Unfortunately, there aren't really all that many "good locks" on the market. The Lock Picking Lawyer on YouTube[1] has pretty much destroyed my faith in the modern lockmaking industry.
He can defeat just about anything, but he’s also exceptionally skilled. As a consumer of locks, I expect them to be defeatable by a skilled lockpicker. But I don’t expect them to be defeatable by a bic pen or by reaching in the keyhole with an oddly shaped wire to move the locking paul.
You can buy locks that don’t have easy bypasses, and can’t be easily drilled, and can’t be picked by beginners.
You can also buy locks that can't be picked by people like me who have been at it 20 years.
To keep people like me out for a while buy a Medeco. Pins not only need to be at the right height, but also the right rotation. They are a real pain in the ass to pick. I don't even know any locksmiths that can pick them. Good security for the money.
Bosnian Bill and LPL... Okay they can pick them, but they are like the 0.0001% in skill.
Still even then pay an extra $100 for really high quality disk detainer lock like a Protec 2 and you will keep even them out for quite a while.
That is what I use on my luggage. TSA has to call me to unlock them with my consent every time. The way I like it. Great tip I picked up from Deviant Ollam.
I have hundreds of locks and lock bypass tools. I make sure to pay for ones that are not quickly defeated when it counts.
LPL covers most locks in the wild which are bad, but locks like the Protec2 are quite strong and while it is implied one person in the world can beat it with custom tools (huxleypig)... even then not quickly.
Some of the best locks are very very hard to buy as well and still protected with weird export controls held over from the encryption export days.
I frequently use FF-L-2740 spec locks, which is the spec locks need to hit for use in classified government work, military contractors etc. They are very good locks I can't begin to defeat in any practical amount of time and don't know anyone who can. Particularly since they have timed brute force lockouts.
Problem is not a single vendor is allowed to sell locks of that spec to civilians by contract so you have to jump through lots of hoops to get them.
For most uses of a lock its job is to keep honest people out.
I have had doors kicked in, so these days I want the lock to be the weakest, not strongest, part of the door. So when it is kicked in it is a cheap lock that is destroyed not an expensive hardwood door (I like hardwood doors...)
> there aren't really all that many "good locks" on the market.
You can say that again.
I was once proud of myself for having thoroughly researched the market and I thought EVVA MCS was a safe bet[1].
Then someone showed me a YouTube video (published a year after I bought the locks) of someone picking it (not LPL, another YouTuber). Given the cost of EVVA MCS I was not a happy bunny.
but check out this one instead: https://youtu.be/sES_Hbj92BQ - ~2h to open fully (though the author of the video claims impressioning could speed up the thing; anyway, reportedly attacking the door is just easier in this case)
Guy who made the video here.
The lock mechanism itself isn't one of the easiest, but also not one of the hardest to pick skill-wise. However, it does take a very long time to pick through which means that the lock is doing its job very well. Also, I have read that this lock is very resistant to destructive attack as well. So combining pick resistance with physical resistance, you have a very good lock as long as it's installed on a good door and the building has all other security measures in place (no ground level unprotected windows, etc)
[1]: https://www.youtube.com/c/lockpickinglawyer/videos