Are Cheap Padlocks Any Good | The Honest Answer

I had a job out in Chineham last spring. Homeowner's garden shed. Angle grinder through the shackle in under fifteen seconds, according to the neighbour who watched it happen. The padlock on the floor afterwards had a big yellow sticker on it. "High Security." Cost the owner about £18 from a well-known DIY chain.

So. Are cheap padlocks any good? Short version: sometimes yes, mostly no, and the problem is almost nobody knows how to tell the difference.

Let me fix that.

The myth you keep reading online

The common belief goes something like this: a padlock is a padlock, they all do the same job, and spending more than £20 is just falling for a brand name. You'll see it in every Facebook group and forum thread. "Just get one from Screwfix, mate."

That's half right and half dangerous.

A padlock on a gate into an empty field? Fine. Buy the cheap one. A padlock on the shed where you keep £3,000 of power tools, or the outbuilding you use as a home office in Hook or Bramley? That cheap padlock is not security. It's theatre.

What CEN grades actually mean

Here's what most people have never heard of: CEN grades. The European standard for padlocks runs from Grade 1 (essentially decorative) to Grade 6 (serious, professional-level resistance). British Standard BS EN 12320 is the one to look for on the packaging.

Grade 1 to 2: resists a tug and not much else. Grade 3: resists basic hand tools. A determined person with a hacksaw gets through it, but it takes a few minutes. Grade 4 to 5: resists bolt croppers and sustained attack with hand tools. Grade 6: resists power tools for a meaningful amount of time.

Most padlocks on the £15 to £25 shelf are Grade 1 or Grade 2. The packaging says "hardened steel shackle" because that sounds good and isn't technically a lie. It is hardened. It's also 7mm thick, which a decent pair of bolt croppers opens in one squeeze.

The padlock that shed owner in Chineham bought? Grade 1. The sticker said "high security" because nobody stopped the manufacturer putting that on the box.

Open shackle versus closed shackle

This matters more than most people realise.

An open-shackle padlock has the curved bar sticking up proud of the body. That exposed shackle is exactly what bolt croppers are designed for. You can spend £60 on an open-shackle lock and a decent thief still gets through it in seconds with the right tool.

A closed-shackle padlock, or a shrouded-shackle design, wraps the body of the lock around most of that bar. There's almost nowhere to get a jaw in. For shed doors, garages, and storage units, closed-shackle is the only sensible choice. I fit Squire SS65CS and Mul-T-Lock C13 closed-shackle locks regularly around the RG21 to RG27 area. They're not cheap, £40 to £90 depending on grade, but they are actually resistant rather than just appearing to be.

If the packaging doesn't mention closed-shackle or shrouded-shackle, assume it's open.

Where a £20 padlock is genuinely fine

I'm not anti-cheap. I'll tell you straight when the budget option is the right call.

• A garden gate that leads to nothing valuable. You're keeping the dog in, not protecting assets.
• A temporary lock on a skip or site container when the expensive tools are already inside the van.
• Luggage. Suitcase padlocks are more about stopping opportunist access than defeating a determined thief.
• A locker at a gym or leisure centre where the risk and the value are both low.

In those situations, a cheap padlock does the job. Don't overthink it.

Where it's false economy

This is where I'll be blunt, because I've seen the consequences too many times.

The shed with power tools, garden machinery, or bikes. A Dewalt combi drill is £180. A replacement set of hand tools easily runs to £500. A cheap padlock protecting that lot is an insult to what's behind the door.

I did a job in Kempshott a couple of years back. Customer had two mountain bikes stored in an outbuilding. Combined value, around £2,800. Padlock on the door: open-shackle, Grade 1, bought because it looked sturdy. The bikes were gone. Replacement lock I fitted afterwards: Squire SS65CS closed-shackle, Grade 5, plus a proper hasp and staple bolted through the door frame with coach bolts and security nuts. Total cost, about £95 fitted. He wished he'd spent that before.

Garage side doors are another one I see regularly around Popley and Winklebury. People fit a decent lock on the main garage door and forget the side entry. One mediocre padlock on a thin hasp, screwed in with the original four screws. That's not a lock. That's a suggestion.

The hasp matters as much as the padlock

This is the thing nobody talks about. You can fit a Grade 5 closed-shackle padlock and a burglar will still be through in thirty seconds if the hasp is rubbish.

A hasp screwed to a wooden door frame with four 25mm screws will pull out under a decent kick or a good yank with a crowbar. The lock held. The wood didn't.

Fit a heavy-duty steel hasp, coach-bolted through the door and frame with the bolt heads on the inside or replaced with security nuts on the outside. That combination is genuinely resistant. The padlock and the hasp together are the security system. One without the other is a weak link.

What to actually buy if the shed matters

For a shed or outbuilding you care about:

• Minimum CEN Grade 4. Grade 5 if the contents are worth over £500.
• Closed-shackle or shrouded-shackle body.
• Shackle diameter of at least 10mm, ideally 11mm to 13mm.
• Heavy-duty closed hasp, fitted with coach bolts and penny washers on the inside.
• Look at Squire, Abus, Henry Squire, or Mul-T-Lock. Avoid anything with no grade marked on the box.

Sold Secure also rate padlocks at Bronze, Silver, and Gold. Gold is roughly equivalent to CEN Grade 4 to 5. That rating is worth looking for because Sold Secure actually test the things rather than taking the manufacturer's word for it.

The one-line verdict

A cheap padlock on something that doesn't matter is fine. A cheap padlock on something that does matter is just a way of feeling secure without being secure.

If you're not sure what grade you've got on your shed, gate, or outbuilding, go and look at it now. Check for a CEN grade. Check whether it's open or closed shackle. Check the hasp screws.

If you're in Basingstoke or anywhere in the RG postcodes and you want a second opinion, Rapid Response Locksmiths covers the area and can usually get to you in under thirty minutes. Call before you buy, not after something gets stolen. No pushy upsell, just an honest look at what you've got.