And the fact that weak lock mechanisms are publicized encourages manufacturers to invent, it's all good.
I am an amatuer locksmith, and I can open Masterlock No. 3 or No. 5 (which are used everywhere) incredibly quickly (less than 10 seconds, typically [especially on No. 5, which are horrible).
A half diamond pick and a torsion wrench are tiny, I can keep them in my pocket and nobody will ever notice... I can't do this with a huge bolt cutter.
Now, do I steal things? Absolutely not. Has getting into picking caused me to be much much more careful about what I lock up, where, and with what? definitely.
I'm all for locksports, I think the fact that people are getting into picking is awesome, but the idea that using a bolt cutter against a padlock is faster and more conveinient than using a pick is just plain wrong.
I'm a decent hand with a lockpick myself, but when I had to get into my house with-the-keys-(and-my-picks)-locked-inside in a hurry last year, I put a rock through the window least expensive to replace. Took less than a minute, and no practice time at all.
Locks keep honest people honest; barring the set of people willing to open an unlocked door, but not put a rock through a window. In a normal home, the best you can hope for from someone willing to use the rock is intrusion detection.
Say a burglar is trying to break into the shed in my backyard because he wants the tools in it.
He could:
* Bring a heavy, obvious bolt-cutter and cut the lock.
* Bring a sledghehammer and smash the lock off of the door
* Use the same sledge to break a hole in the side of the shed
* Battery operated angle-grinder
orrrr
He could bring a pick and a torsion wrench, make no noise at all, not look at all suspicious to my neighbors, have the lock off in the same amount of time as he would with any of the methods above (faster, in some cases), and leave no traces, meaning I won't even know anything is gone until I go out to the shed again.
What would you do? If I was the thieving type, I would choose a lock pick.
That said, the first set I had (which I loved) were things I made myself. After those got ruined by people coming into my office and squealing "LEMME TRY" which resulting in them bending them to the point of uselessness, I bought a set at a "spy" store in Phoenix; they seem to work just fine for my purposes.
Honestly, I wouldn't get too caught up in buying "nice" picks. They're incredibly simple tools and I doubt that you're going to notice any difference between a good set and a cheap set if you're doing what I'm doing.
There's something deeply satisfying about picking locks, hearing each pin tick and feeling the barrel give just a little bit more than the last time you torqued it. I love it.
[1] http://www.southord.com/Lock-Picking-Tools/Jackknife-Pocket-...
She did not understand my excitement.
Bumping is non-destructive.
Wikipedia notes that hardened steel tumblers are more susceptible to this mode of attack due to them being able to take more force without becoming deformed (which seems plausible, although I don't have any authoritative source)