Front door locking - best way

[starman]

I need a secure locking system for the front doors given that baddies would be hidden by the cratch if trying to break in. 
I’ve got a clean sheet of paper to do the job - just a pair of plain 6mm as yet unlined doors. 
I don’t want Fort Knox just a decent deterrent. 

[blackrose]

6mm doors? Steel? Windows in the doors? More info required...

[Alan de Enfield]

 

All you can do is 'make the boat look not worth bothering with', with a cratch and a battery angle grinder, they are protected/hidden and nothing you do will stop them if they are really intent on getting in,

Quickest method of entry is just to break a window, - (it is surprising the number of boats now appearing moored up with steelbars across all the windows).

 

For the 'coming prepared' there is little you can do, all you can do is make it more difficult than the next boat for the opportunist (who sees your computer on the table).

 

The better your security is, suggests the more you have to hide.

 

One way is to just accept that you may well be broken into at some time so you need to try and minimise the damage and inconveience should it happen.

Edited March 14, 2021 by Alan de Enfield

[starman]

1 minute ago, blackrose said:

6mm doors? Steel? Windows in the doors? More info required...

Steel doors,  no windows with an overlapping edge

Edited March 14, 2021 by starman

[BEngo]

Chubb  hasp and staple welded to the doors and a decent padlock.   Also fits night latch or mortise lock to hold the doorsxshut when you want to close them but not lock up.

 

N

[starman]

3 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

All you can do is 'make the boat look not worth bothering with', with a cratch and a battery angle grinder, they are protected/hidden and nothing you do will stop them if they are really intent on getting in,

Quickest method of entry is just to break a window, - (it is surprising the number of boats now appearing moored up with steelbars across all the windows).

 

One way is to just accept that you may well be broken into at some time so you need to try and minimise the damage and inconveience should it happen.

No windows just side hatches as we are an A-frame style, canvas over steel pretend working boat. The front doors or rear hatch would be the easiest way in I’m afraid. 

[mrsmelly]

11 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

All you can do is 'make the boat look not worth bothering with', with a cratch and a battery angle grinder, they are protected/hidden and nothing you do will stop them if they are really intent on getting in,

Quickest method of entry is just to break a window, - (it is surprising the number of boats now appearing moored up with steelbars across all the windows).

 

For the 'coming prepared' there is little you can do, all you can do is make it more difficult than the next boat for the opportunist (who sees your computer on the table).

 

The better your security is, suggests the more you have to hide.

 

One way is to just accept that you may well be broken into at some time so you need to try and minimise the damage and inconveience should it happen.

Spot on advice above. You could have a nice big padlock at either end of the boat advertising to scum bags that you are not in if you want. My boat is easy enough to break into without doing hundreds of pounds worth of damage, theres nowt worth nicking anyway. Disposing of the cratch and cover would be a good first step.

[robtheplod]

These are well thought of:

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Master-Lock-MLK736E-Masterlock-Van/dp/B000X8E5OG/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=MLK736E&qid=1590166367&sr=8-1

[dmr]

Any sort of padlock is just asking for trouble. I assume the doors have an internal frame/edge to locate the lining, so fit a small mortice lock into this. You will also need some sort of bolt arrangement to secure one door so that the pair can not be prised open together. Again this should go through the framing and not be just screwed to the wooden lining.

 

Side hatches and the slide are also well known weak spots so give some thought to these.

 

............Dave

[Arthur Marshall]

Last one who broke into boats on our mooring cost the bloke next door a fair bit as they crowbarred a securely bolted metal hatch off, bending the rails and roof plus wrecking the hatch and back doors. Mine he probably jemmied with a screwdriver. I fixed the damage with a but of woodfiller. He was just a tramp looking for somewhere to sleep. No harm done.

As above, there's no real security. If you're on a mooring, it's mostly reasonably secure. If you live on, ditto. If you're going to "CC" by parking it under a tree, going back to your house to live and then moving it (the boat, that is) a couple of miles every three weeks, it'll probably get done over sooner or later, padlocks, window bars or whatever.

[LadyG]

1 hour ago, BEngo said:

Chubb  hasp and staple welded to the doors and a decent padlock.   Also fits night latch or mortise lock to hold the doorsxshut when you want to close them but not lock up.

 

N

With forward opening doors, the door latch can be a problem, I found I had to buy a very small yale nightlock, for some reason I can't remember, it is OK for leaving boat during the day, At night I have a curb chain which stretches from one door handle to the other, anyone trying to get in at night would make a lot of noise, and could not break in easily, similar idea on the rear doors, but no yale, plustwo six inch gate type bolts with locking if required. I leave a padlock outside, from a few feet it looks to be locked, and can be if I leave the boat. 

If I lock the boat up,  say overnight absence, I have the front doors locked as per night, with bolts top and bottom plus chains.

I exit via the rear, the doors won't come open as long as the rear hatch padlock holds, and I can also have an extra padlock inside, within my reach but another delaying tactic.

Next winter I will install pir Led lights front and back, battery operated. 

I have been given a battery operated personal arm to protect me when out and about, a few of these could be attached to the windows, if the boat is left for a time, I think that would deter quite a few robbers. 

Emergency lighting, sirens, even a small padlock discretely on the catch cover zip, plus a personal alarm. I still think exiting at the rear, using an Abus padlock or a Vehicle lock plus lighting will stop all but the most determined. 

Edited March 14, 2021 by LadyG

[Alan de Enfield]

2 minutes ago, LadyG said:

............... I leave a padlock outside, from a few feet it looks to be locked, and can be if I leave the boat. 

 

You leave a padlock thru the staple when you are onboard ?

[LadyG]

10 minutes ago, robtheplod said:

These are well thought of:

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Master-Lock-MLK736E-Masterlock-Van/dp/B000X8E5OG/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=MLK736E&qid=1590166367&sr=8-1

Great, if the two doors are flush.

I think it is best to have something that does not show if boat is unoccupied, not sure if these do that? 

 

 

[LadyG]

30 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

You leave a padlock thru the staple when you are onboard ?

It's not though the staple, but dangles over the rear doors, which I have cunningly painted to look like it is on the hasp. 

To exit rear wise in an emergency, I throw off the goat chains, unbolt the bolts, lift the hatch with my head and punch open the rear doors. When I return to the boat, I have to enter via the rear, and do this by unlocking the outside, and reach down to unlock padlock on the top bolt. 

It would be only too easy to forget to unlock the rear padlock, which is why, I lock and chain the front doors from the inside, and exit via the rear doors. 

Edited March 14, 2021 by LadyG

[Mad Harold]

Outboard engines are easy to nick,even when secured with an outboard lock and safety chain.

Scrotes have been known to simply cut the mounting off the transom with a battery angle grinder.

All that can be done is to make breaking in look difficult and hope that the scrote looks for an easier target.

There are cheap solar powered security lights on fleabay,which stick on the cabin sides.They are on dim untill movement is detected and then brighten up.Scares cats,and wildlife and usually makes dog walkers jump at night.

[haggis]

I think any padlock on the outside of the boat is perhaps not a good idea as it generally advertises that the boat is unoccupied. 

 

haggis

[BWM]

These are useful, i have steel doors which open outwards and quickly discovered that there are few locks designed for this arrangement. If you search eBay under 'Lince locks', they have several different patterns available. I have two of these with Enfield garage door bolts on the other side top and bottom on stable type steel doors, it would be quicker for a thief to cut a new hole!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/322813852502

Edited March 14, 2021 by BWM

[blackrose]

2 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

All you can do is 'make the boat look not worth bothering with', with a cratch and a battery angle grinder, they are protected/hidden and nothing you do will stop them if they are really intent on getting in,

 

Yes if someone comes tooled-up you can't stop them getting in. However, most boat break-ins are done by opportunists armed with nothing more than a large screwdriver used to prize hasps off which are screwed into wooden frames.

 

Windows aren't generally a burglar's favourite point of entry unless they can be slid open, but bow door windows under cratch covers are especially vulnerable to gain entry via the doors.

 

You can make the boat look like it's not worth bothering with, but a different approach is to actually make the boat difficult to get into. Then for most opportunists it won't be worth bothering with.

Edited March 14, 2021 by blackrose

[blackrose]

44 minutes ago, haggis said:

I think any padlock on the outside of the boat is perhaps not a good idea as it generally advertises that the boat is unoccupied. 

 

haggis

 

On the other hand it's easy enough for any would be burglar to establish whether a boat without a padlock on the outside is occupied simply by knocking and if someone appears by asking something innocent.

[Jen-in-Wellies]

Decide on one set of doors as your usual point of entry/exit when leaving, or returning to the boat. Mine is reverse layout, so that is the stern. On other boats it will be the bow end doors. Make the other sets of doors bolted only from the inside with something substantial and no external lock. That way you only need to make one set of doors lockable from the outside and make them burglar resistant. I'm a big fan of not using padlocks, but locks hidden behind key holes. No hasp to easily break and a no obvious advert that the boat is empty.

[Bee]

14 minutes ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

Decide on one set of doors as your usual point of entry/exit when leaving, or returning to the boat. Mine is reverse layout, so that is the stern. On other boats it will be the bow end doors. Make the other sets of doors bolted only from the inside with something substantial and no external lock. That way you only need to make one set of doors lockable from the outside and make them burglar resistant. I'm a big fan of not using padlocks, but locks hidden behind key holes. No hasp to easily break and a no obvious advert that the boat is empty.

Pretty much what I was going to say, lock, bolt, bar the under cover front doors from inside, exit from the back if you can and make the back look really hard to get into. In the end its really difficult to secure a boat with lots of windows, hatches and doors.

[PD1964]

1 hour ago, BWM said:

These are useful, i have steel doors which open outwards and quickly discovered that there are few locks designed for this arrangement. If you search eBay under 'Lince locks', they have several different patterns available. I have two of these with Enfield garage door bolts on the other side top and bottom on stable type steel doors, it would be quicker for a thief to cut a new hole!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/322813852502

I second this type. As said different variations available:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/372896510763

Ideal for outward opening front doors, but you will have to put a coller/shroud on the key barrel as it will extend beyond the door. With the long throw you can’t open the doors unless the lock is unlocked(open)
 Top pic is with both outward opening doors free and you can’t open them due to the long throw bolt, this one is without the unlock release button so you need the key to release/unlock which is better for security.

  The second pic shows the shroud outside, as it has a long key barrel.
 

 

Edited March 14, 2021 by PD1964

[BWM]

57 minutes ago, PD1964 said:

I second this type. As said different variations available:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/372896510763

Ideal for front doors, but you will have to put a coller/shroud on the key barrel as it will extend. With the long throw you can’t open the doors.
 Top pic is with both outward opening doors free and you can’t open them due to the long throw bolt, this one is without the unlock release button so you need the key to release/unlock.

  The second pic shows the shroud as it has a long key barrel.
 

 

Mine has all the trim to finish the installation, the barrel cover is well designed and rotates to make it difficult to attack with tools.

[Mike Tee]

3 hours ago, Arthur Marshall said:

Last one who broke into boats on our mooring cost the bloke next door a fair bit as they crowbarred a securely bolted metal hatch off, bending the rails and roof plus wrecking the hatch and back doors. Mine he probably jemmied with a screwdriver. I fixed the damage with a but of woodfiller. He was just a tramp looking for somewhere to sleep. No harm done.

As above, there's no real security. If you're on a mooring, it's mostly reasonably secure. If you live on, ditto. If you're going to "CC" by parking it under a tree, going back to your house to live and then moving it (the boat, that is) a couple of miles every three weeks, it'll probably get done over sooner or later, padlocks, window bars or whatever.

'No harm done'      Er, yes there was, both to yours and your next door. And he came armed, apparently, with a crowbar. Just as well there was nobody vulnerable on board.

[PD1964]

Yes the Lince Locks are more refined and look a bit more pleasing on the eye for an internal front door. Mine is just a long throw gate one. May change to one in the Lince range ?