Kickstarter by Schuyler Towne Update

[mech]

with that money he could of made LOTS of money doing things legit and pleasing the supporters. oh dear.

[mister sour]

so when will he be sued? why waste any more time!?

[jeffmoss26]

wow...after reading all of this, the guy is a total douche!!

[Oldfast]

hmmmm.... unfortunate. Schuyler, in my opinion, has most certainly made some wonderful contributions to the world of lockpicking with both his time & knowledge.
And, I've always appreciated the guys' enthusiasm/passion for the sport. When I first seen this project some time ago, I was excited for him actually.

With the over-whelming response he received; it seemed he'd not only be able to delve deeper into something he
loves doing... but would also help introduce many others to a hobby that I've always thought to be very healthy.

With a chunk of money like that comes a great deal of responsibility... and pressure. I'm not defending his actions (or lack of action)...
I'm just sayin' it's unfortunate to see it all headed toward the shit-pipes. He's obviously made some poor business & personal choices...
and it's time to buck up. Just my thoughts... but maybe it's time he starts gearing his efforts more towards simply fufilling his promises...
and less towards an overall successful project. If that means breaking even, or spending money out of his own pocket... so be it.

[Aedalas]

If that means breaking even, or spending money out of his own pocket... so be it.

That would be great, but....

A lot of people, my Father included, have asked if I'm going to get a job. The short answer is "yes, probably" the long answer is that I've set a deadline. If I'm still struggling and not making forward financial progress by September, which marks the end of my lease and some other more personal milestones, I'm going to get a job, and continuing putting whatever spare money I have into producing picks.

September seems like a good deadline, will make it an even 2 years.

[xeo]

Lets hope this guy never comes to RI.

[clodester]

Guys an idiot and border criminal but I think essentially is a tragic case of the dangers of how easy it is to do very scary things on the internet. Basically I think he had intentions but cocked of from the start with the whole idea of the project. The reason that homebrew picks are so good, well crafted and amazing design and ingenuity is because the incredibly skilled master craftsmen/women take time and do small batches. The reason commercial picks aren't of the same caliber is because they are produced for 2 bucks a pick....mass production.

How many of us here have paid many multiples of that per pick from some of artisans which display their galleries for us mortals to drool upon. Okay, im going abit on drama but my point is, Schuyler tried to solve the problem of cheap mass produced unimaginative picks by asking for money then producing prettier looking mass produced picks. He even mentions a press in his own updates! Yet says punched picks are bad????

Then out of the goodness of the publics' heart they over donate many times and he then spends the money on locks.....they paid for picks not locks?! then half the locks were broken but they came from a friend's 3rd party? so he couldn't return them? Then to explain the problem, he gave a description that even I as a seasoned picker had trouble following, I hate to think what a newbie who just wanted some cool looking picks made of it!

Then he poured more fog over the confusion of hotel fees, living expenses, rent? WTF? where does this guy get off? The public invested in picks, not so he could buy 6000 door locks, 3000 of which broken, and rent a van!?

I warn anybody wishing to fund thinks from unproved kickstarter projects. I love kickstarter, the idea, the projects on there, and have contributed to some myself, but my advice is think seriously about the kind of person/company your sending money too. Watching dragons den / shark tank etc will give you an idea of the kind of questions you as an investor need to ask yourself. (No difference between you and then, just scale size of investment). I'd only invest people/companies with proven track records.

But yeah Shocking tale. Think the guy just got in over his head and just wants bright enough to see the bigger picture. He may be a talented picker, but he is a shockingly bad businessman.

[LocksmithArmy]

He may be a talented picker

just to clerify... hes not... his go to "picks" are bogotas and has admitted several times that he cannot spp... he just happened to have a faster jiggling technique at a tournament... then the next year was beasted by jgor who only spps...

[clodester]

Fair comment. I don't like locksport personally. I'd rather pick 1 S&G all month year than 30 masterlocks in 5 mins. Its about quality for me. If i was after speed I'd have a go to pick of a rake too.

[LocksmithArmy]

Fair comment. I don't like locksport personally. I'd rather pick 1 S&G all month year than 30 masterlocks in 5 mins. Its about quality for me. If i was after speed I'd have a go to pick of a rake too.

as long as i can get it in 10 mins im happy

[ahab]

i try not to post on here, but here's where i come in and say

I TOLD YOU!

ive been saying it for over a year, that guy is ripping people off with the 'metalurgical issues' yadiyadiyada excuses. Fuck towne and his cronnie friends. if locksport dies, or never grows beyond what it already is (its dead) ill be more than happy to blame it on him. thats my 2 cents.
its because of asshats like him, that we dont have a lockSPORT, but just a lockHOBBY.

[Aedalas]

If golf is considered a sport I see no reason that this shouldn't be...

[mister sour]

If golf is considered a sport I see no reason that this shouldn't be...

BOWLING IS NOT A SPORT!

[mastersmith]

I pick locks, I play golf, golf is a hell of a lot harder! You've obviously never tried to hit a golf ball 550 yards into a 4 inch Target in 5 strokes.

[femurat]

Hey mastersmith, it depends on which locks you pick: there's golf and miniature-golf, there are masterlocks and assa...

Cheers