Euro Profile Cylinder locks not safe

Fromexperience

moon_man wrote: »

without advertising anyone's lock!!

west yorkshire police state that at least 20% of all burglaries use the snapping method (moving up very quickly estimates are now at 30%) you can find this yourself on the west yorksire police site

As for it requiring skill or being noisy try doing it yourself (irwin molegrips from screwfix are all you need)

Interestingly the police believe the growth is a lot to do with car theft, whereby the thief gains easy entry to your house to get your car keys!

this is a real problem and it is quick, easy and growing!

moonrakerz wrote: »

...........so if I leave my car keys on a hook outside of the front door that should reduce the chances of my house being burgled quite considerably !!

I totally agree with moon man. Both my sons have been burgled using the mole grip method in the Leeds area. The first was last year, during the day and through patio doors. The second was at the weekend at 3 in the morning in order to steal his car. The police said he might as well left the door unlocked as far as criminals are concerned as they are dealing with an epidemic of this type of break-in. My son had just moved into the house and had not listened to his brother. We all think it will not happen to us.

I find the comment by moonrakerz unworthy of this forum

moonrakerz

Fromexperience wrote: »

I find the comment by moonrakerz unworthy of this forum

I find a comment like that in a first post equally "unworthy" - and extremely po-faced !

nordberg

Fromexperience wrote: »

I totally agree with moon man. Both my sons have been burgled using the mole grip method in the Leeds area. The first was last year, during the day and through patio doors. The second was at the weekend at 3 in the morning in order to steal his car. The police said he might as well left the door unlocked as far as criminals are concerned as they are dealing with an epidemic of this type of break-in. My son had just moved into the house and had not listened to his brother. We all think it will not happen to us.

I find the comment by moonrakerz unworthy of this forum

I had an attempted burglary in Horsforth using the above method a few weeks ago. I disturbed the culprit and chased him off... Replaced the Euro lock with an Avocette anti-snap and a Hoppe anti-tamper handle.

vax2002

I have a very very large springer spaniel that is as nutty as a fruit cake , if anyone wants to open the door and let him out, then good luck to them, even the local chavs cross the road to pass the house.
We were regularly burgled, since we got "Numpty " as the misses calls him we have had 4 years free of burglars, although someone did leave a nice torch, one glove and tool roll one night when I let him out after getting us out of bed. That must have been some fence jumping champion...They did not even wait to be greeted
It took us a week to get the glove from the dog, I think he was keeping of for forensic purposes.
However on Locks, they are only as good as the guy sent to defeat it.

Fromexperience

moonrakerz wrote: »

I find a comment like that in a first post equally "unworthy" - and extremely po-faced !

Name calling now, enough said.

timmmers

Makes me smile reading all this talk of locks, I used to know a guy who absolutely loved UVPC because he was a burglar/junkie and the run of the mill UVPC door is so easy to enter without even considering tuching the lock...why bother when a whole panel can be removed in a minute with no sound and very simple tools? He showed me on a neighbour's door, and we were amazed because what he said was soo obvious. He also pointed out that it was easy to see from the street which doors were easy, some have seals running round panels that a decent stanley will walk through...leaving the lock redundant.

As the locksmith already said, no lock is foolproof...but some make people go find easier places to break into. It is a bit like the guys running from a lion when one stops to put trainers on and his mate shouts "You don't think you can outrun it in trainers do you?" , the guy with his trainers on passes him and says "Nope, but I only need to outrun you" .

Beardy_P

UKWoody has some good advice but burglaries at larger properties are usually planned and scoped in advance now. My mate in Wolverhampton lives in posh outskirts and both he and his neigbour have been done by planned breakins. Previously I have recovered from his huge garden a very long carving knife (1inch wide, long blade) that had been modified for breaking into houses and cars.

His neigbour; they came in during the night to take the BMW and VW van keys, they were asleep and did'nt hear a thing till the VW started up.
My mate had just fitted the latest in UPVC patios with allegedly high security locks - police and DG company don't know how they opened the patio during the day, I suspect bumping. They didn't take much because the dog locked in the kitchen made such a row they thought the neigbours would hear.

Personally I've always lived in the poorer places, where properties are sometimes "steamed" and had kids just smash the doors or windows to get in. Double locking the front and back doors has prevented them from easily taking away larger items though. A dog is definitely the best defence, but not infallible.

smugbear2007

I traded as a locksmith for a year back in 2009 and you would be scared how easy it is to gain access to upvc style euro cylinders.

bumping- is possible but too much bloody messing about and not v professional.
but an electronic pick gun will open any euro lock within a minute if you practice enough so I would recommend multi t locks dimple which are much harder to pick (15mins). anti pick locks that are advertised are a joke. these are as easy to pick as others.
but the most rife way of gaining entry is with a eurosnapper which simply breaks the lock in half so anti snap locks are definately recommended. the bumping technique is a bit hit and miss on different locks. it can go wrong because the cut of the key sometimes is forced behind a pin that locks the key in the lock and you cant get the !!!!!! out so only a muppet would bump a lock(locksmith or thief). but snapping is a serious problem as your average dead head can gain access to ANY euro lock by spending 80 quid on a euro snapper.

smugbear2007

a1locksmiths_llanelli wrote: »

Hi, as long as you have a euro cylinder lock that is atleast 5mm in set into the handle and you have an anti snap cylinder you will be fine.
Now although the lock states anti snap it will snap but not all the way through thus enabling you to still use your key.

Locksmiths like my self do come acrross these locks on a daily basis, i am not going to say how to over come them but a trademan can defeat this kind of lock in know time.

Now most Euro Cylinders are terrible and are fitted by window and door companys stateing that they are safe.

Invest in a good Anti Snap Cylinder and you should be fine.

everything stated by this guy is correct. anti snap higher end stuff fitted correctly is the best way to go

MathewJ

smugbear2007 wrote: »

everything stated by this guy is correct. anti snap higher end stuff fitted correctly is the best way to go

1st of all bumping is a lot slower and more planned than lock snapping - why bump a lock with pre cut keys when you can just snap it in 13 seconds with a moll grip and a screwdriver?

All the locks below are BS rated/kitemarked and TS007 1 or 3 star rated. Anti pick, anti bump, anti drill, anti snap - the whole lot.

Please bear in mind that the BS rating is actually quite easy to obtain - the hard task in the modern world is the TS007 1/2/3 star rating - and the ultimate is the independent/non profit 'Sold Secure' Diamond rating given by the Police Commissioners and the Master Locksmiths Association for lock/chains/security products. (Bronze/silver/gold/diamond standards) As police and master locksmiths tend to know more about lock design than someone working for British Standards. The BS Kitemark is a starting point if that makes sense?

I agree with the spirit of what he said - however the euro lock does not want to be 5mm 'in set' into the handle - that would make operating the lock a real pain... and impossible as most keys have 'shoulders' and will not penetrate deep enough into the lock if the handle is hiding the eurolock face.

Your lock face should be as flush as possible with your handles - the maximum projection should be 5mm - if it's more than 5mm then you need to down size the cylinder.

It's all about reducing the amount of exposed lock/metal for someone to apply torque to - and snap it with basic tools.

The exterior side is obviously the most critical, and we have to assume the handles will be ripped off in seconds unless you are using the TS007 2 star handles (they are thicker and 'prouder' than most uPVC handles - so again they need measuring before ordering your new lock/handles)

The easiest option is to go for a 3 star euro anti snap cylinder - not cheap, but totally the last word in euro locks.

ABS / Avocet make one in all sizes and they can be keyed alike to your garage door half cylinders and rim locks (Yale night latches)
In my opinion - the most tested/used/sold 3 star cylinder so far, Avocet now have new owners with serious muscle - so the brand and product has good protection for future servicing etc.

Mul-T-Lock have just launched a 3 star cylinder but they are a bit too expensive for domestic use - approx £50+ inc Vat each.

UAP are launching a 3 star cylinder - but their history in the lock industry is a little concerning, budget / Chinese stuff - and if it goes wrong you are hung dry.

Yale have a 3 star cylinder in development but probably not ready for another 3-5 months in the UK, they do have a BS 1 star cylinder which is good value for £20 and is a handy upgrade from 95% of the total rubbish currently fitted in uPVC doors in the UK.