Padlock: what to look for when choosing

What kind of items to protect your home today you will not find on the shelves of stores! But the easiest type of fastening is a padlock. To install it you probably will not need accuracy, special skills and tools. And in everyday use, you do not need special skills - turning the key, and there are no obstacles to access. But this method of protection has one big drawback - low level of protection of the home from burglary. Today this type of protection is used everywhere: for locking suitcases, for storing garden utensils in the barn, and for basements. Traditional locks of this type have semicircular arcs that are inserted into special brackets, one of which is fixed on the door itself and the other on the door jamb.

Characteristics of the lock

Any property protection tool has several useful properties, which consumers pay attention to when choosing:

1. Reliability, that is, the ability of the lock to function normally during a certain number of key turns (the most perfect instances withstand hundreds of thousands of turns, and the worst variants are only a few thousand locking-unlocking).
2. Antivandalism - the ability to resist the desire of intruders to enter the house.
3. Replacement of the secret part - the cost of manufacturing the key directly depends on the quality of the lock: the higher it is, the more reliable the lock.
4. The speed to the opening - the best manufacturers of locks usually indicate such information.

Types of padlocks, depending on the material of manufacture

• The most common type of padlocks and the least reliable is the aluminum version.
• Brass options are able to hold out in a critical situation slightly more than their counterparts.
• More reliable are cast iron protective structures, but with strong frosts and they become brittle.
• Analogues with the steel case, perhaps, are the best choice: it's best to lock the hinged lock from hacking. The price, of course, will also differ from all others in the big party. Even better, if you acquire a lock with a locking finger, then it will be almost impossible to reach it with a hacksaw.

Analogues of padlocks

A study was conducted that revealed that the padlock is much easier to break than the bill of lading or mortise lock. To overcome this obstacle, the thief will only need scrap and a strong desire to cope with the obstacle. Of course, manufacturers are trying to improve everything, improving security properties. For example, in the market there are steel and even cast-iron analogues of a special shape, which protects the padlock from the hacksaw. But still, the number of unauthorized penetrations, unfortunately, only increases.

The fact is that padlocks with one key have their Achilles heel - it's a keyhole. To cope with it, you need a master key, but a professional needs only a few seconds to cope with this obstacle. And if the lock hangs on the door, it is not worth it to break the structure with a crowbar, a sledgehammer or an ordinary cobblestone. Unfortunately, a padlock is unlikely to protect your property from theft. If your goal is security, it is better to choose the electronic version of the lock.