Defiant locks

[Silverado]

I was just curious of the quality of Defiant brand locks...
I got my house back over a year ago, and the previous..."tenants"...took my keys and locks when they finally got out of there.

I had a mismatched collection of kwikset and Brinks locks which left me with five different keys for the front door, back door, and man-door on the garage.

About a month ago I got a good deal on four sets of matching Defiant brand deadbolts (mortise cylinders) and doorknobs (kik) and they're all keyed alike. This is good for me because I like to travel light and only need one key instead of five to access all my doors.

I would like to ask the opinion of the community here about the experiences with Defiant brand hardware.

[mseifert]

They are the big box DIY store brand .. I believe Home Depot.. I would say they are not horrible locks but they are not a Medeco.. Tolerances will be wide, parts will be cheaply made, etc.. Most definitely not Anti Bump.. No security pins.. But as far as locking a door close, yes they will do that.

So I would say that unless you are keeping a server farm or top secret government paperwork in your den .. They will be just fine..

[Silverado]

I don't really have much worth stealing...I'd love to get some Medeco locks just for peace of mind, but that'd be war on the wallet.

Thank you for the insight!

[Squelchtone]

Defiants actually do have security spool pins, they introduced those before Kwikset started finally putting some in their locks a few years ago.

[mseifert]

Defiants actually do have security spool pins, they introduced those before Kwikset started finally putting some in their locks a few years ago.

I want to say the last time i looked at the packaging .. It didn't say anything about Security pins but I could be wrong..

[Silverado]

I think I have an extra kik, maybe I'll pull it apart this evening and take a look.

[Robotnik]

Every Defiant I've encountered has spool pins, with the exception of the interior side of a double cylinder.

That said, they tend to be pretty awful locks, in my opinion. Tolerances are extremely sloppy.

[Divinorum]

All the defiant deadbolts I have come across had security pins. One of them believe it or not was a pain to pick because of the terrible tolerances. It was so sloppy with a lot of counter rotation. IMO I would never put one of these on my house. They are very poorly made and a low grade.

[Silverado]

I was sure they weren't really high quality, I got 4 kiks and 4 deadbolts for $20.
I mislabeled what I had on my doors previously, however. I just remembered the previous kiks were older, beat to heck WEISER kiks.

The deadbolds were kwikset, and awful...Could have popped them open with a stiff breeze, nevermind the picks haha.

[billdeserthills]

Defiant is also sold under many other names, such as Moss, US Lock, UHP etc...You can usually get about 5 years of light use from a defiant lock(knob) much more from a correctly
installed deadbolt

[kwoswalt99-]

Defiant... Trusted by scammers everywhere.

[smokingman]

[quote="Silverado"]I don't really have much worth stealing...

Then I would not go overboard on lock spending,especially if insurance covers your stuff.
Defiant is not super high quality , but unless you are going to bar your windows,reinforce the door strikes and frames
and live in your own personal prison cell you should be fine with what you have plus a good dog and a firearm.
Super locks do little good if the door can be kicked in or the windows knocked out with a rock.
No offense meant, just sayin.

[Silverado]

I agree, smokingman. Even if I went overboard and put bars on the windows, swapped out the man doors with submarine hatches, and rigged them with angry sea bass with lasers on their heads...

A criminal will find a way in if they want in. Heck, they could cut through the siding easily enough.

If I'm home and it happens my 12 gauge will fix the problem

[ltdbjd]

Dr. Evil: You know, I have one simple request. And that is to have sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads! Now evidently my cycloptic colleague informs me that that cannot be done. Ah, would you remind me what I pay you people for, honestly? Throw me a bone here! What do we have?
Number Two: Sea Bass.
Dr. Evil: [pause] Right.
Number Two: They're mutated sea bass.
Dr. Evil: Are they ill tempered?
Number Two: Absolutely.
Dr. Evil: Oh well, that's a start.

[smokingman]

Seriously though, my wiener dog was what saved my riding mower from being stolen last summer.
Someone had unbolted the locked gate from the steel post of my 5 foot high chain link fence,
and started sawing through the steering wheel of my rider ( I had a log chain and padlock through the wheel securing it to the other post).
Meanwhile, my dog kept barking and telling me she wanted out so I opened the door and she charged into the night chasing the perps away.
We never heard a thing inside the house, but my dog heard and saved the day.
The thieves had gotten around nearly all the fencing ,padlocks and chains but not the dog.
She got a steak supper.