Can I see a show of hands- who knows the difference between a fairy tale and the truth? Well one starts off with "Once Upon a time,,,," and the other is "No 5**7 I was there!"
Well, this is the latter- before I medically retired back in 2008 I was one of the top locksmiths in the United States- and since I am over 50, the Associated Locksmiths of America ("ALOA") has decided to reinstate my rating since I paid them off!! (My ALOA number is #49952- I can be found anywhere in the world- my rating was 2558 or above out of some 100,000 locksmiths.
Locks cannot keep a determined person out. However, they can provide time for you to lock and load, call 911, and buy time until you can access the situation.
ANYHOW- I just wanted to talk a bit on your home locks, your car locks, and keys in general just so you have a head's up to save some money in repairs and slow down break ins.
1)No mater how many locks you have on your front door, if someone has a battery powered "Sawzall" they can cut the door around the lock to open it.
2)Those cheap locks at Walmart- the china crap- the metal is tempered so hard that if the door's kicked they'll shatter like glass.
3)If you are worried about the Police forcing their way in, then reverse the door so they have to pull OUT- have the door frame take the brunt of the blow from a battering ram. (Ever noticed how house doors swing IN, but commercial doors swing OUT? Its fire codes- you would think they'd make all doors swing out with house fires)
4)Check the lag bolts on the door's strike- most people are lazy and won't put in those 2" (Kwikset) or 3" (Schlage) lag bolts with the 3/16" strike plate. Consider this: if the locks not installed right, why should the insurance company pay out due to negligence? Its worth a cup of coffee to do it right isn't it?
5)Don't use graphite in locks- hands on experience has shown that WD40 is ideal for house locks and vehicle locks- and don't forget the trunk.
6)Only have locksmiths open your house door (If you've forgotten where you've hidden the spare key) and certainly ONLY have a locksmith open your car door. The reason why is tow truck drivers who have NOT been trained on how to open cars will start sticking tools down into the door and because they don't know what they're doing, start disconnecting things like rods that control the locks- so then they're paid, you drive away your windows and locks don't work. So now you're out the cost of the tow truck, AND the cost of an auto body shop to disassemble the door, reconnect all the rods, and the price can be a bit expensive.
Cheaper to do it right the first time isn't it?
7)Concerning hiding keys; if you can think of a place to hide it, so can other people. Be creative, make the bad guys work to find it.
8)Lets face it- if the bad guys wanted to work they'd have a job. Get some signs from ADT or other alarm companies and make sure it says silent alarm. Most bad guys will move to easier houses to hit.
9)Look at your keys and its fob and ask yourself the following question: "Is my car's ignition lock designed for that much weight?" Be honest- do you really need that many keys? Can you afford the $150 to $350 dollars to replace the ignition (sometimes more) just because you've got too much weight on the ignition key?
10)Replace the keyless entry battery- they usually last around 4 years before the remote needs to be replaced. One of the way's you can tell the battery is dying is first the remote works at 50 or 60 feet, then 30 to 40 feet, then 10 to 20 feet, then 2 to 8 feet, and then you see people holding the remote next to the key lock grunting "C'mon- OPEN!"
11)I don't know of any locksmith who enjoys doing lockouts- especially when you're drunk at 2:45 am on Sunday morning. To prevent lockouts, have a door key made, then drill a hole in the bow (the handle on the key is called the "Bow") then replace one of the screw/bolts that holds your license plate on with a replacement that has a flat slot in it- just the right size for a dime, or a scrap piece of steel. So you make a sandwich- frame of the car, key, then license place to cover it.
12)Since most of us have gun safes, bolt it to the CONCRETE floor using lag bolts and bolt the back of the safe to the CONCRETE wall- trust me, if done right it's almost impossible to remove. This is for your "main safe".
I suggest you get one of them inexpensive gun lockers and throw some rebar to simulate the length and weight of 8 to 10 guns. Let THEM steal it. Let THEM get pissed when they find out they've been duped.
13)If you have a worn key, have it decoded by a locksmith and have a new one issued. (This is really important for car keys because they get twice the wear and tear of a house key)
A copy of a worn key = another worn key.
14)For your gun safe, I strongly encourage you to have it looked at for maintaince at least every 3 years or so. If you think a service call to clean the lock assembly is expensive, its a minimum of $300 to open a safe that has problems. There's one gentleman named Larry Boustead who was probably the greatest safe opening guy in Western Washington. Just to talk with him on the phone started out at $1,000 and he got it- he was that good.
So, for what its worth
Well, this is the latter- before I medically retired back in 2008 I was one of the top locksmiths in the United States- and since I am over 50, the Associated Locksmiths of America ("ALOA") has decided to reinstate my rating since I paid them off!! (My ALOA number is #49952- I can be found anywhere in the world- my rating was 2558 or above out of some 100,000 locksmiths.
Locks cannot keep a determined person out. However, they can provide time for you to lock and load, call 911, and buy time until you can access the situation.
ANYHOW- I just wanted to talk a bit on your home locks, your car locks, and keys in general just so you have a head's up to save some money in repairs and slow down break ins.
1)No mater how many locks you have on your front door, if someone has a battery powered "Sawzall" they can cut the door around the lock to open it.
2)Those cheap locks at Walmart- the china crap- the metal is tempered so hard that if the door's kicked they'll shatter like glass.
3)If you are worried about the Police forcing their way in, then reverse the door so they have to pull OUT- have the door frame take the brunt of the blow from a battering ram. (Ever noticed how house doors swing IN, but commercial doors swing OUT? Its fire codes- you would think they'd make all doors swing out with house fires)
4)Check the lag bolts on the door's strike- most people are lazy and won't put in those 2" (Kwikset) or 3" (Schlage) lag bolts with the 3/16" strike plate. Consider this: if the locks not installed right, why should the insurance company pay out due to negligence? Its worth a cup of coffee to do it right isn't it?
5)Don't use graphite in locks- hands on experience has shown that WD40 is ideal for house locks and vehicle locks- and don't forget the trunk.
6)Only have locksmiths open your house door (If you've forgotten where you've hidden the spare key) and certainly ONLY have a locksmith open your car door. The reason why is tow truck drivers who have NOT been trained on how to open cars will start sticking tools down into the door and because they don't know what they're doing, start disconnecting things like rods that control the locks- so then they're paid, you drive away your windows and locks don't work. So now you're out the cost of the tow truck, AND the cost of an auto body shop to disassemble the door, reconnect all the rods, and the price can be a bit expensive.
Cheaper to do it right the first time isn't it?
7)Concerning hiding keys; if you can think of a place to hide it, so can other people. Be creative, make the bad guys work to find it.
8)Lets face it- if the bad guys wanted to work they'd have a job. Get some signs from ADT or other alarm companies and make sure it says silent alarm. Most bad guys will move to easier houses to hit.
9)Look at your keys and its fob and ask yourself the following question: "Is my car's ignition lock designed for that much weight?" Be honest- do you really need that many keys? Can you afford the $150 to $350 dollars to replace the ignition (sometimes more) just because you've got too much weight on the ignition key?
10)Replace the keyless entry battery- they usually last around 4 years before the remote needs to be replaced. One of the way's you can tell the battery is dying is first the remote works at 50 or 60 feet, then 30 to 40 feet, then 10 to 20 feet, then 2 to 8 feet, and then you see people holding the remote next to the key lock grunting "C'mon- OPEN!"
11)I don't know of any locksmith who enjoys doing lockouts- especially when you're drunk at 2:45 am on Sunday morning. To prevent lockouts, have a door key made, then drill a hole in the bow (the handle on the key is called the "Bow") then replace one of the screw/bolts that holds your license plate on with a replacement that has a flat slot in it- just the right size for a dime, or a scrap piece of steel. So you make a sandwich- frame of the car, key, then license place to cover it.
12)Since most of us have gun safes, bolt it to the CONCRETE floor using lag bolts and bolt the back of the safe to the CONCRETE wall- trust me, if done right it's almost impossible to remove. This is for your "main safe".
I suggest you get one of them inexpensive gun lockers and throw some rebar to simulate the length and weight of 8 to 10 guns. Let THEM steal it. Let THEM get pissed when they find out they've been duped.
13)If you have a worn key, have it decoded by a locksmith and have a new one issued. (This is really important for car keys because they get twice the wear and tear of a house key)
A copy of a worn key = another worn key.
14)For your gun safe, I strongly encourage you to have it looked at for maintaince at least every 3 years or so. If you think a service call to clean the lock assembly is expensive, its a minimum of $300 to open a safe that has problems. There's one gentleman named Larry Boustead who was probably the greatest safe opening guy in Western Washington. Just to talk with him on the phone started out at $1,000 and he got it- he was that good.
So, for what its worth