Cool I suppose, but I still have to learn a new lock combination...
Look, I knew that in theory, gym locks will break eventually. But I never expected to run into an existence proof of this fact, short of visiting a manufacturer of cheap locks. Nonetheless, I have just had a Master lock (of the model that's usually the only lock style available in a drug store) die on me. I have no idea how I built my habits into never once forgetting it anywhere in that long, but somehow I did.
On the downside, I admit that although I had known that locks break, I hadn't thought it through all the way to the (obvious once you think it through) conclusion that when a lock breaks, it will almost certainly do so by failing to open -- in other ways, by unexpectedly staying in its locked state. Fortunately, mine did open eventually (after many tries, at least most of them with the combination correctly entered), so I didn't have to go wandering in search of bolt-cutters clad only in a towel wrapped around my waist.
I have some friends (possibly many) who have by this point in the posting been tempted to point out what an utter piece of junk I'm depending on. They're right, but the point is utterly irrelevant. There's a saying that locks mostly protect you from honest people: it isn't always true, but there's no way that a better lock would, in practice, better protect my belongings in a locker room. A point that I considered a bit more seriously is that a better lock would be more reliable, but for something that hardly ever stays around long enough to wear out, I couldn't see that saving me money in the long run.
On the downside, I admit that although I had known that locks break, I hadn't thought it through all the way to the (obvious once you think it through) conclusion that when a lock breaks, it will almost certainly do so by failing to open -- in other ways, by unexpectedly staying in its locked state. Fortunately, mine did open eventually (after many tries, at least most of them with the combination correctly entered), so I didn't have to go wandering in search of bolt-cutters clad only in a towel wrapped around my waist.
I have some friends (possibly many) who have by this point in the posting been tempted to point out what an utter piece of junk I'm depending on. They're right, but the point is utterly irrelevant. There's a saying that locks mostly protect you from honest people: it isn't always true, but there's no way that a better lock would, in practice, better protect my belongings in a locker room. A point that I considered a bit more seriously is that a better lock would be more reliable, but for something that hardly ever stays around long enough to wear out, I couldn't see that saving me money in the long run.