ABS Locks - Avocet - worth it?

[Ray Singh]

I will be moving into my new home in about 8 weeks time. Its made by a national house builder and obviously I want it to be as secure as possible.
I have been told that a company called Avocet make ABS cylinders to fit in standard Euro Cylinders. These are supposed to slow a thief down and be bump proof.

Does anyone have any experience of these? Are these worth fitting to my new home?

Any thoughts appreciated.

[netherfield]

Similar question last week.

http://www.pistonheads.com/Gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[DBSV8]

if you want a really , really secure door , forget the lock , you need to replace the door and frame with one of these , they are Russian built and resistant to "police enforcer entry "

They had one fitted in an early spisode of spooks years back ,

not cheap but as close as you can get to burglar proof


http://www.imajsteeldoors.com/

Edited by DBSV8 on Tuesday 28th February 01:28

[TheEnd]

pretty noice.

[DBSV8]

Ray Singh said:

I will be moving into my new home in about 8 weeks time. Its made by a national house builder and obviously I want it to be as secure as possible.
I have been told that a company called Avocet make ABS cylinders to fit in standard Euro Cylinders. These are supposed to slow a thief down and be bump proof.

Does anyone have any experience of these? Are these worth fitting to my new home?

Any thoughts appreciated.

The disadvantage with Avocet type "Snap locks " imagine you go out , its 2 in the morning raining , a thief tries to bump your lock fails and the bump key snaps in the lock , you return " how do you get in ?

You ideally need to install deadlocks , but a really determined thief can simply prise the frame with a crowbar see ( Steel door alternative )

Alternatives , Ive fitted and are bump proof and snap proof are these Evva 3ks



http://www.saundersonsecurity.co.uk/acatalog/Evva_...

[JM]

Most theives wont try and smash their way through your front door.

The vast, vast majority are opportunists who are looking for unlocked doors or open windows etc.


Unless they are targetting you specificaly for known items or because you live in a remote area where they wont be desturbed even if they have to make a lot of noise then having a couple of good locks on a good quality door shoudl be all that you need.


If you are wanting to establish your own fort Knox then the door above would be a good option.

Or a solid heavy wooden door, with a 5 lever main lock and vertical bolts top and bottom, and not forgetting good strong hinges. Fitting too many locks into the door will weaken it's overall structure so can be self defeating.

[DBSV8]

JM said:

Most theives wont try and smash their way through your front door.

The vast, vast majority are opportunists who are looking for unlocked doors or open windows etc.


Unless they are targetting you specificaly for known items or because you live in a remote area where they wont be desturbed even if they have to make a lot of noise then having a couple of good locks on a good quality door shoudl be all that you need.


If you are wanting to establish your own fort Knox then the door above would be a good option.

Or a solid heavy wooden door, with a 5 lever main lock and vertical bolts top and bottom, and not forgetting good strong hinges. Fitting too many locks into the door will weaken it's overall structure so can be self defeating.

you know the funny thing here in Russia practically all you can buy are these steel doors , some with wooden facias over the steel , not expensive 150 quid all in with locks and steel frame .

The great thing about them is that they have 5 x 3 bar dead bolts that go into the frame , 3 on the sides with one top and bottom , once locked you would need an angle grinder and an hour to cut your way in !!

agree though oportunist thieves will prefer to target unlocked windows etc.

[Ray Singh]

So replacing the locks with either the suggested Evva or Avocet will improve the security of my home for little out lay.

I will have a wired alarm fitted too and am just wanting a secure home without making it into Fort Knox.

Watching the videos of 'lock bumping' on youtube scared me.

[DBSV8]

Ray Singh said:

So replacing the locks with either the suggested Evva or Avocet will improve the security of my home for little out lay.

I will have a wired alarm fitted too and am just wanting a secure home without making it into Fort Knox.

Watching the videos of 'lock bumping' on youtube scared me.

they are a direct replacement for the euro lock and are "bump proof" you can fit in 10 minutes , I can reccomend Sandersons , I bought all our locks from them for our holiday home


However I really would fit a 5 mortice deadlock as well ( most insurance companies reccommend them )

cheers

[Ray Singh]

Thanks DBSV8 - I believe that the front door that will be fitted as well as the two pairs of french doors to the rear are UPVC and thus i dont think that i can fit 5 mortice deadlocks - can i?

I will look into the EVA locks - these look good. Just for everyone readings information, EVVA are coming in at £41.00 and the ABS Avocet ones are £15.

[Silvertop_John]

I've been looking at the ABS Avocet locks as well, but what is stopping me is that they are currently in administration. As extra keys have to be supplied by them, I am going to wait until their future is sorted out.

[simion_levi]

I ended up with Cisa Astral S cylinders as the Avocet ABS apparently had some issues at the time - supply problems, quality control with customers getting locked out, etc, so much so the supplier I was using stopped selling them. I see that they have since started to offer them again, but the fact these are now marked up as "Mark 3" suggests there may have been some truth in that? Perhaps the latest version are better though.

I did note on the other thread that Avocet Hardware are in administration.

[Ray Singh]

I called up avocet yesterday and asked them out right. They told me that the company was going strong.
The reason why i was attracted to Avocet was the key. It looks fantastic and Dwain at the local cut it quick wouldnt be able to make one up for his mates....

I wonder if Evva keys or Astral Keys are similar?

ETA: Picture:

[simion_levi]

Astral S are flat keys too, not certain about Evva.

EDIT: to add, make sure you get a keyed-alike set of cylinders, whatever you decide to buy, assuming you have several doors. It's nice to remove some bulk from the keyring.

[Roger645]

simion_levi said:

I ended up with Cisa Astral S cylinders as the Avocet ABS apparently had some issues at the time - supply problems, quality control with customers getting locked out, etc, so much so the supplier I was using stopped selling them. I see that they have since started to offer them again, but the fact these are now marked up as "Mark 3" suggests there may have been some truth in that? Perhaps the latest version are better though.

I did note on the other thread that Avocet Hardware are in administration.

They were but now have been bought according to their website.

[orbit123]

I've been looking at the same thing over past few weeks - I'd also heard stories about Avocet taking ages to supply. I was looking at Cisa Astral S.

In my case I've about 5 external doors all fitted with old mortice locks. We need to change them all (some are too old and some not changed since we bought house). I quite like the idea of keyed alike and changing to cylinder locks - would use a motice casing to swap them out.

Does this seem like a backwards step? - i.e. would a standard 5 lever mortice lock be more secure. I can see where these can't be snapped and bumped but they seem more old fashioned.

[JABB]

I have abloy euro cylinders. One of the better ones, and keys only available via the key card code. They are not copy-able.

[DBSV8]

Evva 3ks plus keys look like this

does not use springs like conventional locks




http://www.evva.at/products/mechanical-locking-sys...

[DazMR2]

i had a door last year from a company called global and that came with the avocet abs cylinder. The guy who fitted it for me said they have a really good reputation and are one of the most secure locks you can get. Mine has been great, the muti point locks are good as well as they have more hooks than normal.

They have some more information on their website somewhere, hope that helps!

www.globaldoor.co.uk

[Roger645]

Just got my ABS lock today, ordered two days ago.