Sad state of affairs at Home Depot

[somenewguy]

I went in to the local Home Depot (a 'big box' hardware store in the US) for some hardware and decided to go down the aisle with household locks. It was rather depressing; they carry are Schlage and Kwikset, and only in the low- to medium-security versions. There was nothing aside from normal pin-tumber locks to choose from. 45% of the aisle was Schlage, 45% was Kwikset, and 10% of the aisle was an even lower-priced lockset brand called Defiant. I understand the big-box stores only carry the high volume, low-price 'commodity' items but it was sad to see the mediocre security offerings with no other good alternatives.

[spandexwarrior]

Interestingly, I think the Defiant locks have some spool pins in them. They Kwiksets don't (or are SmartKey). Not sure about the Schlages but some of those might have spools. I agree about the state of affairs being pretty bad. Around me, there is one family run hardware store that has grade 2 Schlage locks with an option of switching out the cylinders to Assa Twin 6000's - I think they have a deal with a local locksmith. Other than that, you're going to probably have to go to one of the few real locksmiths that are left to get anything decent.

-Brian

[Divinorum]

I bought a defiant lock to practice picking a while ago and it was SO crappy. I picked it once very easily and then it broke so I just threw it out. I have seen these locks on peoples houses and even on the front door of a commercial building! I don't get it. Its one thing to be cheap but another to be cheap when it comes to the security of your family or business.

[blue60]

I have 2 or 3 defiant deadbolts, they are cheep, but everyone I took apart had a spool pin in it.
I also had a wiser deadbolt that was new (from home depot) and when I took it apart I found masterkey pins in it

[ARF-GEF]

I agree that it's sad, but the people going there are not ready to spend real money on stuff and (I hope) they don't expect much wuality either. For one when I want decent drill bit or any high qulity stuff I head to a specialist store. Not just for the stuff itself, but for the advice and expertise, that saved me some money quite a few times

[blue60]

I agree, home depot is good if its 7:30 at night and you need a 2x4 or a plumbing fitting, but I see people go in and just buy a lock during the day.. and there is a locksmith shop just 3min down the road. IDK I guess people like to feel secure even if they really are not.

[KPick]

I agree that it's sad, but the people going there are not ready to spend real money on stuff and (I hope) they don't expect much wuality either. For one when I want decent drill bit or any high qulity stuff I head to a specialist store. Not just for the stuff itself, but for the advice and expertise, that saved me some money quite a few times

That's true. Most people visiting a store aren't looking for anything other than the lowest price they can get. High prices usually lead to low customer count, so that's understood. I'm sure the people know what a quality home security system is, and they chose just to get the basics due to low prices.

[Caesarkid1]

Buying a better lock for a front door with a window on it wouldn't give the average consumer too much added protection. The average consumer has no idea what the difference between locks are. The average consumer looks at a package that has a lock and assumes that it must be a good lock and that 6 anti-bump pins would keep their possessions safe.

It isn't until the need for a better product is shown or known to the consumer that they will purchase the higher quality item. You see the same thing with beer. The average consumer is going to walk into a store and buy a 32 case of a beer designed to be the least offensive to the largest amount of people and still be affordable. The consumer will be happy with this purchase because the beer was cheap, although it doesn't have much flavor it doesn't taste too terrible, and quite frankly they don't know any better.

Tl;dr: A lock is just a lock to most. High security locks are like Craft beer to the average consumer.

[dll932]

They also sell locks keyed alike in case quantities, so if you buy one and your neighbor does too, they'll be keyed alike.

[YouLuckyFox]

I see the same thing with emergency preparedness, the view is like "oh, you can't prepare for everything," so most people tend to not prepare at all. My boss is like that with security: "Oh if you put C4 on it it'd be gone, so why bother paying an extra $100 for all it would take to secure your door against forced entry and picking?" There are certainly options available to those who want to protect their home, it just takes an objective look of things.

[KPick]

Ive actually told people about buying higher quality locks here in fresno. There firsf reaction is simple. A smirk and a k dont care look lol. Ever since lock picking turned into my hobby, ive looked at houses, businesses, and such around my area and discovered about 95 % of all entry points are weak. Some auto shops here have high gates and a low brand china lock on the gate, ironically. Even the best of auto shops around here have mastdr locks on their gates and shop doors. The only places that have great security are the franchise markets and supermarkets. Abloys medecos Best Falcons, and such

[Hachronn]

I recently did a walk around at a friend's house. By the time I was through, I lost count of the non-destructive means of accessing his home. The bathroom window was open when we arrived, and the other windows on the ground floor had latches that could easily be shimmed from the outside of the house. The front door was eaquiped with a Schlage deadbolt, but in his words, "We never use it. We just lock the doorknob". In the back, the patio door was "secured" with a cheap charley bar that was easily bypassed.

As we walked around the house, I noticed a cheap four wheel combination key box attached to the home's gas meter. Again, I won't go into details regarding bypass, but most of us know how easy those four wheel combinations are to decode. He explained that he doesn't bother to give the kids or the house keepers their own keys, they just have the combination to the key box, and use that key when nobody is home.

The list of ways to gain entry to my friend's home just kept getting longer and longer. I won't even get into the ladder that has been leaning against the side of the house for at least a year, or the second story windows that are probably never locked to begin with.

So, knowing how unlikely my friend is to plug the security gaps at his home, what would be the point of Home Depot, Lowes, or any other big box store allowing an expensive high security lock to gather dust on a shelf? Even if they did sell one to my friend, why bother installing it on his front door? It would do him just as much good gathering dust back at the depot.

[cledry]

Not sure how to bypass a Charley Bar. I've never seen one compromised without breaking the glass.

[Hachronn]

The way his patio door is set up, the stationary panel of his patio door is on the outer track, while the sliding panel is on the inner track. There is a slight overlap between the two panels. A hard rubber "sweep" forms a weather seal.

The Charley bar in question is a cheap Home Depot model. The bar is installed midway up the door and inline with the door's latch mechanism. A pin on the bracket installed on the jamb forms a hinge, while the free end of the bar rests in a bracket installed on the sliding panel. The free end of the Charley Bar lacks any sort of pin or locking mechanism.

I was able to take long piece wire, that I happened to find in the yard (I believe that it was once part of a hanging planter), straighten it out and form a slight hook on the end. By slipping the hooked end of the wire between the two panels, I was able to push aside the rubber sweep and reach the Charley Bar. With the hook, I lifted the free end of the Charley Bar while applying opening preasure on the sliding panel. It took a couple of bumps, but the bar quickly went verticle and I was able to slide the door open with minimal effort. The locking mechanism on the door is a simple thumb latch that I was able to shim with a pocket knife.

[C-Horse]

The way his patio door is set up, the stationary panel of his patio door is on the outer track, while the sliding panel is on the inner track. There is a slight overlap between the two panels. A hard rubber "sweep" forms a weather seal.

The Charley bar in question is a cheap Home Depot model. The bar is installed midway up the door and inline with the door's latch mechanism. A pin on the bracket installed on the jamb forms a hinge, while the free end of the bar rests in a bracket installed on the sliding panel. The free end of the Charley Bar lacks any sort of pin or locking mechanism.

I was able to take long piece wire, that I happened to find in the yard (I believe that it was once part of a hanging planter), straighten it out and form a slight hook on the end. By slipping the hooked end of the wire between the two panels, I was able to push aside the rubber sweep and reach the Charley Bar. With the hook, I lifted the free end of the Charley Bar while applying opening preasure on the sliding panel. It took a couple of bumps, but the bar quickly went verticle and I was able to slide the door open with minimal effort. The locking mechanism on the door is a simple thumb latch that I was able to shim with a pocket knife.

Wow..it makes me really want to do a physical security check around my home.