Room Escape Artist

I have silly amount of lock knowledge. 

I’ve been picking locks for more than 20 years, and exploring escape rooms for more than 10 years… I’ve handled a lot of locks. 

I’m just going to come out with it and tell you the superior choice for 3-digit & 4-digit number locks in escape rooms… then I’ll break down why you should be using these locks. 

👑 of the Combination Locks

The Abus, 160/40: individually resettable 3-digit code & 160/50: individually resettable 4-digit code. 

These are the same locks with slightly different form factors. 

Abus locks are about as prevalent in Europe as Master Lock products are in the United States… except that Abus didn’t sacrifice most of their quality on the altar of corporate profits. 

Why Are Abus 160s Great For Escape Rooms?

There are a few answers, but the most important is good interface design. 

Lock Interfaces

The lock works exactly how it looks. 

You input your code across the center, pull down, and you’re done. No explanation necessary. 

You don’t have to explain that the digits need to be, “in the little windows.” 

No one has to teach a short class on pushing the lock up in order to open it. 

There’s no need to point out the little line that you need to align your code to. 

But there’s more. 

Aesthetics

It’s a simple, metal lock. You can weather it if you want, but it has a strong, timeless lock look. 

There’s no plastic. 

And there are no garish colors. 

Abus 160s will look like they belong in most environments. 

Resetting

You can easily reset an Abus 160 to customize the code… but doing so isn’t so easy that players will do it accidentally. 

Price

At around $27 per lock, Abus 160s aren’t as cheap as many locks, but they are hardly expensive in the grand scheme of escape room production. 

The Downside? 

The biggest downside to Abus 160s is that there are only two options and both are number locks. 

I wish that there were 5-digit versions, as well as 4-digit & 5-digit letter lock options. 

The Bottom-Line 

These locks are in a league of their own. I’ve looked hard to find strong rivals, and I cannot find anything that comes close to checking all of the boxes for escape room locks that Abus 160s fulfill. 

So renew the 3-digit & 4-digit locks in your escape rooms. They are probably beat to hell anyway. 

Lock Advice

Periodically, folks in our Patreon chat ask for lock advice… sometimes for their escape games, and sometimes for their homes. If I don’t have the answer, I usually know where to find it.

This is one of the many ways that we support the community that supports us.

Special shout out to those who joined this month: DD, Timothy Haddock, Bob, Andy Bauch, Stephen Ng, Thomas Meston, Josh Powell, Chris Loughlin, and Kevin Whims.

To those of you reading who have the means, we hope you’ll consider joining this wonderful group of supporters.

Support Room Escape Artist’s Mission

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