The Dutch Open 2007: WOW!

It is amazing what can happen in the course of just one weekend. The list of interesting things happened in Sneek is just too long, so I am just going to highlight a few here…

“Lock Pathologist” Peter Field his presentation was very well received.

Peter Field his presentation at the Dutch Open 2007 in Sneek (the Netherlands)

And in a weekend that is about breaking records, this presentation broke quite a few! Most obvious record: the longest presentation ever at a Dutch Open (almost 5 hours). But also it received the longest and loudest applause ever (at least 5 minutes straight!). A great contrast to another record: that of the one presentation were the audience was completely silent. All in all one of the most interesting presentations at the Dutch Open ever. Thanks again Peter!

Another great class was that of Paul Crouwel on combination lock manipulation.

Paul Crouwel teaching the fine art of safe combionation lock manipulation at the Dutch Open 2007

Paul prepared this class with great precision and besides arranging plenty combination locks, he had some tools and charts made to make manipulation more easy. So I would not be surprised if we will have combination lock championships at the Dutch Open in the near future, as some of the attendees became very enthusiastic about opening combination locks this way. And already Paul is receiving requests from other organisations who are interested in attending his classes.

Of course there was a lot of lockpicking going on in Sneek. I have seen some exotic tools, ranging from home made Abus plus picks, to the famous sputnik to the new mul-t-lock opener and more. But what everybody was there for was the Dutch Open championship. Under strict supervision of referee Ivana Belgers (toool eindhoven), Julian Hardt managed to win the open again (just like in 2003).

Image kindly borrowed from SSDeV internal page

Peter Danilov became second, followed by André Matuschek. Too bad Nigel Tolley from the UK became fourth, and Eric Schmiedel of Toool USA became fifth. In total there were 42 people attending the open this year. At least half of them good enough to make it to the finals.

And then there was impressioning:

Manfred won his second impressioning championship title this year. I became second, just like two months ago in Germany.

image kindly borrowed from internal SSDeV page

Manfred opened the lock, setting a new impressioning record of 5 minutes and 19 seconds. It took me just a lousy 28 seconds more: 5 minutes 47. Oliver Diederichsen became third in 6 minutes and 20 seconds. And some background info: there were a total of 22 attendees of which 11 managed to open the lock within the hour. Walter Belgers was last in 58 minutes and 39 seconds (just 1 minute and 21 seconds before the end of the game!). And it was fun to see many people picked up on impressioning and open a lock for the first time this way in Sneek.

The new hostel in Sneek also was a great success. Professionally run by Gea Schmidt and her staff she made everybody feel at home. A small minority was un-happy about the non-smoking policy, but besides that I heard no complaints.

Again, the list of things that happened is too long to fully mention here. Jaakko’s Abus presentation, the interesting things people shared, the lack of time for some scheduled presentations …

So I would like to end here, thanking all that helped make the Dutch Open 2007 a success. The list of people to thank is also too long, as almost all attendees helped out one way or the other. Thank you all, and … see you next year!

11 Responses to “The Dutch Open 2007: WOW!”

  1. NKT says:

    And what a great weekend it was! 🙂 For next year, I’m going to practise. I figure I could perhaps get second, behind the master that is Julian! I got one of the final locks in 3 seconds – he got one in 2! More impressively though, he opened all 4 of the locks!

    What makes were the final locks? There was a Ziess-Ikon and a Pffanheim, anyone know the others?

  2. Eelco says:

    Wow Barry, I recall that statement of you, “To me this proves Oli knows how to teach”. 🙂 Congratulations on that second second place. The three of you opening the lock within 1 minute from eachother indicates that it’s science indeed. Some impressive impressioning!

  3. So Barry, already planning on the next years event? 😉

    It was great indeed and the pictures Andre managed to get together are amazing! I hope to bring a better camera next year if possible 🙂

  4. JackNco says:

    It was a great weekend. Next year I think I will stear clear of the free beer and maybe do a little better, although I was pleased with 2 points. I was scared I would some how be the guy that didn’t open anything.

    As I said on lp101, I went with high expectations of how good it would be who I would meet and what I would learn and all were surpassed. One of the best weekends I have had in years.

    So thank you Barry for making it possible!

    John

  5. Barry says:

    NKT: Other locks used in the finals and semi-finals were: Mauer, Buva (2001) and DOM.

  6. mh says:

    This was a great event, thanks a lot for making it happen!

    There were so many nice people to meet, and it’s really surprising how easy certain techniques become if someone who really knows them shows them to you in person.
    Well, I even managed to finish one lock first in the competition (I think), although I’d rather not mention all my other attempts (you can see that I didn’t make the finals…)
    It was however such a lot of fun 🙂

    I’d love to come again next year!

    Cheers,
    mh

  7. Schuyler says:

    I had a wonderful time, Barry. Thank you, as always, for having me out to it.

  8. Henk says:

    All I want to say has been said already,I really have had a wonderful time,talked and shared drinks with interesting people,hope to see all of you again next year or sooner!!
    Barry and Han,thanks for organizing this event as all of you who made it a fantastic weekend to remember!!!

  9. shane says:

    Barry,

    I had a wonderful time at the open, I want to thank you for the invite, and your hospitality. I really enjoyed myself, and met so many wonderful people. I am already training, and will try to improve my impressioning for next year.
    I look forward to seeing you next year I hope……………

    thanks again,

    Shane
    (gostone)

  10. The Open was really great. Thanks, Barry, for holding it! (And I really appreciate being able to come late, else I would have missed out completely.)

    Unfortunately, I only got to photograph one lock at the Open, a Rosengrens CNAB-6 at the bottom of this page:
    http://www.ericschmiedl.com/locks/index6.html

  11. NKT says:

    My post on the Open itself: http://www.discreetsecuritysolutions.com/blog/archives/62

    I’m *so* going to practise for next year!