The two doors into my house have bog standard euro cylinders for locks. From what I've read these seem to be vulnerable to picking and brute force snapping them so they can be removed in bits and the door opened.
A bit of a google has pointed me in the direction of these and a couple of other types that supposedly break securely and have different pick-resistant type keys
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anyone suggest a decent type to go for , and where's the best place to buy from? It would be great if I could get a couple of locks with identical keys for both
Eurocylinders are bloody difficult to pick. Even picking a bog standard Yale type is not easy and the last thing your average burgular would bother with - or even have a clue how to do. A friend of mine is a professional escapologist and he would have trouble with a Eurocylinder.
Brure force is possible, but noisy & time consuming. All you need to do is make your house more trouble than the one next door.
Security lights, multiple locks or bolts etc. Call your local plod who should have a crime prevention section.
I agree that they are vulnerable, it's the stick out that makes them vulnerable to snapping. You can sort that by using a security escutcheon which surrounds the cylinder and bolts through the door, see the Chubb
3C14E at
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near the bottom of the page. The added advantage is that bolting through strengthens the door against splitting under force but you need to use a lock that has the holes for bolting through.
the past as I thought that big wide keyway was an invitation for scrotes to poke things in, perhaps damaging the operation or blocking the lock but otherwise I think it is a good cylinder. I used a Medeco M3 cylinder as I had a local locksmith who deals in them and I know that it is very resistant to drilling and picking, and it has a tight keyway with restricted key copying. That said, the tolerances are so tight that it can be a bugger to get the key in. Also, the thumbturn options on Medecos are (or were a couple of years ago) crap; round, bulky and difficult to grip . Cost was about the same as that Multlock.
I notice that Squire have joined the break secure camp, see
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, that's got a narrower keyway but I don't see much in the information about anti-drill or anti- pick features.
If you're happy that the security escutcheon solves the break off problem you could try Zone 1500 series cylinders which are good value and a bit of a well kept secret, 6 pin, anti-pick and anti-drill and 10-15quid a pop, see:
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keyed alike for 5quid extra
Lockshop warehouse also sell Grundmann cylinders at not bad prices and they look sound (better than Zone), also available keyed alike. They also do Evva ( E V V A btw) which are well regarded in europe but for some daft reason they only stock the lowest security 5 pin cylinder, avoid.
Picking resistance of any cylinder lock depends upon the number of pins. Five is a standard lock, but six is considered the minimum for a secure lock and seven pin cylinders are even more secure. I use the Chubb Biaxial locks, which have seven pins, which need to be aligned both in height and in rotation. As mentioned in another post, a security escutcheon overcomes the problem of putting a large wrench on the lock and breaking it.
Smash the cylinder, does this replace bump keys as the threat of the day?
I don't know about locks, but people from other countries have spoken about how all our locks look weak, and they were used to lock that have pins on multiple axis. I've still never heard of a burglary where they didn't come through the cheapo double glazing though.
If you have a wooden door fit a lever lock, the chubb 114's take even a locksmith with the right tool several minutes to open. Pin tumbler locks are generaly trivial to open. You can get a set of bump keys for £30 that allow someone with no skill at all to open 90 odd percent of eurolocks on domestic houses in this country in a few seconds. Spend a bit more and you also get one to open the mul-t-lock you were looking at. Bump keys are like skeleton keys and as there is no visable sign of a break in you might not be covered by your insurance, you might even think you forgetfully neglected to lock up. Probably your best bet to resist manipulating the lock open would be as someone mentioned a Chubb/Medeco M3 for £40 to £50. I got a quote for an Abloy Protec for £110 but I couldnt justify it, as nice a lock as it is.
If you have a PVC door and want to resist ripping the lock out you need a high security door handle, ask a locksmith for advise. I had a quote of > £100 but it wouldnt have fitted my stupid lock casing any way.
If you have a PVC door and are worried about someone quietly opening the lock while you are asleep then fit sash jammers as secondary locking, I wouldnt be without mine :). Its also nice to leave the multipoint lock open sometimes and just lock it on the sash jammer during the day. Search "sash jammer" on ebay!
The shortest euro cylinders are about the 70mm mark so with most wooden doors at about 50mm you will have stick out. The security escutcheon also stops people digging around the cylinder to make it easier to attack with tools. Whatever thickness the door I'd get a cylinder long enough to accommodate a security escutcheon.
I'll also add that I personally wouldn't rely on a euro for primary security I'd use a BS lever BS mortice for that, Chubb 3U114E or Union J-2134E if on a budget. Mortice at knee height, euro at shoulder height (roughly).
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