Wrecking some padlocks

Stormcrow

Well-Known Member
There was a request in another forum to get pictures of breaking padlocks. It was a test I'd been planning on for a while, shooting some video of it, but hadn't gotten to that point yet. I decided to go ahead and test it out with shooting photos and get the video at a future date.

I tried padlock breaking for the first time with one of my Wreckers that I was hanging onto for myself to shoot some demonstration videos later. I wasn't as quick or graceful about it as Ryan Johnson, but I was successful. My spike doesn't fit as well in the shackle of the padlock as the RMJ does. Don't know if that will lead to changing the design down the road or not as busting padlocks is not the only design consideration with them.

Prior to starting on the lock, a standard Master Lock:



After the shackle broke:



Hard to tell from that pic. Let's take a closer look:



You can see that I struck at the body of the lock with the point of the spike. I honestly don't know if it was prying or striking that broke the shackle. It wasn't a dramatic event and I didn't see it was broken at first.

I decided to try it with a lock with a shorter shackle. It was even more difficult to fit the spike in with the heavy chain links. I ended up striking with the spike until the lock popped open. You could not re-lock it afterwards due to the damage.



Here's a close look at the longer-shackeld lock:



And the various places on the shorter one that got hit:







It was hard to get my camera to focus on the end of the spike's point, but you can see that while the steel wasn't untouched, it almost was exactly like it started out.



I still plan on shooting video of lock breaking sometime down the road.
 
A fine example of the toughness of your hawks. Didn't Masterlock used to do a commercial about how their locks would take a direct hit from a rifle and remain locked..?
 
A fine example of the toughness of your hawks. Didn't Masterlock used to do a commercial about how their locks would take a direct hit from a rifle and remain locked..?

Eric,
Both you and I are old enough to remember that Master Lock commercial where they shoot the lock with a large caliber rifle and it doesn't open. No reflection on Storm Crow's hawk, but these locks are now made in china and there is a huge difference in the quality of them. I purchased a large collection of new 'stuff" a few years back and ended up in the lock business when I found around 40 new msater locks of different models all made in china.
 
Thank y'all!

I never did get to see the ad in question. But I know that lock busting is one of the tasks that quality tactical 'hawks get called on to do.

Brad - I'll PM you.
 
"Masterlock, Tough under fire" ad I remember it as well. It is sad to see so many companies from our childhood or teens now say made in C hina.
Stormcrow, that is one heck of a hawk to be beating up a padlock and still look that good.
 
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