If You Find Out How Easy it is to Open Any Cheap Locks, You’d Be Scared

To keep your belongings safe, you’d have to be one step ahead of potential robbers. One of the best ways to prevent criminals from committing crime is by outsmarting them even before they get near what they want to take from you. You have to invest in devices that will effectively deter crime.

Security gadgets range from the technologically advanced (surveillance systems and motion detectors) to Old School (alarms and locks).

The lock is easily the most common security device. However, people seem to have fallen into the “false security” trap when it comes to locks.

People think that all locks are equally effective in securing valuables. Most of us go to the hardware store and buy just any lock we see…usually the cheapest one. We think these locks are enough to keep everything safe so we can sleep at night without worrying that somebody might break in and take our valuables.

Well, it’s been proven that cheap locks are actually not as secure as we’d like to think.

A man who goes by the moniker Bosnian Bill has been doing a series of YouTube tutorials on picking locks. The series is called Bosnian Bill’s Lock Lab. He’s managed to open locks using a variety of unexpected objects.

A zip tie can do the job in seconds.

A bamboo skewer takes about a minute.

A cat food can lid fashioned into a “fake key” does the job, too.

If Bosnian Bill’s tutorials have taught us anything, it’s the fact that choosing the right lock involves much more than buying something that’s cheap or something that looks nice. Consult a locksmith and ask which lock is best for your needs. Subject your chosen lock to a “stress test.” Make sure that it won’t be easily opened.

EnlightenMe’s “Tips for Choosing Padlocks” also offers a tip that should be your first consideration. You have to pay attention to the material that your lock is made of. The article notes: “Steel padlocks are somewhat stronger than brass as steel is a harder metal. So if you padlock is somewhere that may be vulnerable to burglars, steel should be your choice because it can more easily withstand cutting and prying.”

Bottom line: It pays to invest in a high quality lock.