Their recommendation for a budget friendly deadbolt was the quick set model 9 80 But what really caught my eye was that their experts were unable to pick it, so I decided to buy one and see if I would have better luck.

This has Thekla IX set smart key core, which I have certainly encountered and picked many times in the past.

In fact, I'll leave a link to a few of those videos below, so there should be no problem here, right?

Well, it's not that simple.

There are a few different versions of the smart key, and I have no idea which one was tested by Consumer Reports.

And one of thumb, which I have not featured before, uses a reverse sidebar mechanism.

That's something pioneered in the 19 thirties, which is extremely pick resistant if implemented correctly, and wouldn't you know it.

That's the version that Amazon sent me.

But it turns out that quick sets implementation of the mechanism is sufficiently flawed.

That picking isn't that difficult.

Just need a slightly different approach.

So let's get this lock in a vise, and I will show you how it's done.

Now, a reverse sidebar mechanism cannot.

She picked with the traditional torque and set method, you need to apply tension to the side bar, which is on the side of this corps, and we access it by using this curved piece of shim stock, and I just slide that right around the side.

Okay, I think I've got that in position.

So let's press down on that bench shim and start picking the sliders.

Nothing on 123 click out of four.

Nothing on five.

Back to the beginning.

12 Okay.

Three is binding and not moving.

It's probably in a false gate releasing a little bit of the tension on that side bar trying to lift it up.

There we go.

I think I got three set.

Nothing on 45 Little click on one.

Nothing on 2345 You know, I think we may have all of these sliders set.

They certainly feel like it.

Okay, if they are indeed set, this course should turn.

There we go.

So this is not that hard to pick if you know how to approach it.

And because of that, I think the suggestion by consumer reports that professionals are unable to pick this should probably be revisited.

So let's take this apart, and I will show you the mechanism.

Okay?

To remove the core, we need to take this clip out, and now a C clip needs to come out.

Okay, let's get the key and hopefully this core will slide out.

There we go.

Okay, let's zoom in on this and you can see the sidebar right along here.

And if I remove the key, it should pop out.

That's what normally keeps the core from turning.

I put the key back in.

Here we go.

That's sidebar pops down.

Then you can see each of the five sliders here.

12345 Let's pull that sidebar mechanism out so you can get a better look at the sliders.

Okay, we can see the sliders, and each one of them has six little notches.

They correspond to the six different key cut depths that you will find on quick set locks.

And if we pull one of these out and look at the other side.

We can see there are 1234 false skates and then one deep true gate.

Then, looking over at the rest of the corps, we can see the key interacts with some plungers.

Those plungers each have tiny little nubs on the side of them.

They go into those little notches that we previously saw in the sliders, and which of those notches that thes nubs fall into determines the keen of the lock.

So an interesting mechanism, which I think would be really tricky to pick if quick set did a better job of protecting that sidebar from tension.

But as it is right now, it's probably easier to pick than the original smart key.

In any case, that's all I have for you today.

If you do have any questions or comments about this, please put them below.

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And, as always, have a nice day.