Anyone have experience with Guntrack or other firearms inventory apps???

[sjb323]

I'm tired of forgetting what pound recoil spring I put in a pistol that I haven't shot in three years and was considering using a firearms inventory log such as Guntrack or Guns Locker to keep track of things. My biggest concern is where the data that I input is stored and possibly who it is sold to. Do any of you cyber security types have any insight or experience with either of these apps? Would these apps be considered "safe and secure" to use? Thank you in advance.

 

[joefrank64k]

I’ve always used excel spreadsheets to track stuff.

Initially, it’s a bit cumbersome to setup and format, but is easy to use once you get going.

I’m going to start attaching tags to everything with a unique code of some kind, so that if something happens to me before I sell down my collection, my wife and/or the shop that’s taking everything to sell can easily find the related accessories/boxes/etc to go with them. I want her to get top-dollar for everything and make it super easy.

IIRC, @SVT-40 had a thread on CalGuns about his inventory system for his amazing collection. Maybe he can chime in if he sees this thread.

 

[ikeo1]

I’ve always used excel spreadsheets to track stuff.

Initially, it’s a bit cumbersome to setup and format, but is easy to use once you get going.

I’m going to start attaching tags to everything with a unique code of some kind, so that if something happens to me before I sell down my collection, my wife and/or the shop that’s taking everything to sell can easily find the related accessories/boxes/etc to go with them. I want her to get top-dollar for everything and make it super easy.

IIRC, @SVT-40 had a thread on CalGuns about his inventory system for his amazing collection. Maybe he can chime in if he sees this thread.

Depending on what, perhaps we can make a guide for this as I think this is very valuable for the community in general.

I think most people don't want to keep it online for several reasons. So an excel spreadsheet is the safest and standard way to keep an inventory of your things. Technically, I can build a system, but as mentioned there's a lot of issues. So perhaps setting up a guide for DIY with a template might be the next best thing.

The main issue with online inventory systems is the upkeep and maintenance. How often do you really need to update it?

 

[sjb323]

I’ve always used excel spreadsheets to track stuff.

Initially, it’s a bit cumbersome to setup and format, but is easy to use once you get going.

I’m going to start attaching tags to everything with a unique code of some kind, so that if something happens to me before I sell down my collection, my wife and/or the shop that’s taking everything to sell can easily find the related accessories/boxes/etc to go with them. I want her to get top-dollar for everything and make it super easy.

IIRC, @SVT-40 had a thread on CalGuns about his inventory system for his amazing collection. Maybe he can chime in if he sees this thread.

I've been using excel for about ten years. I hate it just as much now as I did ten years ago. I did think about creating a word form, but that would be a little clumsy.

Depending on what, perhaps we can make a guide for this as I think this is very valuable for the community in general.

I think most people don't want to keep it online for several reasons. So an excel spreadsheet is the safest and standard way to keep an inventory of your things. Technically, I can build a system, but as mentioned there's a lot of issues. So perhaps setting up a guide for DIY with a template might be the next best thing.

The main issue with online inventory systems is the upkeep and maintenance. How often do you really need to update it?

I guess that's the part where I lack knowledge in this sort of thing. I don't know if either of the above mentioned apps store what you input into your own cloud, if the info is shared with the app, or if it just stays local on the computer. Guntracker and Guns Locker both state that they do not collect data, but who is it that we are trusting here? Remember when 23 and Me stated they would not sell genetic info...

 

[2muchsoysauce4allthisrice]

I'm tired of forgetting what pound recoil spring I put in a pistol that I haven't shot in three years and was considering using a firearms inventory log such as Guntrack or Guns Locker to keep track of things. My biggest concern is where the data that I input is stored and possibly who it is sold to. Do any of you cyber security types have any insight or experience with either of these apps? Would these apps be considered "safe and secure" to use? Thank you in advance.

Google drive is free; so are the spreadsheets/excel on there……it’s also a good way to make your own log book for a worst case scenario when you need the serial numbers, make, and model

 

[Sputnik]

I use the Apple equivalent spreadsheet (free in the Apple app Store) but my “collection” if you want to call it that is small and is easy to keep track of. I also don’t do much wheeling and dealing that would require constant updating.
Mainly I just wanted a way to keep track of what, where, when and any changes, modifications, etc. so I can always remember the little details I’d otherwise forget.

 

[Plenty_Pack_556]

I don't/wouldn't want to keep any of my guns info on my phone. Phones can get misplaced, lost, stolen, or broken. If broken, you are most likely going to leave it with a worker of repair shop overnight or few days. Stolen and if the thief got access, well he now knows where and how many. Lost, almost same as stolen.

 

[sjb323]

Another consideration, both apps charge a monthly subscription fee. Assuming that the software engineers keep the apps up and running, that could add up to thousands of dollars over the course of keeping a collection.

 

[Sputnik]

Sounds like a good reason to use a spreadsheet. No rental fees (aka “subscriptions”), just the extra effort to set it up in a usable way.

 

[wtf_calguns_migration]

I've been rewriting a lot of code in C++ or Rust for reasons of build size, speed, security, and portability to small volumes. Decouple the usual data queries as the concerns I cited are an afterthought.

Where you store data isn't a guarantee of anything. How you transmit data should be known safe since most Devs I know keep pushing basic maintenance/janitorial to it people. State of Ca had breeches themselves that way recently-ish. The arguments made for why you would transmit when you didn't need to often generate a blank stare when I ask. They're kinda going thru web and mobile motions without paying attention.

It is pretty simple to write a CRUD app. Normally a bad team would focus on aesthetics to bling up the user experience and forget about performance and security.

You'd find that most people will not have much depth in delivering value based on the questions a user would ask. That would be key to focus down.

Target can be a web service, but do you want all the constant transmit? You aren't dealing with much and it's hard to justify the response lag under load. Mobile device can be a target unless you really want to lug a laptop to the range.

Excel sheets have been a problem in that they aren't secure. Transmitting data with that much cruft is only useful if Excel is the only way you consume and interact with those questions. Emit/ingest of an excel sheet on device is not efficient. Running sql lite on a mobile device is not efficient.

 

[sjb323]

I've been rewriting a lot of code in C++ or Rust for reasons of build size, speed, security, and portability to small volumes. Decouple the usual data queries as the concerns I cited are an afterthought.

Where you store data isn't a guarantee of anything. How you transmit data should be known safe since most Devs I know keep pushing basic maintenance/janitorial to it people. State of Ca had breeches themselves that way recently-ish. The arguments made for why you would transmit when you didn't need to often generate a blank stare when I ask. They're kinda going thru web and mobile motions without paying attention.

It is pretty simple to write a CRUD app. Normally a bad team would focus on aesthetics to bling up the user experience and forget about performance and security.

You'd find that most people will not have much depth in delivering value based on the questions a user would ask. That would be key to focus down.

Target can be a web service, but do you want all the constant transmit? You aren't dealing with much and it's hard to justify the response lag under load. Mobile device can be a target unless you really want to lug a laptop to the range.

Excel sheets have been a problem in that they aren't secure. Transmitting data with that much cruft is only useful if Excel is the only way you consume and interact with those questions. Emit/ingest of an excel sheet on device is not efficient. Running sql lite on a mobile device is not efficient.

Sorry man. I do appreciate the response, but I understood about 5% of that.

 

[wtf_calguns_migration]

Sorry man. I do appreciate the response, but I understood about 5% of that.

Imagine a lot of what you want to do has to be categorized.
Think about reading a car's ecu.
The data that your car's various computers log is just one function that collected data is made actionable.
Simplest is an alert on your dashboard for some reason like you are low on gas.

You can iterate on a simple alert of a gas tank floater to give the driver specific data like how many miles they have left until empty based on their driving and known consumption state of their car.

Additional functions would be advisory.
Something like a function to poll your tire pressure.
That would be a preemptive function.

Think about your guns, parts, the questions youd ask your fictitious application.
How do you want to interact with it (voice, keyboard, touch, alerts, etc).
Where do you want to keep it?
How do you want to keep it updated?

Literally talk your way thru what its supposed to do for you bc a lot of what you want is not new. People wrote code for cars, hvac, home appliances, 80s digital devices like a watch, etc. Think of your context.