What lock would you use for your front door?

[lockmanstan]

I have a Schlage panic proof door knob, and I personally like the feature. Its just a preference. What I've noticed is that people don't like it because they have a hard time believing the door is locked.

I'd go with the Schlage, they're medium security and 99% of the population have a hard time picking low security locks.


For me, I like it because when I get home, I open the door picks or keys whatever. Go inside, close the door and lock it. Next day, grab my stuff, keys etc. Open panic proof door, shut door. And its still locked.
I've havent forgotten my keys, but luckily for me I always keep a backup set of pick in my wallet.

*Panic proof, as in when you're house is on fire, you wont need to fumble with the lock to get it open. The inside knob will always open the door regardless if its locked or not.

I disagree with the 99% of the population being unable to pick Low security locks. My half blind grandfather picked 4 different master locks and a guard lock (all padlocks) his first try with no experience. However, I agree with the panic door.

I think the best thing to do is lose the aesthetics and go for a better lock. But, I would feel the same as you and go for something a little prettier. Go for the panic proof. Anything better than a low security lock will stop a slow minded criminal and keep an honest man out.

[Rickthepick]

Chubb castle (3g110) with a nice ingersoll nightlatch would be more than secure

[Josh K]

It's more about the physical layout then what lock you have. You could put a Medeco Biaxial in there and it wouldn't do you much good when you have six fist sized panes of glass decorating the door.

[jwhou]

It's a mistake to say that your grandfather has no experience. By definition he has more experience than you do. He's also from a time when more people were aware of how locks actually worked and from a time when being able to pick padlocks was a more practical skill.

I would say that Schlage to match your decor would be sufficient, just be sure to key the locks yourself, the workers employed by contractors are not always trustworthy and they've been exposed to how locks can be keyed for master keys and builder's keys.

Most of the theft in a neighborhood occurs when there is construction in the area and are by these workers. The burglary rate drops dramatically once construction in a neighborhood stops. Keying the locks yourself also gives you an opportunity to ensure security pins that came with the lock are actually installed and not just pocketed by the workers for their own doors or to make your locks easily bumped.

I would also be tempted to put in varying sized top pins to make bumping less likely as the top pin masses would all differ as well as the spring compression, as long as the total pin stack height is still less than that of the tallest bottom pin plus a standard top pin then the key can still be inserted and removed.

One idea might be to put an intermediate top pin at least as tall as the top driver pin such that the top driver pin won't ever enter the plug, any attempt to bump via the Newton's Cradle theory would transfer the energy through the bottom pin, through the intermediate driver pin and to the top driver pin causing that to be the one that moves away but that doesn't matter if the shear line between the intermediate driver and the top driver pin never comes close to entering the plug anyways and the intermediate driver pin which actually blocks the shear line doesn't move as the momentum has been transferred through.

Of course, the Newton's Cradle theory of how key-bumping works could be wrong, only high speed footage of a cutaway lock while being bumped could tell us that for sure.

If you do use a standard pin as a taller top pin or as an intermediate pin then be sure to file the bottom flat rather than leaving it pointed or beveled so it has to line up with the shear line more exactly, as it's not being used as the bottom pin, it doesn't need the point or bevel to facilitate key entry and removal.