Are pin tumbler locks becoming outdated?

[phishtaco]

I've been picking for a while now and have managed to spend hundreds on tools etc. and was just wondering the other day, is it really worth spending all this money on lock picks? Wont locks that are being used today be phased out over the next 10 years or so due to advancing technology?

I was in a hardware store the other day looking for a cheap pin tumbler lock and the majority of locks I found were all advanced fingerprint scanner locks etc.

[weerwolf]

I spend at least half an hour per day duplicating bit keys. Today I evan had a customer with a key for a lock that isn't made since the 1970's.

So , I'm quite sure pin tumbler locks will not dissapear completely in the next decade.

Quality locks have quite a long service life. Thats what makes my job so intresting , I sell very modern electronic locks , but also service very old locks.

[nostromo]

Simple economics say that the cheapest way to provide reliable, durable, easily masterkeyed, locking mechanisms with easily made duplicate keys are unlikely to be replaced in the mainstream residential and commercial market any time soon.

Vehicles are fairly easily stolen and have a very high dollar value, as well as a relatively short life span (compared to structures) so we're likelier to see increasingly sophisticated locks. At least in the more expensive models.

[Raymond]

In my view the most obvious answer is "How will they get in when (note-I did not say if) the batteries or stepper motor go dead. There will nearly always be a need for the mechanical key.

[Rickthepick]

Those cheap biometric locks are just a gimmic, theres a very easy way to open them (without chopping a finger off)

[Schuyler]

I don't care, man. I'm gonna keep picking pin tumbler locks 'til the day I die. Don't care if they become obsolete. So many of the best things are.

[fjardeson]

Those cheap biometric locks are just a gimmic, theres a very easy way to open them (without chopping a finger off)

I think it's quite funny that these "biometric" or "digital" locks (even the ASSA Abloy!) have simple, pickable mechanical bypass mechanisms. You'd think that in a $300 lock, they could at least use a disc detainer or other more sophisticated mechanism for the bypass.

[noir]

There are a whole lot of pin tumbler locks out there in the world, even if everyone started strictly selling electronic, biometric, etc. locks tomorrow, it would be a while before we would see all the pin tumblers replaced. Also, just because there is newer technology available doesn't mean people will use it, especially if it costs them more money.
I think the majority of people don't feel the need for more secure locks because they haven't experienced a reason to need them. Sort of like how a lot of people don't start backing up data until after they've had data loss.

[sysreq]

I reckon it will be a long long time before residential locks change over to anything more secure.
At the end of the day a lock is just removing the "low hanging fruit", what is the point of me putting a high security lock on my front door when it is only single glazed.
If someone wants in they will just go through the window, but it will stop the opportunist.

However, considering my house is only 10 years old the locks are not wearing well, I reckon they will rake open by breathing on them. Maybe it is time for those new doors I have been thinking about

[RevDisk]

I've been picking for a while now and have managed to spend hundreds on tools etc. and was just wondering the other day, is it really worth spending all this money on lock picks? Wont locks that are being used today be phased out over the next 10 years or so due to advancing technology?

I was in a hardware store the other day looking for a cheap pin tumbler lock and the majority of locks I found were all advanced fingerprint scanner locks etc.

Pin tumbler lock is roughly 4,000 years old. If a time traveler from 4,000 years in the future told me they were still in usage, I wouldn't even blink at it.

I'm quite sure those advanced fingerprint scanners could be defeated as easily as the average Schlage. I would not be surprised if it was easier.

[globallockytoo]

Many people dont realize that fingerprint locks have difficulty reading a fingerprint of a geriatric person.

As the population ages and lives longer, their fingerprints wear, making scanning them difficult.

If fingerprint readers are used outside, they are prone to mulfunction due to weathering, sunlight and other issues.

Manufacturers still need to include a mechanical override by key cylinder or the like because so many of these products are inferior quality.

The benefit of fingerprint locks is obvious, especially for older people who tend to misplace their keys or forget the combination of a keypad, but the difficulty of age is often not considered when designing these things.

[Ortin468]

I've been picking for a while now and have managed to spend hundreds on tools etc. and was just wondering the other day, is it really worth spending all this money on lock picks? Wont locks that are being used today be phased out over the next 10 years or so due to advancing technology?

I was in a hardware store the other day looking for a cheap pin tumbler lock and the majority of locks I found were all advanced fingerprint scanner locks etc.

I work in an auto shop, the average car we work on is 4-6 years old.. I bet most locks people have are older than that.

A fast poll.

How old are the locks that secure your belongings ?

[Tyler J. Thomas]

As long as whatever replaces them adheres to standard measurements, I don't care. I just don't feel like turning retrofit installations into major hassles. I doubt this will be the case anyways because it'd be hard to market a technology that required all related hardware to be replaced before using it.

[globallockytoo]

As long as whatever replaces them adheres to standard measurements, I don't care. I just don't feel like turning retrofit installations into major hassles. I doubt this will be the case anyways because it'd be hard to market a technology that required all related hardware to be replaced before using it.

and therein lies the problem with smartkey and securekey products. You must replace the hardware to be able to use the cylinders. That's what they are banking on.

I cant wait for the flood of work to come from failing products. I smell $$$ in the air. Get rid of that Schlage and Kwikset garbage and drop in some quality hardware, using Bilock cylinders or Abloy cylinders. Gone are the days of simply replacing a cylinder on a Schlage deadbolt with a retro cylinder from other manufacturers.

[Tyler J. Thomas]

and therein lies the problem with smartkey and securekey products. You must replace the hardware to be able to use the cylinders. That's what they are banking on.

What are you talking about?

A SmartKey/Securekey deadbolt will retrofit in the 2 1/8" standard crossbore. Each deadbolt design is nearly always proprietary and you must replace the entire lock, usually, in order to switch to the new system. This is nothing new and doesn't indicate anything you're suggesting.

With that said, Kwikset offers a retrofittable cylinder for Baldwin mortise/handleset locks. Their 400 Series is still the exact same and new Smartkey cylinders can be placed in old/new designs. Schlage's going to be debuting the Securekey in new formats this week at ALOA.

You've got your facts wrong.