A favorite of realtors, landlords, parents, and administrators, Master Lock’s 5401D key safe is a convenient and secure way to store spare house and car keys. This safe uses a rekeyable four-dial combination lock to secure the keys inside, which has pros and cons. Combination access means that the number of people who can access the safe isn’t limited to the number of physical keys. But then again,  using a key to access a key safe seems a bit pointless, don’t you think? What would you do if you lost that key? The combination can be changed at any time if the wrong person ever learns it.

This safe also has a sliding plastic cover built in, to protect the dial mechanism from dirt, wind, rain, and all the other harmful elements that can gum up a lock, and the die-cast zinc construction will hold up under all but the most violent weather. Human attackers won’t have much more luck than Mother Nature, as the casing is designed to resist sawing, bashing, scratching, cutting, picking, and prying. Master Lock backs up this safe with a limited lifetime warranty.

Kwik Kone pushes the envelope forward for portability and ease of use in the realm of traffic cones. The thin, foldable Kwik Kone can easily store in a trunk or back seat, and deploys in seconds with one-handed use. The cone is eighteen inches high and can easily be seen night and day thanks to its highly reflective patch and its brightly colored plastic body.

With its incredible portability, the Kwik Kone does all the work of a regular traffic cone but takes up less than half the space when not in use. Emergency Services teams have been using these products for years, and they are now available to the general public. Don’t miss out! Buy yours online today.

The Shackle

After the lock body, the shackle (also called the shank) is a padlock’s most important component. As the saying goes, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and by its very nature the shackle is the most vulnerable part of the padlock.

A Padlock's Worst Enemy

Say hello to every padlock’s worst nightmare: a bolt cutter.

Your standard hardware store bolt cutter can chop through a thin shackle pretty easily. Thicker shackles made out of harder steel are tougher to cut, but any exposed shackle is vulnerable to some degree.

There are two ways around this vulnerability: Shrouded shackles and Hidden shackles. Continue reading →

From all of us here at Padlock Outlet, we wish you all the very best of health and happiness in the new year. We are grateful for all the support you’ve given us with your calls, comments, and of course purchases, and we hope you’ll continue to choose Padlock Outlet for your safety and security needs. We promise to work even harder in 2012 to provide you with the best products and customer service at unbeatable prices.

2011 was huge for us, and 2012 is shaping up to be even better. We’ve got a lot planned for the future that we can’t wait to show you. See you next year!

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As Ned Stark would say, winter is coming, and those of us who use padlocks outside all year need to take precautions. It’s not uncommon for water vapor inside the cylinder to freeze solid when it gets cold enough, blocking off the keyway and turning the lock into a useless lump of metal.

Fortunately there is a quick and easy way to winterize your locks and prevent the kind of tragedy I just described: keep the lock lubricated. Plain old WD-40 will do, though Master Lock does make their own specially formulated lubricant. Spray it all over the lock, even down into the shackle hole. This treatment will keep water out of the mechanism, so even if it does freeze it will still open. A warning: NEVER use graphite or multi-purpose oils like 3-in-1. Those products are too thick and can gum up the mechanism just as much as ice.

If your lock has already iced over, there is a way to get it open again. Use a lighter to heat up your key, then insert the key into the padlock. Once inserted, the warmth from the key will spread into the lock. After a minute or two, the tumblers will warm up enough for the lock to work.

Many Americans own firearms for hunting, self-defense, and other reasons. Statistics show that up to 45% of all American households have at least one gun, and gun owners know that safety is critical. Hundreds of fatal gun-related accidents and thousands of non-fatal accidents happen every year. These tragic accidents can be avoided by using proper safety precautions, which include locking up firearms with gun locks.

There are two types of gun locks: chamber locks and trigger locks. The chamber lock works by threading a cable in through one end of the chamber (or barrel, if the gun is a revolver) and out the other, physically preventing the gun from firing. The Master Lock 107DSPT is a good example of a chamber lock.

The other type of gun lock is a trigger lock. Trigger locks are made of two soild halves that sandwich around the trigger guard and then lock together, preventing anyone from pulling the trigger. The lock must be removed before the gun can be used. Master’s 90DSPT is an example of this kind of lock.

Check out our Gun Locks category for more information. Stay safe!