>If someone is determined and willing, there really is nothing you can do to stop them from breaking into your house.
Yes and no. If someone desperately wants to rob you, and precisely you, then yeah they will most likely be able to break in. However that doesn't mean we should make it easy for them. The longer it takes to bypass my lock and security, the more noise they make, the more destruction they leave behind the more likely it is that someone will notice them and call the cops. The more likely it is that they leave something behind that can be used to trace them, etc.
The bigger reason to get quality locks is that criminals often target places with weak security, because hitting those location is easy. A burglar for example will usually case out a location they're targeting to figure out what they need to bring for the actual burglarly. Now if I have SuperArmorMax extra secure lock that takes the burglar an hour to bypass with power tools, but my neighbor has an aluminum smartlock that can be bypassed in 5 seconds with a regular drill, which do you think the burglar will target?
Sure they could also break windows, or try other more destructive entry methods, but those are much louder and rouse more suspoicions from other people. You want to be quick and minimize the time you spend doing something shady.
And again, you shouldn't make things easy just because a determined attacker can get through it, at least make them work for it.
> the vast majority of locks are only used for keeping honest people honest.
No the point is that if your house is locked, that it will make the burglar try your neighbor's house which is unlocked. Or they'll just throw a rock through your window.
For $330 I would expect rake and bump resistance at least, though, that isn't rocket science.
> There are already so many ways to defeat locks, that locks are just there to keep honest people honest and to slow down criminals.
If you live at a lower end apartment complex, you might be shocked at how many doors your key will unlock, if you apply a light turning pressure and thrust the key in and out a few times.
I know I was. But it came in handy when one of my xmas gifts had been delivered to the front office, and I needed to pick it up after hours in order to make a redeye flight the next morning. I just used my own room key to open the office (setting off the alarm!), grabbed the package with my name on it, and closed and relocked the door and was gone before anyone investigated.
> But attacking the lock is the last thing a smart or determined person will do.
I think that is contextual. In a whole lot of apartment buildings, the windows into the apartment are inaccessible from the outside. The door frame is metal, so kicking down the door would wake half the apartment building. Without a lock on the door, anybody who got into the building (generally easy) could silently enter any unoccupied apartment and nobody would know it. But with a good lock, nearly every would-be thief who can't pick locks will go someplace else.
>Isn't the point of a lock just to keep honest people honest? I mean you can buy the world's sturdiest, more secure lock and attach it to the world's strongest door, someone with a hammer can easily break a window.
In my home, the locks and windows (laminated glass[0]) are hard enough to break that when you attempt to do so I have time to ready my firearm. Something like this would potentially allow someone to sneak up more quickly and perhaps undetected. When my family isn't home I don't really care if you break into my house, insurance will cover the loss.
> you don't really think your front door lock will keep someone out that really want in, right?
I recently had the - unfortunate - opportunity to put this to the test. The house I live in has the highest grade burglary protection that you can still buy for normal money (courtesy of the previous owner). It still only took me 35 minutes to break into it when I accidentally closed the door behind me when there was nobody else home. This kind of surprised me, because I didn't have access to any tools at all, just the stuff that was laying around in the garden (some sticks and a little bit of steel wire). And all that without breaking anything, if that constraint would not have been there the 35 minutes would have been reduced to 30 seconds, tops.
Later I figured out three other ways to get in without any damage, but most of those would have cost a bit more time.
> it is often stated that locks are not for honest people, but to keep dishonest people out.
The saying goes the other way: "Locks are for honest people", implying that criminals aren't deterred by locks, and will just break a window if they want to get in.
> There are many ways in which your door lock can be opened or broken.
I once locked myself out of the house and called a locksmith to let me back in. He didn't even touch the lock, he just reached through the letterbox with a lever and operated the handle from the inside. I felt a bit stupid paying him to do it really, because I could totally have done that myself if only I'd thought of the idea, but of course that's easy to say once you've seen how it's done.
> A solid door should not have this type of lock in the US.
Why not? Someone smashes a window, crawls through it, walks around to unlock the main door, through which the burglars unload your stuff. It’s a lot harder to move things through windows.
> With standard locks, a thief can quickly and easily gain access without the homeowner knowing.
Too true. Especially cheap ones with tumblers only on one side. In [more than] one of my old apartments I remember having to sit at the mailbox picking the lock so I could open it and replace it because the previous tenants left with all of the mail keys.
It was funny to have people walk in and just say hello as if nothing was happening. "It could have been your mailbox. I just entered mine with my girlfriends bobby pin while you were standing there. Somehow yours is never vulnerable." Of course I wouldn't say that— but oh that I would... ;P
>> Since then I've thought of locks more like deterrent than bulletproof security.
Remember, a rock to the window will get someone into your house. A bolt cutter will take off small padlocks. So yes, most locks are there to protect from the casual or opportunistic thief. That doesn't mean we don't need the of course.
> What stops someone breaking glass or a panel and reaching through and unlocking to get in quickly if you can open without a key?
I suppose this can be avoided by not having any windows close enough to your doorknob that you could reach the lock from them. But people could just break a window and climb through into your house, anyway.
> Since then I've thought of locks more like deterrent than bulletproof security.
To be fair most american houses are built such that a reasonably burly person could punch through the wall. I’ve seen friends leave big holes in the wall just from falling down some stairs. Glass windows also are easy to get through.
The problem with lock-picking is that it doesn’t leave signs of a break-in.
Probably a criminal who is trying to be quiet, so they can enter your house.
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