Your trusted source for locks, security, and lockpicking

LockPickingLawyers best of – by LockJudge

We have gone through the LockPickingLawyers videos and although he doesn’t endorse any particular locks, typical lawyer, we put together lists of locks that he speaks positively about and the ones he says he would use himself.

About LockJudge

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LockJudge was created as a trusted source of information for locks, security, and lockpicking by the lockpicking community.

Our Mission

To share valuable knowledge with the general public about the security of locks, with a second goal to serve as a knowledge source for lock pickers.

Helping Improve Security for Everyone

LockJudge exists to help people buy the best locks and security products available. There are many sub-quality security products out there that are recommended when they should not be. 

As a part of the lockpicking community, we want to ensure that the lock industry is moving forward and this will only be done by helping consumers buy high-quality locks. Creating an incentive for manufacturers to create better higher-quality locks.

We are trying to improve an industry that is hundreds of years old that still has major flaws that are repeated over and over. 

Many locks sold today can be opened in seconds due to security and manufacturing flaws

The only way this can be improved is by changing the buying habits of the public, and the only way we can do that is to show them the best products to buy and educate them so they can make better buying decisions in the future.

This is what we do, we find locks that are innovative and forward-thinking in an industry of denial and inferior products.

Locks and Security

Security is a topic that many people don’t think a lot about until it’s too late. It’s easy to buy a cheap lock and then never think about it again until someone is in your home one day.


Our Methodology

Here at LockJudge, we believe that all locks should be high-security and our mission is to make that a reality.

We do our best to find and review only the best locks. This means that all the locks have been tested to have a high level of strength and physical security.

Best Seller does NOT mean Best Lock

Many websites on the internet rate the best locks as the ones that sell the most but we know this not to be the case.

Many of the best-selling locks on the market actually have major security flaws that will leave you with less than adequate security.

We choose locks that pass our tests and the tests of trusted partners. Meaning that when used correctly all the locks and security products you find on this website are of good quality and high security, with no exceptions.

Locks

Cheap locks, big locks, portable locks, and many more. There are almost infinite variations…

This is exactly why trying to find a good quality and secure lock is so hard and why we have put in all the hard work to find the best lock for you.


Padlocks

As far as security goes there can’t be a more widely used and useful security device than the humble padlock.

It has an extremely long and varied history and can be used in so many ways with so many different security levels.

This is also why it is hard to find a good padlock that has a good level of security.


Bike Locks

Bike Theft is a major issue all around the world but most commonly in cities.

Thieves are using newer and more sophisticated techniques to break and cut locks than ever before. Angle grinders, bolt cutters, and more are now commonplace in the most dangerous areas.

This is a significant threat to a bike lock make as these attacks are very hard to defend against especially when customers are demanding smaller and lighter locks all the time.

We have used our experience, independent ratings, and knowledge of the lock picking community to find only the best bike locks that are capable of keeping your bike safe.


Home Security

Home security is no joke, and you should be confident that the locks and security devices are keeping your family and belongings safe.

This is why we have door locks, window locks, and security systems.


Door locks

The most obvious and common type of lock for any house, apartment, or castle is the humble door lock.

This doesn’t mean that there are not a lot of options for door locks, quite the opposite, whether you are looking for a smart door lock or a more simple door lock we have the most secure options here.

These door locks will protect you from lock picking, lock bumping, and brute force attacks too.


Smart locks

Smart locks are locks that have been re-designed with electronics added to them, to allow for connectivity and remote operation.

This allows them to be integrated with a smart home or smart security system of a home or other building. This can provide some benefits of usability including the ability to open or lock doors in a home remotely.

Unfortunately, it also adds another way for attackers to access these types of locks.

As the locks are normally connected to the internet via wifi, it opens the lock-up to hackers that can potentially open the lock.

While rare this is a real possibility for any smart lock.

Despite some of these risks, they are a very popular option due to their convenience.

Connectivity can also be used to increase the security of a smart lock in comparison to standard door locks. Mainly through remote monitoring.

For example, the military and other high-security installations have used “smart locks” for decades due to the high-security nature of having a central control point where access can be monitored and controlled in real time.


The LockPickingLawyer

lockpickinglawyer recommended lock

The LockPickingLawyer is one of those public figures on the internet that amazingly manages to remain anonymous while still being quite famous. While we would love to reveal his true identity, we honestly don’t know it. So if you are asking Who is the Lockpickinglawyer? You can find all the information about him we have here.

LockPickingLawyer Recommended Locks

We have compiled a few lists of what we believe are the best recommendations from the LocPickingLawyer. While he doesn’t directly endorse locks or make any direct recommendations there are locks that he speaks about very highly. Here are some lists of the locks he has said, don’t have a lot of flaws and would be difficult for even someone advanced to pick.


Lock Picking

LockJudge is also here to promote the hobby of lock picking, and provide valuable resources to both beginners and experienced lock pickers.

If you are looking at getting into lock picking or you are already doing the hobby but need some more gear or some advice then we can probably help. We have a number of articles about choosing the best tools and some articles that will help you get started with lock picking or improve your skills.


Tools for Lock Picking

There are many tools around for lockpicking possibly more tools than there are locks. We have a lot of information about different tools that you can buy and also about tools that you can make.


Security Ratings

history of locks

There are many different lock rating systems in the world that have been created by many different governments and organizations, in an effort to rate locks.

This is all done in an effort to try to give a better view of how locks compare to each other.

Manufacturer security ratings

Most lock manufacturers rate their own locks and display this information on the packaging. These are the ratings you will see on the packages of almost every lock in a hardware store.

The idea is that they give the customer an idea of the security rating of each lock they create and how they compare to the other locks that they make.

In practice, these ratings do provide some level of useful information but they do also have some big problems.

Shortfalls of manufacturer security ratings

Firstly, the ratings only compare locks from one company and sometimes only locks of a single range of products from that manufacturer. 

This means that one lock may rate a 10 for one manufacturer while another may only rate it a 3. These ratings end up being very objective, meaning that they only relate to a few locks and don’t give a good idea of all locks available.

This is why we recommend only using manufacturer ratings as a guide and relying more heavily on independent security ratings. We will explain these next.

Independent Security Ratings

There are a number of Independent Lock Security rating organizations and groups around the world. Some of the biggest include the European CEN rating, Sold Secure in the US, the underwriter’s laboratories endorsement, and More.

These ratings are far superior to manufacturer ratings as they test a range of different locks from a range of different makers with the same test. Physical strength, lockpicking, and other tests are all exactly the same for all locks meaning that they provide a high-quality representation of the real security of a lock.

Lock Judge Security Rating

While we do rate the security of each lock depending on its pick resistance, Physical strength, and its bypassability. That being said we do not recommend or rate any locks that have known security flaws in the lock.

These could be unshielded cores, the ability to shim a padlock, or any other exploit that would allow someone to easily bypass the security of the product.

lockjudge best locks 1 star

1 Star Rating – Low-Security Applications

A power box, a garden shed with simple garden tools in it, or a box in your house you want to keep your kids out of. These locks will stop a general thief but someone with some specialized tools and training will make short work of them.

lockjudge best locks 2 stars

2 Star Rating – Low-Medium Security Applications

General use locks, are to be used in all general use applications as long as the item you are securing is not of high value.

lockjudge best locks 3 stars

3 Star Rating – Medium Security Applications

General use for situations where you need to secure your items with a medium value, something that needs protection but that you don’t want to move into the generally more expensive high-security zone.

These are going to be very hard to get into even for a good equipt thief and would give an expert a challenge for a couple of minutes.

lockjudge best locks 4 stars

4 Star Rating – Medium-high Security Applications

Anything below maximum security, high-quality portable bike locks, locks for your house, any application where you will leave something unattended for a long period of time.

lockjudge best locks 5 stars

5 Star Rating – Maximum Security Requirement

These are the big daddy of locks and you will not find higher-level security locks anywhere in the world. These are the types of locks you will use to secure your highest-value items. They give the most protection from being cut, broken, or picked and will stop all but the best of entry specialists.

Lockpicking Reddit Belt Rankings

One other method of rating locks has already been done by the locksport community. As the lockpickers in this community wanted a way to compare their skills and earn belts, they created their own rating system.

Lockpicking reddit belt rankings

This system is surprisingly good at measuring the lockpicking difficulty of a lock, as it was created to test the ability of lockpickers around the world. This belt ranking system has been tested and agreed on by many lockpickers, some of them the best in the world.

We use this rating system where we can here at LockJudge to help us make choices on the locks we recommend. 


What is a high-security lock?

A high-security lock is a lock that has had all aspects of its design improved so that its overall security is higher to harden its security from any attack vector. Meaning that it can be used as part of a higher-level security system without compromising the system’s overall level of security.

Attack Vectors

An attack vector when referring to locks or physical security is a method of attack an intruder might use to gain access to whatever it is you are trying to secure.

An example of an attack vector is lock picking, this is where an intruder will use special tools and skills to attempt to pick open a lock in order to open it.

Another attack vector is simple brute force attacks on locks, and an example of that would be someone using a large pole to twist a bike lock until the chain or the bolt of the bike lock simply breaks. This is a somewhat common type of attack, especially for u-shape bike locks that suffer badly from this type of attack.

Pick Proof Locks

There is no such thing as a pick-proof lock, it’s only the difficulty that varies. That being said there is such a thing as locks that could be considered a pick-proof locks for a normal thief or novice lockpicker. This is because they are either just too difficult to pick or they require special skills and tools to pick as they are not a common type of lock.

Some examples of ones that are “effectively pick-proof” are locks like the locks from the Bowley lock company. While they can technically be picked the tools, skills, and time required to do so means that they have only been picked by a few people ever. So in the real world where there are normal thieves that have normal tools, yes they are in fact pick proof.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the hardest locks to break?

Shrouded-shackle padlocks with a ball-bearing locking mechanism are the hardest padlocks to break.

There are many padlocks that are hard to break and many factors come into making a lock hard to break like the material it’s made from, the thickness of the material, and the mechanism it uses to lock. You can find a list of the best padlocks here.

What is the strongest lock?

The Squire SS100CS is one of the strongest padlocks in the world. While shooting the padlock at a gun range it took 120 rounds to finally cause the lock to fail. 20 of those rounds were from a .50 caliber rifle.

Is There An Unpickable Lock?

There is no such thing as an unpickable lock, but the lock that has been picked by the fewest people is the Bowley Lock which has only been confirmed to be picked by 5 people ever.

What Is The Hardest Door Lock To Pick?

The Abloy Disklock Pro, ASSA twin, and Bowley Lock are some of the hardest door locks to pick in the world.

The lock picking community has ranked these locks as a black belt lock picker difficulty meaning that only the best lock pickers in the world can pick these locks reliably.

Is There A Lock The Lockpickinglawyer Couldn’t Pick?

Yes, the most notable lock that the LockPickingLawyer was not able to pick was the Bowley Lock. This Lock has only been confirmed to have been picked by 5 people in the world and Harry didn’t even attempt it on camera.

Is lock picking hard?

Lock Picking is not a hard skill to learn, you can understand how it works and open some locks in just a few hours.

But there is a steep learning curve and there are many different types of locks and some very hard-to-pick locks out there. So while getting started may be easy, like most skills becoming a master will take years of dedicated practice.