does this mottura lock offer any adv over generic pin&tu

[got1tiel]

hello folks, howstuffworks.com featured on their homepage today an article on lockpicking. i was mortified by the description of how easily pin and tumbler locks could be defeated.

i am using a mottura lock of key described below (due thx for ascii art i borrowed off another poster here).

you have to turn the key for it to open. it is referred to in catalogues as a pump type lock but i do not understand what the term pump refers to.

what i would like to know is if this design offers better security than a pin and tumbler. i forked out €180 for it(it was the most expensive in the shop and had the biggest key) . the link below also shows the lock itself. is its design secure because it is harder to pick or harder to destroy than a pin & tumber? thanks

color photo at http://www.chez.com/montmartre/pump.html

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..BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB KEY HANDLE HERE
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B - metal
h- plastic handle
ignore dots

Side view:
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[got1tiel]

what does the lock term 'pump' mean ? thx

[Jimmie]

pump locks is the rough translation of "serrures à pompe" which means you have too push on the key forward then ... turn the key to lock or unlock

I think this term was used before for all the Bramah type locks

jimmie

[Jimmie]

when I say ... pushing forward ... it means ... after the key has been inserted inside the lock of course !!

sorry but English is not my native language

Jimmie

[got1tiel]

you have too push on the key forward

ah. is there any advantage to designing a lock with pump compared to same lock without pump feature? thx

[Jimmie]

I really don't know ...

it was a new concept when Bramah invented the pump lock around 1820 but this kind of lock has also its security limitations

apart some few locks: Abloy protec, WinkHaus magnetic, Evva magnetic which have a good design against picking and decoding ... it is difficult to find a lock which cannot be picked, opened by force, decoded etc

with time and patience ... if you cannot get down the lock ... you can copy, scan, record the .... key !!

so ... it depends what amount of security you want and what you have to protect ... you have to deal with ... cause even if you have the strongest door and lock ... it doesn't have sense ... if the walls around are just ... "carboard resistance"

Jimmie

[greyman]

(Hi Jimmie!)

The lock featured at http://www.chez.com/montmartre/pump.html is a Mottura 6 "pump" lock. It has sliders that are operated by the push-type key. The sliders are gated at one or more places on one edge. All gates have to line up with a sidebar so that the barrel can turn. It has quite strong springs and is difficult to pick. You see quite a few of these locks in continental Europe.

I can't think of a good translation for "pump key" apart from using that term. Like Jimmie mentions, it is related to the bramah lock except that the geometry of the tumblers is different.

[Jimmie]

it is a good lock but as all the BRAMAH type lock it can be easily decoded

I think it is out of reach of the average burglar

since Mr Hobbs opened the Bramah lock in the XIX century with his tool made specially for this purpose ... nothing new under the sun ... the same decoding principle is still valid

I cannot say more about in this open forum

Jimmie

[got1tiel]

thanks for all the info. i am know content with my lock. the money i paid probably went into better quality parts so it will last longer and jam less.

i talked with some people who have been robbed recently and they told me the robbers just levered the door open with brute force, no lock picking involved

thanks again