GATE LOCKS
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Gate Locks are an important part of the perimeter security of any property. We need to scale-up our thinking; light fences and gates fitted with cheap locks serve only to demarcate the boundaries of the property and to deter usually-honest people.
The best way to stop an intruder is on the OUTSIDE of the property, and before the intruder can test the other security measures, or reach doors, windows, vehicles, and the people or contents of the building.
Most domestic gates today are made of steel that is too light and are fitted with cheap locks that can be easily bent or snapped open with a screwdriver, crowbar or other hand-tools! This applies also to many commercial and industrial sites – where the gates are bought on price and speed of delivery. Portable battery-powered grinders and drills are now in common use, and these tools make short-work of defeating light locks and inferior steel work. Good steel-work takes longer to make, and galvanizing (ESSENTIAL at the coast) adds to the cost and manufacturing time.
In these troubled times of high crime and violence against people, we should NOT be fitting gates that can be bent and mangled easily with hand tools. Gates should be constructed so that crowbars and similar implements cannot find an entry-point and cannot easily bend the gate or the frame, or damage the lock. We need to use thicker steel, better mounting of the frame, heavier gate construction and heavier locks to slow the criminals down.
See Gates & Heavy Gate Locks for more information on gates and gate-locks. Locks fitted to gates can be master-keyed or keyed alike (see Master-keying and Keying-alike). High-security lock cylinders such as C3000 T06 or Astral Tekno S01 offer registered keys that are not copied by conventional means.