Padlocks

ghostlymoron

ghostlymoron

Well-Known Member
Joined
9 Apr 2005
Messages
9,889
Location
Shropshire
Visit site
I've just read the latest PBO test on combination padlocks. I've always thought these a good idea as keys often seem to be in the wrong place. Eg at home when you want to give a workman access.
However none of them stood up to Ben's test tank very well although this is much more brutal than actual boat conditions. I've got a motley collection of key operated ones on lockers and hatches varying from cheap Chinese to Masterlocks. I find that frequent lubrication with 3 in 1 keeps them free.
 
What surprised me about the article was not so much the corrosion resistance, which in most cases was pretty good, but how easily Ben was able to cut through them with a hacksaw even though bolt croppers could not. The results definitely bear out the YM Crash Boat findings that a hacksaw on board may be the best way to cut away rigging in the event of a dismasting.
 
This may be cnyical of me, but I think the idea of a padlock is not to stop a determined thief but to stop a casual one and to demonstrate to one's insurers that there was a padlock there...

I get along with a battery of cheap Plastimo brass ones which all have the same key.
 
Agreed! Padlocks are just to deter casual theft. I once went over to work on my boat and got there to find I'd forgotten that key. (Boat at Dartmouth, home at shrewsbury). It took me a couple of minutes to hacksaw it off. Even with a rim lock or similar you can soon kick the main hatch in and effect entry which leaves far more damage.
 
Minn said:
...a padlock is not to stop a determined thief but to stop a casual one...I get along with a battery of cheap Plastimo brass ones which all have the same key.
Click to expand...

Agreed on both counts, we use a combination lock on the companionway -
£5/£10ish, but under the sprayhood so it seems to keep going; the torch comment's important though. Anything stronger/more expensive is really just wasting money, I've seen very few yachts whose locked companionway doors/washboards couldn't be opened with a single swift kick.

Additionally, for cockpit lockers, dink and stuff, we've found those Plastimos to be the most long lasting of the reasonably priced ones; they seem able to shrug-off with the occassional dunking in seawater
 
I recall a discussion during a visit to CHUBB.

NO padlock is secure.
The 'traditional' types (those with a U-shaped hasp: insert a strong metal bar and lever it off.
Those with a combination: at 1 second per digit, a 3-digit model can be opened in a quarter of an hour... if you are very unlucky.
Those with a rectangular body and a straight sliding bar are the easiest of all: there is a zone in the brass body that is paper-thin... literally! All one needs is a thin sharp point, even an old hat-pin.

Just get the bulkiest that you can reasonably fit and hope for the best, making sure that no 'attractive' items are visible from the outside.
 
Minn said:
This may be cnyical of me, but I think the idea of a padlock is not to stop a determined thief but to stop a casual one and to demonstrate to one's insurers that there was a padlock there...

I get along with a battery of cheap Plastimo brass ones which all have the same key.
Click to expand...

Plus one.... They are very good, and don't need much maintenance, mine are 12 years old...
 
ghostlymoron said:
I've just read the latest PBO test on combination padlocks. I've always thought these a good idea as keys often seem to be in the wrong place. Eg at home when you want to give a workman access.
Click to expand...
I bought a set of five padlocks keyed alike for the cockpit lockers on the new boat. They came with three keys for each lock - 15 identical keys! Don't think I will ever run out.
 
Just found this article and thought I would reply both as a user of this forum and as the Technical Director at www.Padlocks.co.uk who supplied Ben with some of the locks for the test and their previous test of keyed locks in 2015.

So marine grade and high security is a constant issue for us. We supply the RNLI and most of the wind farms with their locks and hardened steel, which is difficult to cut but rusts ... whilst decent stainless steel doesn't rust but is easy to cut.

It therefore, firstly, comes down to the design of the lock... which is why the smallest lock won "best in test" in 2015 being the ABUS Discus lock, out competing the bigger hefty locks. These small ABUS discus locks are just a pain in the arse to cut off a hasp. Secondly the coating.... if you want high security then you need a hardened padlock but with very high quality coating that is well bonded to the base metal... This is not cheap if you want Abloy or ABUS Granit for example. But Abloy locks rarely fit a small hasp that we have on our boats and not all of us want to spend £100 on one lock!!!!

Anyway, those that read the article will notice that the small chrome Shield lock by a British company walked away with the best resistance to salt water. I use these on my large deck storage case. We're now working with Shield to make a Closed Shackle versions of these which will be equally saline resistant but have new design to make it really tricky to cut with bolt cutters or a saw.... I.e. like the Discus one that took Ben ages to cut in the 2015 test.

Watch this space as we'll be looking for 10-20 people to take some samples for testing when they are released in early 2018.
 
BobnLesley said:
Agreed on both counts, we use a combination lock on the companionway -
£5/£10ish, but under the sprayhood so it seems to keep going; the torch comment's important though. Anything stronger/more expensive is really just wasting money, I've seen very few yachts whose locked companionway doors/washboards couldn't be opened with a single swift kick.

Additionally, for cockpit lockers, dink and stuff, we've found those Plastimos to be the most long lasting of the reasonably priced ones; they seem able to shrug-off with the occassional dunking in seawater
Click to expand...

What gives way with the swift kick? I have a choice of washboards. The three part teak ones could maybe succumb to a large screwdriver in between the sections. The other one is a 15mm thick, one piece HDPE sheet. I think that would be very resistant to kicking.
 
Minn said:
This may be cnyical of me, but I think the idea of a padlock is not to stop a determined thief but to stop a casual one and to demonstrate to one's insurers that there was a padlock there...

I get along with a battery of cheap Plastimo brass ones which all have the same key.
Click to expand...

Another recommendation for the Plastimo 'keyed alike' padlocks, by far the most rust resistant I have ever owned
 
I had the same situation some years back in Holland, snapped the padlock shut and when we returned found I had left the keys below... Fortunately the harbourmaster had the key for the workshop and it only took 5 seconds with a junior hacksaw! It was an all brass Plastimo? padlock.
ghostlymoron said:
Agreed! Padlocks are just to deter casual theft. I once went over to work on my boat and got there to find I'd forgotten that key. (Boat at Dartmouth, home at shrewsbury). It took me a couple of minutes to hacksaw it off. Even with a rim lock or similar you can soon kick the main hatch in and effect entry which leaves far more damage.
Click to expand...
 
I have a seaworld stainless Padlock. It seems to be impervious to weather. All previous padlocks eventually succumbed to rust, even those with supposed SS hasps and brass bodies.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top