Quick Qustion: How difficult are BESTs?

[Eab]

I know it's hard to rate locks but are Best locks any good? I at a local store looking for a new deadbolt to play with and found a Best one. I asked if it was any good and the dealer said "No pun intended, there the best! My shop's front door is a Best, I trust my store to its strength."

Was he just trying to get me to buy the thing? I haven't heard much about Bests before.

[Schuyler]

They are not the best, but they are good

Is it an SFIC lock? (it would look like a figure

If so, it'll pose an additional challenge because it has 2 shear lines. One line will operate the lock normally, and the other is the control, which will remove the whole locking mechanism for easy re-keying.

Thing is? you cannot mix and match shear lines, so they can definitely cause you some problems picking. That said? The bitting can make all the difference, just like on any lock, so some bests will be easy, just because of a simple bitting on the operating shear line.

you can also get yourself (or make yourself) an SFIC tension tool, which will tension specifically to help you pick to the control shear line.

I'd say, only get it if it's an SFIC, if not, well, I don't know. I don't know if I've ever had a best non-sfic, or if they make them that way.

Anyhow, it'll be a nice lock to play with, specifically because it operates a little differently.

[Schuyler]

that should read "figure 8"

[Eab]

Hmm, I follow, sounds interesting. Thanks for the info I'll stop by tomorrow and pick it up, its fairly cheap and now you got me curious

[Schuyler]

http://deviating.net/lockpicking/15.01-sfic.html

deviant rocks. The rest of his site has great info and illustrations/animations as well.

Have fun with it

[raimundo]

You should try to pick the best, while these are very well made locks, and often difficult to pick, some are in fact friendly to the picker, and will open right away. You never know till you try, I have had bests that seemed easy and others that were never picked
look at the 8 shape of the front of the plug, if the lock seems to turn a bit, but then stop, pull your tensor out without releasing tension, this could bring the whole plug out into your hand to look at, then put it back in the lock before you lock it up out of its hardware.

[WOT]

"Best" locks are particularly good for apartments and dorms. The cores are usually pre-combinated and whenever there is a tenant change or a lost key, maintenance can easily "rekey" the lock on a moment's notice by using a control key to swap out the core.

They're usually multi-level master usually allowing two different cut depths per position, so they're convenient but not so great in security.

[VashTSPD]

I don't know if I've ever had a best non-sfic, or if they make them that way.

Yeah, they do make Best locks that aren't SFIC's. All the doors to the library I go to are regular Schlages, but then I headed around out back of the building and they locked up their trash container with a nice Best padlock go figure.


And SFIC stands for Small Format Interchangeable Core, that hadn't been mentioned yet.

[Schuyler]

Crazy, the cylinder wasn't an SFIC? I know home depot, despite selling masterlock locks exclusively (at least the one's I've been to) they lock up their own crap with BEST padlocks, which happen to be SFICs.

Cool find, there.

[devildog]

I've noticed this, too, and also noted the irony of the locks they're selling vs. what they're using.

Best's are a PITA to pick or bump; I know others have said otherwise, but I don't think you'll find anyone who thinks they're 'easy'.

[2octops]

I would not recomend bumping a Best lock. They are tip stop keys and if you tap it to hard, you will knock off the stop plate on the back side of the core, causing the plug to come loose and slide out if you get lucky and hit the shear line.

[Schuyler]

The other cool thing about BEST locks, and you all can correct me if I'm wrong, but the pin stacks are all matching heights, whatever the bitting is. I've only read this once, and couldn't immediately reference it, but it certainly makes decoding impossible (or as near to impossible as my poor brain can think of)

[melvin2001]

yes schuyler that is true, i also cant think of any good proof to reference, you'll just have to trust me and schuyler. this also makes certain bypass techniques obsolete (think old russian satalite).

[What]

yes schuyler that is true, i also cant think of any good proof to reference, you'll just have to trust me and schuyler. this also makes certain bypass techniques obsolete (think old russian satalite).

the tool you mentioned would still work, but overlifting would not.

[melvin2001]

the tool you mentioned would still work, but overlifting would not.

i could have sworn thats what that tool did, oh well... my b homes. carry on.