The best of the cheap

[sivlogkart]

Have you ever come across a lock that was very well made and hard to
pick, but was very cheap? I thought it might be interesting to see a
list of the very best of the extremely cheap locks, both for real use
but for beginners to have a few good locks to buy to add to their
collections without spending too much money.

I have three locks that look almost identical but made by diferent
companies. These are all of the diskus, round, stainless steel
type. I think the Abus version cost about 25 pounds, and the Yale was
much the same (but I might be wrong about that as it was some time
ago). But also I have one made by Moirax, which looks every bit as
strong and well made as the others but cost only 5 pounds. The Abus
is trivial to pick, and is not much of a lock at all, the Yale is
harder to pick, and needs slimline tools to do it, and the Moirax is
about as hard to pick as the Yale (but does not need slimline tools).

I had never heard of Moirax before this lock, but it seems very good
to me.

KJ

[Chrispy]

I have a Home Security padlock that cost me $2.50 AUD. Do you think I can pick it....

[sivlogkart]

I am beginning to wonder! Often the reason a cheap lock can be tricky to pick is because it is small and its keyway is small so the picks you have do not fit. Is that the case with yours?

KJ

[chopitup]

The lower tolerances can also sometimes work against you, the feel isn't as crisp.

[Chrispy]

No, small padlocks can often be opened with what I like to call a tension pick. It's basically a tension wrench that has a longer head and is jagged. Simply insert the wrench/pick and jiggle whilst turning. Allen keys are good for this. My Home Security padlock has the same size keyway as a normal cylinder.

[sivlogkart]

It is true that some of the problems in picking cheap locks is that the feel is all wrong. It is a bit like picking very old and badly treated locks full of oil and dirt.

KJ

[Chrispy]

Depends on the lock. This Home Security feels like any other lock. At the price that it is, I'm thinking of cutting it up to see what pins are in it (spool, serrated, whatever). The key combo is high, low, middle, low, middle, so I think I am oversetting pins and that's why she's a virgin lock.

[skold]

Depends on the lock. This Home Security feels like any other lock. At the price that it is, I'm thinking of cutting it up to see what pins are in it (spool, serrated, whatever). The key combo is high, low, middle, low, middle, so I think I am oversetting pins and that's why she's a virgin lock.

no spools...home security is a nice padlock to have as thy cutaway.

[Chrispy]

Cool, cheerz skold.

[amc31b]

I bought a 4 dollar, 40mm Fortress lock at the store thinking it would be another great, easy, practice lock. turns out it has security pins! took me 4 hours to pick. definetly a good lock for 4 bucks + tax

[4Honda]

I picked up the cheapest dead bolt at Wal-mart.
After hours of toil, which is expected with my skill set, I deside to remove a few pins.
The number two was a mushroom and only the number two. I guess you really get your money worth at Wal-Mart.
Next time I will have to ask, "Are you sure you don't have anything less secure?" I guess I can save the pin to add to the challenge when I pick up speed.
For now it's off to the dollar store.

[toomush2drink]

I personally think the assec range of cylinders are a hard pick and hardly any money too.

[Chrispy]

I picked open that Home Security sucker. The trick? A lot of tension.

[sivlogkart]

I have had some cheap locks that seemed to need more tension than you would normally expect. You get so used to light tension, it can be about the last thing you try.

[Chrispy]

Amen. It was actually a mix of using light tension to set the pins properly and heavy tension to turn the plug. So I ended up applying a heavy hand after every set to see whether it was there yet.