came in and said, I need to break into a drawer at work because there's some cash in there and I want it, we would NOT help them, no matter how simple of a lock is on that drawer/door/toolbox,etc) People take locks for granted, and don't realize just how shoddy most of them are. Most locks (especially in the US) provide nothing more but a false sense of security and only serve to keep honest people honest.
I especially take issue with Master Lock and their laminated padlocks. It's great that they show advertisements of the lock taking a bullet and stay locked, but never mention the 4 pin mechanism that can be picked open in less than 10 seconds.
Mostly though, we pick for fun because we see locks as a fun and challenging puzzle. We aren't just here as a 1-800-ask-a-locksmith-question hot line for someone who needs to get into a lock. I'm just making that clear. We are also not here to take jobs from locksmiths, in fact we quite often tell someone, sorry we can't help, please call a professional locksmith.
Squelchtone
