Today I was reading lock related periodicals as I am wont to do when time weighs heavily and I came across some interesting information regarding masterlock. Nobody thinks of this company as producing anything that could be called high security as everybody knows somebody that can open their combination locks using a pop can or by listening to the clicks and writing down numbers and doing a small amount of number crunching.
Apparently masterlock did a study on bumpkeying locks and figured out a way to prevent it. Unfortunately the changes they made to their locks make it even easier to pick them. You can turn the plug after setting 3 of the 4 pins! They have always been easy to impression as well. The silly part is that their locks are now being marketed as “high security” and “ultra security” at Home Depot even now. Of course, none of this will stop anybody who has a $35 bolt cutter found farther down the store a few aisles, or even a digging bar that will fit in the shackle.
The best security against bumpkeying to my knowledge without buying better locks is to retrofit your locks with higher tension springs and spool pins or serrated pins. These won’t stop bumpkeying but they will require about ten more taps which is enough to make burglars think twice in the middle of the night. A well-lubricated Kwikset lock with no security pins only requires one or two taps, for comparison’s sake.
