[Voodoo]

I'm shopping for a new safe, and can't decide if I should go with another combination lock, or try an electronic lock?

Can anyone provide some real world feedback on the good, bad, and ugly of electronic locks? Are there particular types that I should be looking for, or should avoid?

[TarpleyG]

I thought about converting my safe to electronic and was highly advised against it by a trusted member of this forum. They can be easily defeated by someone with minimal knowledge and a 9 V battery. Stick to the dial with a key lock.

Greg

[CB900F]

Voodoo;

Mechanical dial locks have over 100 years of history. The pitfalls are well known, & the present quality units are very good indeed. Given proper maintainence, a good mechanical dial will provide centuries of trouble-free service. That being said, there is a lot of cheap junk in low-end 'safes' that could be upgraded by putting in an electronic & increasing the protection.

Good electronic locks do not, of course, have the history that the mechanical units do. However, to categorize all of them as being easily defeated, is entirely incorrect. I happen to have electronic on my personal safe & am very satisfied with it. But, I have one of the better S&G locks, not off-shore garbage.

Or, to put it another way, the U.S. government now specifies an electronic lock on the current field safes. It's a self generating type & is built to withstand extremely rugged use. You don't want one, they are NOT cheap.

By the way, I'm a locksmith.

900F

[Snaps]

a lock won't keep anybody out of yoru safe. Only slow them down so whatever it is you prefer to work with get that.

There's a guy I go to school with that actually as a trial opened my remington dial safe in about 2mins.

[pytron]

I'll chime in on this, as I have other threads. I'm biased as I have a GunVault Multivault deluxe. I got it because I have kids. Regular simplex locks can be easily defeated by kids (probably 8 yrs and older) via a brute force method with lots of time (just search the internet for "cracking simplex locks" if you have any doubts). That was the main reason why I went with electronic. I'd rather have a manual lock for reliability's sake but I like the convenience and features of electronic. And with the weakness of simplex locks I couldn't justify it. If I didn't have kids I would get a simplex.

-Pytron

[CB900F]

Pytron;

Are referring to Simplex as a brand name, or as a type of lock? Just curious, as there is a mechanical push-button lock that is named 'SIMPLEX'.

900F

[Kharn]

Currently, US Govt safes are locked by an electronic lock, but its similar to a mechanical dial. You spin it 3 times to charge/activate it, then it selects a random number to start on. You spin to your combination, and the chip measures the angular velocity of the dial, if its too regular (indicating a motor spinning it), the lock shuts down. Breaking such a lock would be a very, very complicated task, as you cant just brute-force it as with a combo dial. But you'll pay out the rear for such a lockset for a personal safe.

Kharn

[pytron]

Are referring to Simplex as a brand name, or as a type of lock? Just curious, as there is a mechanical push-button lock that is named 'SIMPLEX'.
I'm not sure but I assume it is a brand-name like Kleenex. The locks I refer to are the mechanical 5 push-button models. Very popular on college campuses for doorways, but also found on occassional gun safes.

Extremely easy to defeat in a brute force manner if you have a little time.

-Pytron

[Highpower1]

combo lock, only way to go