c/truth-in-locks

I finally caught my neighbor using a bobby pin on my gate lock at 2 AM last Tuesday

Woke up to my dog barking like crazy. Looked out the window and saw the guy from two doors down hunched over my padlock with a bobby pin. He didn't even try to hide it when I yelled. Said he lost his keys and thought my gate was unlocked. The lock is a cheap Master lock I got for $8 at Home Depot last year. It held for maybe 10 seconds before he got it open. That's the issue right? People think these locks are actual security when they're just for show. Has anyone else had a neighbor or random person mess with a lock on your property?

My neighbor finally showed me why my gate lock kept failing

I had this padlock on my backyard gate that kept getting stuck in the rain. My neighbor Bob saw me fighting with it last Tuesday and said "you're using a residential lock on a commercial gate, that's your problem." He pointed out how the cheap zinc body was swelling in the moisture. I swapped it for a brass bodied lock from the hardware store for $12, and it has worked smooth through the last three storms. Has anyone else had a lock fail because of something simple like the wrong metal for the weather?

Why does nobody talk about how easy it is to rake Kwikset locks with a cheap Bogota pick?

I was messing around with a $8 set of picks I bought off Amazon last Tuesday, just to see if I could open my own front door lock. Everyone online always says Kwikset is garbage, but I thought that was just lock snobs being dramatic. Turns out, I had that thing open in under 10 seconds on my first try. I found a video from a guy named BosnianBill that broke down exactly why the wafers are so soft and the pin stacks are shallow. Has anyone else had a similar wake up call about how bad some common locks really are?

Shoutout to the self storage place off Highway 99 near Sacramento

I parked my truck there last month to keep an eye on it and caught the manager using a butter knife to pop open a locker that supposedly had a broken lock. Has anyone else seen storage places with locks that are basically a joke?

My neighbor the retired cop showed me how to bump a Kwikset in 4 seconds flat

He did it with just a bump key and a screwdriver right there on my front door when I mentioned my lock was getting sticky, and now I'm wondering if I should upgrade to something that can't be opened by a guy on YouTube and a $3 piece of metal, has anyone else dealt with this realization about their own house?

Used to think cheap padlocks were fine for my storage unit, now I know better

About two years ago I had a storage unit in Portland where I kept a bunch of old tools and camping gear. I used a $5 Master lock padlock on it cause I figured nobody would bother with a unit in the back corner. Came back one Sunday and the whole hasp was snapped like a twig, lock still closed but totally useless. Someone just pried the whole thing off the door frame and grabbed a few boxes. Insurance didn't cover squat cause the lock was considered too weak for the unit type. Now I spend at least $25 on a decent disc lock with a hardened shackle and I check the hasp bolts are recessed too. Anyone else notice storage places don't warn you about the lock standards until after something happens?

That lock on the storage unit popped open when I sneezed near it

Was moving stuff to a storage place in Phoenix last month. Had this cheap combo lock on the unit, one of those disc ones from a gas station. I walked past it, sneezed, and heard a click. The shackle just swung open. Nobody touched it, I didn't bump it. Just my sneeze did it. Now I check every lock I own by giving it a light tap first. Has anyone else had a lock just fail from barely any movement at all?

Did you know most master locks share the same 3 pins?

Rant: my car door lock froze solid at a rest stop in Nebraska last week

I was driving through Nebraska last Tuesday and stopped at a rest area near Grand Island. When I came back out, my driver side door lock was completely frozen shut. I tried my key, I tried heating it with my breath (stupid, I know), nothing worked. I ended up having to climb through the passenger side, which was a joke because I had bags piled up on that seat. After messing with it for 20 minutes, I remembered an old trick my dad showed me - rubbing alcohol on the key before inserting it. I poured a tiny bit from a travel bottle into the lock and it freed up in about 30 seconds. Has anyone else dealt with frozen locks in random places like this, or do you guys carry something more advanced than cheap hand sanitizer for emergencies?

Gym locker popped open when I dropped my keys last Saturday

I was at Planet Fitness in Springfield, finishing up my workout, and I dropped my keys on the floor near my locker. The lock was just a standard combination lock I bought at Walmart for like 6 bucks. When the keys hit the ground, the lock actually popped open on its own. I stood there for a second not believing it. I picked up the lock and closed it again, then gave the body a decent tap with my knuckle. It popped right open again. That little brass lock was so cheap the internal mechanism barely held. I walked over to the front desk and showed the guy working, and he just shrugged. Now I use a Master Lock with a disk tumbler and I test every new lock I buy before I trust it with anything. Anyone else have a lock just fail from a basic drop or knock?

My $2 shed lock got picked clean in 15 seconds flat

I figured the cheap combination lock on my garden shed was fine since nobody targets sheds. Then some kid on a bike walked up, jiggled it twice, and pulled the shackle right out like it was butter. I timed it on my phone. 15 seconds from him touching it to walking off with an old lawnmower. Took me longer to unlock it with the code. Now I'm wondering if any budget lock under $10 is even worth buying, or if I should just bolt the door shut entirely. Anyone else seen those wafer locks fall apart that fast?