Stanley Hardened Steel Padlock

Padlocks are the first line of defense between your valuable items and a pair of curious or devious hands that you might not want touching your goods. Padlocks are made of many types of metals, but generally, a carbide or alloy steel lock is the most durable metal and should be something you want to make sure you get in order to maximize the security you’re receiving.

Padlocks come in a wide range of sizes, from tiny locks designed to secure your luggage while you travel to heavy-duty locks that are used to secure doors or fences that might need a beefier padlock.

“With regards to heavy-duty padlocks, think ‘bigger is better,’ says Vicki Liston, writer, producer, and narrator of “On The Fly…DIY,” an award-winning home improvement and DIY show of unique project tutorials for the casual DIY’er.  “The same goes for the number of pins.  The more pins in a lock, the harder it is to pick so a six-pin model will be more secure than its five-pin counterpart.”

One feature that some padlocks have is a freely rotating shackle that removes typical weak spots found in spring-loaded padlocks, which are susceptible to being drilled into as a means of breaking the lock. The models with the freely rotating shackle will still need to be made from high strength steel and sometimes they come in coatings like chrome that help them resist outdoor and marine environments.

If the ultimate security of your padlock is the highest priority to you, look for heavy-duty models that will get you into a territory that makes them much harder for a thief to break. New technology in battery-power has introduced a difficult challenge for padlocks because thieves can be armed with rotary cutting tools that operate with a small battery, allowing them to have a pocket-sized tool that can cut through a lot of metals. This means that the weakest spot in many padlocks is simply the thinnest section of the lock, which is the shackle part that actually goes through the hardware that it is locking to. This can be combatted by using a round padlock that has a very small exposed shackle part that is mostly covered by the body of the padlock and also the hardware it’s attached to. These round padlocks are one of the most secure padlocks due to this design feature, assuming they are made with high-strength metals. An added benefit to the round padlock is that it can eliminate the use of internal springs, meaning a drill won’t be effective at breaking the lock by itself.

If you’re looking for even more security, you would want to find a lock that can’t be bumped open.

“Bumping is not only an effective break-in method for door locks — it can work on padlocks as well,” says Liston. “Bumping requires a special key and a mallet which ‘bumps’ the inner pins to realign to the special key’s shape and thus, unlocks with ease.”

• Choose a padlock that is the right size for your needs. A longer shackle is necessary in some cases when you need to span a couple of inches. A shorter shackle is harder to break open, though, so if you can fit a lock with a shorter shackle you will enhance the security of the lock.
• If your lock will be outdoors, focus on materials that withstand the elements.
• If you are attaching the lock to a chain, get the chain as taut as possible so there is no unnecessary slack. Slack in the chain makes it easier to manipulate and lessens the security.
• Padlocks can have combinations or physical keys. Combination locks are handy when there are multiple people who need to use the lock since keys can be easily misplaced.