Rate these 9 locks for their difficulty.

[tremc]

I am hoping to build a product with a lock that will not be easily defeated by the average person, even an average person who looks up lock picking online. I am also hoping to keep the cost of the lock low, less than $2 when bought in bulk. I would appreciate any help with this.

--It seems pin locks can be easily defeated with bump keys that anyone can buy online.
--It also seems like tubular locks can be easily defeated with a tubular pick bought online, or with a bic pen, or piece of toilet paper roll!
--From what I have read it appears that wafer/disc locks would take more skill for the average person to defeat, even though someone skilled in picking locks would find them very easy.

I have been searching for a cam lock and these are some I have come across. Which ones do you think are most difficult for the average person?! Which are the easiest for the average person?!

1. Disc/flat tumbler http://cxdmz518.en.made-in-china.com/pr ... 20CH-.html
2. ATM 9 Pin http://makelock.en.alibaba.com/product/ ... _lock.html
3. 9 Lever http://makelock.en.alibaba.com/product/ ... Locks.html
4. 7 Pin Security http://makelock.en.alibaba.com/product/ ... _lock.html
5. Mini Tubular http://makelock.en.alibaba.com/product/ ... _lock.html
6. 7 Lever High Quality http://makelock.en.alibaba.com/product/ ... _lock.html
7. 5 Lever Disc Lock http://makelock.en.alibaba.com/product/ ... _lock.html
8. Abloy Lock 1 http://www.made-in-china.com/showroom/a ... -420-.html
9. Abloy Lock 2 http://www.made-in-china.com/showroom/d ... -Lock.html

[fgarci03]

Hey there.

So, let me correct you. A wafer lock is also called disc tumbler lock. But is different from a disc detainer. On your pics you show both of them. Wafer locks are usually easier than pin tumblers.

It's difficult to tell you which ones are more difficult or easier to open. It depends on a lot of factors, not just the type of lock.
Usually disc detainers are more difficult for the average person, so you could go with 3, 7, 8, 9.
I wouldn't say number 2 is bad either. High security locks usually feature that design. But it all comes to the quality of the build, so without having a look at the real deal, I can't be of much help.

If you happen to choose number 2, be sure to tell me, as I'd like to own one of those


Another important factor is what use are the locks going to have? Like, are they going to be outside? Or in a closed environment? Also, in which part of the glob will they be used? A good security measure is to use something relativelly unknown so burglers won't know ow to approach those.

If you are willing to share that information we may be able to help you a little more. If not, number 2 or 3 would be my option.

Hope to have helped

[Wizer]

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[bembel]

I'd recommend the Abloy locks, but I'm not sure if they're really Abloy or just cheap copies.
There are many reasons to use the original Abloy locks, product plagiarism is only one of them.

[ARF-GEF]

I am pretty sure they are not really Abloy, but cheap Chinese copies.
In my experience those disc tumblers are not necessarily easy to pick, Chinese copied locks offer very low security.

[Squelchtone]

If the OP wasn't posting from New Jersey, I'd almost say his post is just a sneaky way to SPAM the forum with links to Chinese suppliers..

May I ask why every one of your links is from alibaba or made in china? There are many other resources for locks that one can find on the internet.

You should look into American companies like Baton, they have a wide variety of vending and cam locks. Same goes with CompX or Chicago Lock. Another great tubular/abloy-clone/wafer lock supplier is LAI Group. Links to their sites can be easily Googled.

Hope that helps,
Squelchtone

[tremc]

Thanks for all your feedback, I really do appreciate it!

This lock would be used on a device inside a home, an electronics device similar to this http://www.familysafemedia.com/tv_timer ... h_bob.html. Mainly I would want to be able to deter determined teenagers from easily picking the lock from some online picking kit they could order online, or using some homemade device to bypass it.

I assure you I am not a Chinese spammer! I searched other manufacturing sites but Alibaba and Made-In-China had pretty much the same results as all the other site focused on Chinese suppliers. I had not looked at US lock suppliers as I figured the costs would be too high. I will look into the other companies mentioned to see what they offer and at what price point.

I was originally leaning towards the first lock with the feature showing red for locked and green for open, but it seems you guys think it could be defeated easily by the average joe.

I am going to also get a quote for a bulk order of these, around 5,000-10,000.

[Squelchtone]

The best lock for this sort of thing would be an Abloy clone, but not a Chinese one, as those can still be picked IF the person is really hell bent on picking it, but 99% of your teenagers still wounldn't know how to open it, even with a pick set from the internet. Try LAI Group for your idea, they can probably get/make the exact cylinder you need to match your hardware, as well as a quote for that many units. Make sure they are keyed different, so if a kid is able to buy spare keys online or buy a BOB unit, they dont get to come home and use those keys on the unit their parents installed.

I think I already figured out a way around this device. Most TV's just have an IEC computer plug in the back, so you just unplug the wire that is trapped inside the BOB device, and plug in another one. Or, if the Playstation is locked in the BOB device and it's wire happens to be hard wired into the power supply unit, but the other side of the power supply is a 3.5mm 12volt out put wire, I'd just go on ebay or to GameStop and get a spare power supply, so the parents can lock up the power supply, but Johnny has a spare one hiding in his closet that he can use after school before they come home.

In looking at it online, the Playstation power cord is like a boom box cord with a figure 8 connector that plugs into the power brick. locking up the 110 prongs inside a BOB does nothing if a kid has another cable kicking around from a boombox or other device.

just my obeservations,
Squelchtone

[tremc]

Thanks for the helpful feedback Squelchtone! I will ask the LAI group about it. That has been a concern, which is why our product will be monitoring the standby power of whatever device it is connected to, usually a TV, and any interruption to the current and duration will be logged and parent informed via email.

Originally I thought the kind of lock would not matter because of the problem you mentioned, I would only need to be preventing the small children from getting access and I think most will not be picking locks. There are addicted teens out there and I know some would go buy an additional power cord.

There is a financial impact on them for buying the cord, and if the parent's finds out about it and takes it away, then the teen will have to buy an additional cord. There would be no financial impact on a kid if they could just pick the lock. So that is the reason I am investigating the type of lock is so that kids do go about circumventing the system they will have to pay a financial penalty and parents are informed.

Parents could always just take the game system or TV away if it becomes too much of a problem, but I think most want to find a balance.