Locks how durable are they?

[eeyore]

This is worth a look, if you are trying to lock something valuable up. or looking the gate to your homestead or retreat.

What type do you use?

Can Your Padlock Withstand a Bullet? Abusive Lab Test

A padlock can be all that stands between a burglar and a shed or lockbox full of property. But how well can it really handle the tools of a determined thief (or years of bad weather, for that matter)? To find out, we enlisted the expertise of our friends at Minnesota’s Environ Labs testing facility, where we put four models—from cheap hardware-store finds to a $115 “all-weather” model—through an unforgiving battery of tests.
http://www.popularmechanics.com/tech...lick=pm_latest

[RangerRick]

I have not found a lock, gate, chain that could stop me from getting in. I did run into a level 4 rated door that would take plastic to open. It does not take much. My experiance comes from being a cop, firefighter, soldier.
RangerRick

[thereisnospoon]

Given enough time and tools, any lock can be opened (so they say). That being said, I like the big round ones that expose very little of the bar to be cut...

The point is, if they've made it that close, your layered security plan failed, big time.

[Bearman202]

There are several youtube videos on how to pick locks, and they show one guy who goes through every type of padlock made in about two seconds each, including the round type that are hard to cut. The videos are worth a look. Just search for "picking locks" and they should come up.

[Hawkeye]

Locks and such are more to deter the honest person than anything. As said, they do do much more than slow down a determined person.

[Bearman202]

Maybe a good segue would be to morph this into a thread about hiding things, or otherwise putting them in a place that's difficult to get to, or otherwise more secure than hanging with a visible lock on it that someone who knows what they're doing can walk through?