Having locked myself out this morning by chasing after the postman who had delivered a parcel to my, wrong , address, and having the door slam behind me, I have decided to fit a wall mounted key safe outside the main entrance.

I won’t be putting my flat no on it, but it will jostle for space amongst the myriad other key safes, labelled Geoff, or Bill, or somesuch name.

Does anyone have any recommendations ? They all look a bit samey to me. Is it worth paying the extra to get a high security jobbie, that can presumably be prised off the wall just as easily?

Master Lock? Abus? Chubb?

Ta in advance

Supra C500 pro.

I wouldn’t use one unless I was likely to be in all the time.

It’s too easy for someone to just work out the combination then get in your flat at their leisure. If there’s no sign of forced entry then your insurance may be invalid.

As per the panther, the supra c500. I fitted one for an elderly neighbour, it is significantly more convincing than the master lock boxes you see all over, but it’s also nearly 70 notes

I broke into a master lock padlock box in less than 30 seconds with a strip of thin steel. Me, a master criminal.

Does anyone have any recommendations ?

I would call it Darren and put it to the left of Bill.

I used to manage a local authority team that fitted these. We would only ever use the Supra C500.  They are Secured By Design and the newer ones do not have the flaw that the older ones had that enabled them to be picked.

I’ve got one and don’t regard it as a risk at all.

Why not spend the money on a door lock that doesn’t lock behind you and not leave a key outside where any rando could just break open or relatively quickly open the safe?

Honestly, it’s your door at fault here. Night latches are shite anyway.

Did anyone else hear these words :

This is the lockpicking lawyer and what I have for you today is an xxxx

Ta Perchy, Supra purchased!

Did anyone else hear these words :

Lol, I have now.

But seriously, a code safe is easy to just work your way through, no picking even necessary. They could have it open and a copy of the key made without you being any the wiser.

Yeah it was the insurance implications that stopped me fitting one, if there’s no forced entry you could have an issue – you’d certainly want to talk it through with your insurance provider first and maybe even get it noted on the policy (assuming they say it’s OK).

This is the lockpicking lawyer and what I have for you today is an xxxx

He’s not cracked a Supra yet….

We have three installed so far…

It doesn’t need to be impregnable. It just needs to be more difficult to break into than the actual door that the key opens.

Given the choice of forcing a door or breaking open a Supra, I’d choose the door every time.

They’re all pretty poor. That Supra looks like the one fitted by the support services when my mum fell ill, from a quick fiddle with it it seems better than most. Security through obscurity is your friend here, can you hide it somewhere?

Avoid Masterlock like the plague, they’re universally terrible.

Did anyone else hear these words :

Yup.

Honestly, it’s your door at fault here. Night latches are shite anyway.

Also, this. If it’s an old Yale-style latch then you might as well leave a plastic pop bottle outside as a keysafe.

He’s not cracked a Supra yet….

We have three installed so far…

He might not have (in which case I suspect he hasn’t tried).  Others have a quick youtube search will find it!  He’s certainly cracked similar style combination panels.  As Perchy says though – your door probably isn’t that secure either – from sheet brute force or skilled picking!

Or unskilled picking.

After my ex left me, she called me (more than) once for help after locking herself out of her flat. I shimmed the door in seconds, it took longer to create the shim than to use it. Her response was “well, that’s sobering.”

from sheet brute force or skilled picking!

Consider also, people are bad at choosing security codes. A four-digit code on that Supra can be entered in any order, what might first appear to be ten thousand possible permutations is likely closer to about forty as everyone chooses their birth year or 1234.

They are what they are.  It’s not a perfect solution but the OP asked for the most secure one and that’s what he got. They arenot immune to people guessing the code but compared to any others out there they are  pretty indestructible against a mechanical attack. I think they’re made out of that metal that talking polar bears make armour out of.
I have one, in a concealed location, with a non-birthday combination. I’ve never lost a wink of sleep worrying that its a security risk.

Others have a quick youtube search will find it!

That’s quite recent, last time we discussed this no one had posted a crack on YT for their latest model (the 1st gen was easily picked).

It’s only for the Yale key, should the door slam behind me again. and will be fitted to the block next door, amidst the forest of boxes that air B’N’B has spawned

Deadbolt key is kept with a friend nearby.

Can you deadlock the Yale lock? Ie, click it up to lock then down again to deadlock (or the other way around)? Getting into that habit when you pop outside will stop you from locking yourself out.

Personally, I’d be replacing the lock. In fact that’s exactly what I did at the old house, the insurance required a 5-lever mortice lock which I installed. When I was subsequently locked out after my partner of the time habitually threw the Yale behind her, it was the work or a single kick from a 9-stone weakling to hoof the keep clean off the door frame.

We have a couple of spare keys lodged with neighbours, both retired so quite likely to be in. In the event neither are in I have the code to their keybox and alarm so I can go in myself and get it.

I think they’re made out of that metal that talking polar bears make armour out of.

I have one, in a concealed location

They make great pets don’t they?

The only ‘police approved’ one I know of is a Master Lock combination safe – which is according to the lock picking lawyer is easy to pick, but you’ll need to be a skilled burglar with the correct tools so will foil most impromptu thieves imo. Down side is they are generally more difficult to use than a more expensive push button safe.

All of the push button ones are easy to hack as you generally can ‘feel’ which four  buttons are the combo, and you usually don’t need to put them in order.  The cheaper push button safes are also a little tricky to use if your not used to regularly getting in them.

I’m not one to rag on the police as a general rule, but I’d be filing “police approved” locks under False Authority Syndrome. Police don’t turn up with a master locksmith, they turn up with a ram.

There is “police preferred” which is part of Secured By Design. Given that SBD claim that Masterlock are a high standard I’d be taking that with a pinch of salt too.