Amateur Pickers

If the person seemed unable to 'hook' the piece out or to remove the cylinder to get the piece out, that person may not get too far with lock picking. Interestingly there was a recent thread on the aus.legal newsgroup where someone was moaning about Australian customs seizing a mail order pick gun as there seemed no specific import prohibition on such items. The customs probably treated it as a prohibited work of art. I pointed out on that group that if someone wanted to do lock picking as a hobby and challenge, they would not need a gun as traditional means by an expert are usually quicker.

I wonder if this has anything to do with the fact that OZ was peopled by a bunch of convicts. ;>)

G'day Jeff. At that point in time, the differences between the British upper class and lower classes was huge. The streets were basically over run with homeless men women and children trying to scrounge an existence. So the aristocracy decided to 'clean up the streets' and the discovery of the 'Great South Land' provided the opportunity to rid the streets of beggars, pickpockets, and poor homeless families. On the voyage many ended up as shark food due to scurvy, overcrowding below decks, and dysentery etc etc. Upon arrival the ones that survived were basically just used as slave labor. The vast majority of first settlers only crime was that of being born into a poor family in England. Must have been bloody tough in those days, no such thing as human rights back then eh ! :-) Funny when you think that it was only 220 years ago, got a lady that lives just down the street from me that is 105 years old.

Thanks for elaborating on that one for me Steve. And from what I've read, the folks in charge of colonization down there didn't treat the indiginous native population any fairer than we did here in America.

You have a lovely country which I've had the pleasure of visiting a few times in the past. Last year we enjoyed hosting a woman from North Queensland in our home for a week. She came over as part of a five person "Group Study Exchange" my Rotary Club District participated in along with a similar Rotary Club District in your country.

Jeff (In Boston.)

You have not traveled much in the US then. We have a rather large collection of silly accents here. I for one enjoy the variety of ways my native tongue is spoken around the globe.

Oh, ..... I thought Americans spoke ....... ENGLISH :-) I've spoken to Keyman on the blower, and with the one second time delay, we could hardly understand each other with our different accents. :-))

G'day Roger, yes so do I. I have been known take off the local Aboriginal dialect pretty well. A mate of mine introduced me to a large group of folks from overseas at a BBQ a few years ago, and told them I was Kaninji, the albino Aboriginal elder from Yarrabah mission just over the mountains. I had to put on my accent, and tell them a bunch of made up dreamtime stories. Never bought a beer for the rest of the night :-)

Thanks steve,

No, I haven't seen broken pick tips. I appreciate you bringing it up though. It makes me want to ask you about mushroom pins, I don't see many locks using these, I don't suspect them to be easily raked. Should we start rekeying with mushroom pins? What are your thoughts on this.

That is probably because Keyman is from Louisiana. Sometimes when a television news show is interviewing someone from "gnawlenz" they run sub-titles so the folks at home can follow along. ;>)

Mushroom pins are no problem if you use the proper mushroom pick and turning tool set, mushroom pins only give grief to those useless things they sell on the internet.

Raking 7-pinners with at least two spool pins works quite nice.

regards - Ralph