Recommended Secure Lock Brands

The question you have to ask yourself is not how good a lock you should purchase, but how strong the locker it is being used on is...

Don't go out and buy a $50 dollar padlock to use on a sheet metal locker because someone with a large enough screwdriver could twist it right off without even opening it...

If you are this paraniod, you shouldn't be keeping things in the locker you are being allowed use of, as it is not your property and is subject to serach by the school or business on whose premises it is located and you do not have any rights to nor should you have any expectation of privacy when you are using a locker...

If this is some kind of storage locker, insuring the well documented contents and installing an alarm will do more for you than buying the fanciest most secure lock on the market, as someone will come along and find a way in without opening the lock at all... That shiny secure lock will attract unwanted attention from the kind of people you seem to want to avoid... A "good" lock on the door = GOOD STUFF inside it...

Good Luck with your padlock shopping...

Evan, ~~ formerly a maintenance man, now a college student...

American makes some nice shielded shackle models. A lot of really strong padlocks are going to have too large of a shackle diameter to work on a locker. If this is a storage locker your best bet is an Abus discus.

"ykgoh" snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@b68g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...

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You can't find an adequately secure lock until you clearly determine what "adequately secure" means in this particular instance. Part of that is looking at other attack vectors and assigning some level of risk of each. For instance, if the locker has hinges that are easily removed, your lock needn't be any more secure than the amount of effort to remove the hinges. Why spend $100 on a lock if I can drill the rivets holding the hasp on in a minute and replace them with pop-rivets as soon as I'm done going through your things? You also have to consider whether your primary notion of security is deterence or prevention. Even a cheap lock provides quite a bit of deterence - especially if it is likely that other lockers nearby probably don't have a lock on them at all. On the prevention side, you have to consider whether the person you are trying to prevent from getting in to your locker is making the attempt because it is convenient (i.e., they have access to the area and no one else happens to be around) or because they have specific reason to want to get into your locker because it is *your* locker. You also have to consider whether you are only concerned about someone getting in that is trying to hide the fact, even from you, that they've been in or someone that doesn't care if it is obvious to the world that the locker was broken into less than five minutes ago. Also keep in mind, especially if you don't own the locker, that the owner of the locker has probably reserved the right to open the locker with or without your permission and the locker may have features that permit the owner to bypass your lock entirely to do so. Another thing to consider is whether one of the attacks you want to protect yourself from is a search warrant. When all is said and done, it comes back to my original point - you can't find an adequately secure lock until you clearly determine what "adequately secure" means in this particular instance.

Yes, there is a standard that you can use to rate various locks but most manufacturers don't print their qualifications on the package. The standard is ANSI/ASTM F883 and I think the latest version was 2004 or

2005. Call the manufacturer to determine where their lock rates, 1 is lowest, 6 is highest, and there are 5 or 6 categories of attack that are rated as well as environmental tests in that standard.

I would suggest that a more secure padlock can always be found at a locksmith instead of the retail consumer oriented places you have been visiting. There are many padlocks in the commercial marketplace that are designed to accept a door hardware compatible cylinder which means you can use a high security one that has UL437 listing, (another standard). There are also shrouded versions available which make the shackle inaccessible and there is always the padlock that doesn't have a visible shackle, typically referred to as a 'hockey puck'.

Just remember, the padlock is >

You got some good advice here!

I wouldn't too much on a securty lock for a locker! There is absolutely no need to pick the lock at all! They can be popped open easily by any teenager! A lock on a locker is only meant to keep honest people honest. It has no deterence to some one that really wants to get in your locker. No need for torches or explosives, just a heavy duty screwdriver!

If you really want to throw some thing up thats cheap and difficult to pick, go to walmart and buy a small shrouded Brinks lock ($12). It's actually very good quality and not so easy to pick. The average picker would have trouble with it. It would take them at least 5 minutes probably longer. Any one with even less experience would take them days! This is the reason why most thieves do not pick locks, there are many easier and faster ways to gain entrance. But any level of security is better then no security.