There is thousands and thousands of different combination options with four numbers; I know that because I looked it up...It didn't help me get into this padlock though!
This is one of those airtight, waterproof cases as used to transport fragile equipment. The military use them extensively and I have many of varying sizes, mostly used for transporting rifles, handguns and ammunition. They are tough and perfect for the job.
I have to transport some ammunition to a friend of mine this weekend and leave it with him. Ammunition has to be kept locked so I bought a padlock to do the job, a reasonable quality one.
I usually use very cheap padlocks to lock ammunition for transport- The law says locked, it doesn't say how secure the lock has to be, and when I transport it I'm always with it, out shooting and so on. Leaving this box of that holds about 5,000 rounds of 9mm ammunition with my friend with only a cheap lock didn't feel right, hence the new one. (For the record, when I fly with ammunition I use very good quality locks.)
I bought the lock three weeks ago, opened it and made sure it worked. The lock was ok but seemed a little sticky; It opened and closed several times using the 0000 factory combination though so no problem. I then had to make sure it fitted the case which it did.
Today I took the case out to load with the ammunition as I'll be taking it to my friend tomorrow. But...It wouldn't open. That's right...That padlock I bought is the most secure padlock known to mankind; Not even the owner can open it with the combination!
I hadn't reset the code when I bought it, despite Faith asking me for most of the afternoon, are you sure you didn't reset it and forgot? After about the seventh time it got really annoying. So no reset, it just didn't work.
I tried a few common combinations like 0000 which is what the packet says is the factory setting. Nope didn't open. 1111, 1234, 4321, 9999, 8888, 7777 and so on. Nope, it didn't open. I tried for about 30 minutes but nothing worked. That's when I got the bolt cutters out in frustration.
A little squeezing and about 4 seconds later the shaft popped and the problem was solved.
I generally use combination locks for my gun stuff as on one occasion I left a key to a case home; I'd travelled three hours to shoot and...No key. On that occasion I was lucky someone had bolt cutters in their truck and it worked out, but since then I've not been willing to risk a repeat performance. I've never had one fail until now though, and I have to say it pissed me off...I guess that was made worse as I can't find the purchase receipt and so it's $18 burned. I don't like wasting money.
The moral of the story? Make sure one has bolt cutters? Nah, that's dumb...Keep the purchase receipt? Hmm, that's not bad. Expect the unexpected? I like that one too.
I don't know if there's a moral to the story but I know some of y'all have had "locked in or locked out" issues and I want to hear about them!
Tell me when you were locked out of something: Car, house, work, school, phone, computer, safe, locker...Or tell me about when you were locked in!
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Be well
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