Kaba locksets

by **Bianchi** » 12 Mar 2004 11:14

Hi,

I have done a research on a particular loakset called Kaba
Does anyone know much about this particular lockset type?
I'm sort of an amateur hobbiest on lock picking. So I was wondering if anyone knows it's history and if this is a good reliable lockset to use?
Thanks for your help...

Robert

by **Chucklz** » 12 Mar 2004 11:32

Kaba makes a wide variety of locks, please be more specific.

by **Bianchi** » 14 Mar 2004 8:10

Thanks for your reply,

It's a Kaba Gemini, and used on Mortise Lock type cylinder, also Dropbolt type cylinder. Both purchased separately.
Any information would appreciated. I've gone to several sites and not too much infor was given.
Only what the locksmith had given me.

by **plot** » 14 Mar 2004 16:30

my friend's dad is a locksmith, and it's what he prefers.

by **Bianchi** » 15 Mar 2004 10:10

Thanks for the replys...

But what I'm looking for is some history? Like is it dependable? I've done lot's of research on it on the keying system, anti drilling properties, and etc,,,
Long history,,,. It's a great lock and key and all, but I still like another view. Any weak points or things to watch out for...

by **Chucklz** » 15 Mar 2004 11:08

I've tried picking the Gemini with a very very fine needle (25 ga needle) and Ive found that all that messing around may have weakened the springs a bit, so now the key inserts with a tad bit more force than before. Even a high quality lubricant did nothing for the situation.

The three pin sets overlap so its very very difficult to single pin pick, simply becuase your probably will disturb at least a few pins while trying to get to the next one.

I have a good feeling that the Falle foil impressioning system would work wonderfully on these locks, although I think it would be a real pain to cut the keys without the machine.

by **Bianchi** » 16 Mar 2004 7:28

Ok the reason I'm asking about the Kaba lockset was because, when I was in my teens I lost my keys and basically got locked out of my own house. My parents wasn't going to be back for a few days. Basically I was out of luck. So me being young and naive, I figured if James Bond could open doors wo keys hmm, I figured I'd give it a shot. Yes I watched way too many movies... The lock wasn't as advanced as the Kaba, but an old cheap Kiwiset door knob if I recal? and a cheap Segal type deadbolt. The doorknob was easy, two screws and that was it. The segal was a bit tricky. So I used a few simple tools and started playing around the pins. Surprisingly it took me like a minute or two. So I was in. I have to say I must gotten really lucky because it was like my first time. So I said to myself "if it's that easy, then it must be easy for the thieves. Now my neighbors saw me and knew what I was doing. They had lent me the screw driver, before that I had asked how much a locksmith was going to cost me. Back then I couldn't afford $50 bucks so I did what I did. So that's when I became interested in locks. That was ages ago, and sometimes I still find myself messing around cheapo locks. Any others might be way to advanced for my own good. So that's my story. Thanks for the infor,,, Forgot to add main point. BTW, I'm not writing this just to brag. I'm sharing this because, it was so easy that it was scary. So I'm wondering if it's that easy to pick Kaba's. So far from the replys, it doesn't seem quite easy. So that was a sound investment?

by **plot** » 16 Mar 2004 17:19

Yes, for a door lock, Kaba is well above kwikset.

Anything you can get at wal-mart, home depot, lowes, etc... will probably be pretty simple to pick. (sometimes i run across kwiksets that seam like they dont even have pins they are so easy......), Kaba is a very secure lock for residential areas.

by **Chucklz** » 16 Mar 2004 17:24

Saying that the Kaba Gemini is well above Kwikset is a profound understatement. The Kaba is UL 437 listed.

by **Bianchi** » 17 Mar 2004 9:06

"The Kaba is UL 437 listed." Like I said before I'm just a amateur in locks picking. So UL 437 listing doesn't mean anything to me. I guess I'll have to check it on the site.
And btw, I'm not comparing Kaba's to other locksets such as Kiwiset or Segal's. That's like comparing a BMW 5 series against a Civic. I can tell between the different classes. I'm not comparing the Kaba to anything actually. I guess my questions were not clear enough. I'll have to clarify it more nx time. But in any case, thanks for the help. I've actually done some more research on it and found that I pretty happy with the purchase. I was more looking in the ways of history and theory or reasoning behind their particular design.

by **Chucklz** » 17 Mar 2004 21:36

The UL listing provides for pick, drill, pull, punch resistance. Its the kind of certification you hope your locks have.

by **webidiot2** » 15 Dec 2005 0:38

wouldn't this lock be vulnerable to bumping?

by **illusion** » 15 Dec 2005 6:45

webidiot2 wrote:wouldn't this lock be vulnerable to bumping?

yes indeed - I have heard it is quite easy to bump in fact

by **HeadHunterCEO** » 15 Dec 2005 6:58

get a 4000 series so you will be better off next time you lose your key

by **wtf|pickproof?** » 15 Dec 2005 9:24

illusion wrote:
webidiot2 wrote:wouldn't this lock be vulnerable to bumping?

yes indeed - I have heard it is quite easy to bump in fact

Sorry, but you guys are wrong! Check this If you don't belive me. KABA uses different shapes of tips for the lower pins. This way a bump key won't hit all the pins at the same time.

KABA locks are good residential locks but IMHO suck in masterkeyed systems. This is mostly due to the fact they are leaveing out pins in masterkeyed locks. I easily picked a masterkeyed KABA Quattro in less then 20 minutes and this was the first time I ever played around with a KABA lock.

Ballpicks work well for me when picking KABA locks but a large half diamond should work too.

If you intend to pick masterkeyed KABA locks you have to be careful thou, as the pins tend to drop into the keyway through the unfilles holes of the plug. This is sayed to be avoidable by filling the keyway with some sort of plastic foam, thread or something like that. A plugspinnier should work too, but I wasn't able to test any of the methods mentioned above yet.

If I was to choose good locks I'd go for the EVVA 3KS.

just my 0,02â‚¬

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