****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
Very easy to install if you're remotely handy, and for the money it is well-built and "reasonably sturdy". The lock cylinder is pretty small so if someone is at all determined to break the lock they will probably be able to do so. I now know the exact amount of force requited to break this due to a completely avoidable mistake on my part, for which I have 2 recommendations so you can avoid my mistake. #1: Do not, under any circumstance, enter your shed / building with the key still inserted in the lock cylinder in the "unlocked" position- after you've unlocked it, take the key back out of the lock and put it in your pocket. I found out the hard way that the lock cylinder is loose enough that gravity or possibly the wind was all it took for the key to turn in the cylinder, falling back in to the locked position. Yes folks, I made the error of entering my shed to work on reinforcing the doors and left the key in the lock outside. The key fell or was blown to the locked position so I found myself locked inside my own shed. Sure, I could have called a relative or neighbor to come over to turn the key that was still in the lock in order to let me back out, but I was in no mood to deal with the embarrassment of my mistake at the time. #2: I recommend that just in case, immediately after you install this lock, just take a piece of tape and attach the hex key used to attach the inner D-shaped latch / handle to the inside of the door or door frame- you'll wish you'd done this if you ever need to remove the inner handle any way. My lock came already installed on a pre-built shed so it did not include the hex-key, otherwise I could have just unscrewed the set screw on the inner D-shaped latch / handle to let myself back out. I attempted to use a screw driver and a set of vice grips to undo the set screw to no avail. I ended up wedging a short piece of scrap wood into the D-shaped inner handle, lifted up, and snapped the square inner casting (as shown in attached picture), which allowed me to pull the lock apart and open the door. I'd say the lock actually took a little more force than I expected it to in order to break, and it's a lot easier to get leverage on the inner D-shaped handle by wedging something through it than it would be to put the same amount of force on the outer handle, so I don't really think you're in danger of someone just walking up to the lock and forcing it open without attaching a tool to the outer handle or forcing the lock cylinder open with a screw driver. I do think for the money these are reasonably well made, but probably not as secure as a basic hasp and padlock. A couple notes: the inner part of the shaft on the version sold with a 5-1/2" shaft is indeed 5-1/2" long, but it may not be completely clear from the listing that the D-shaped latch / handle that has to mount over that shaft will use up about 2" of it in order to be mounted 100% of the way through the inner handle, so this is best used on shed doors with a maximum measurement of 3-1/2" thick or less- mine are about 4" thick which still works fine. The set screw is mounted within about 3/4" of the inside of the inner D-shaped latch / handle, so you can slide it out a little bit and still mount it to the shaft (so if your door is 4-1/2" thick, you'd still have 1" of the shaft mounted inside the handle which should work alright, it just won't be quite as secure). I'd say the absolute maximum thickness your door can be for this to still just barely work would be for a 4-5/8" thick door, but I wouldn't really recommend using it on a door more than 4" thick. Overall I still recommend this lock for the price. For whatever it's worth though, once I knew how little force it took to break it, I did add a second lock using a security hasp with a puck lock (same kind you often see on the back swinging doors of commercial work vans). Those are slightly tougher to break and I'm now sure that it would be easier to just cut a hole in the shed to break in than to bother taking the time / making the noise it would require to break through both of my locks.
