THE EMPIRE
So you might think padlocks are about as advanced as they were ever gona get right?
Well, Tapplock have come up with a new way to secure your stuff…
So what is it?
Basically, its a fingerprint accessable padlock. It has a fingerprint scanner on the front which can be configured to have multiple prints on it via the app. Other than that its pretty padlock-y.
The first concern I had with this idea was how weather resistant is it going to be? so before putting it on my shed to try for a couple weeks I ran it under the hose and submerged it in a glass of water and it seemed to be perfectly fine. So it lived on the shed for a couple weeks, through rain and something I hadn’t considered, a lot of sunlight and heat. It’s rated at IP66
As far a regular padlock goes it was great, I was able to set up multiple finger prints which worked fine, also impressive it worked on many different angles, it didn’t have to be straight up and down so if you’re one hand free and awkward it still opened up no worries. Also it opened with moisture on it from the rain.
So my first thoughts on it seemed to be pretty well settled thus far.
As far as strength goes I was planning on filming a proper stress test with crowbars and as far as a 12 gauge shotgun for those YouTube views, alas I’ve run out of time and I did want to get this out soon as some of you might find it a great Christmas idea! As far as testing for durability It didn’t seem too phased from a hammer strike and still opened right up so I’d say if its somewhere you’re going to put a padlock of the same price It should do just fine ( let us know if you want a video test done and I’ll get onto it asap)
It’s Zamack 3 Zine allow metal body with a cut resistant stainless steel 7mm shackle with anti shim and anti pry technology
It’s of course battery powered claimed 1 year of battery life however to check the remaining charge you need to connect to it via the app, The USB is magnetic I found the magnets on this to be very weak to the point It annoyed me while I was initally charging it and setting it up, constantly falling off as I was handling it to get it set up. However given this in theory is only a problem 2 hours of each year I think I’l let this one slide.
It can be accessed and unlocked via the app or via the button on the bottom of the lock itself should the fingerprint scanner not work, I was told by the Distributors Raven Importers to try not use an index finger as it’s not the most reliable finger to use, however I did use my index finger and so far It’s opened every time I’ve asked it to.
Now the biggest draw back of these I’ve found was the price, at $169NZD It’s certainly not cheap and you can for that money get a high quality unit with some kind of guarantee. Given you can get something like a ABUS Arco Diskus padlock for around $60-70 which would be rated around the same strength, but it does make you look amish infront of your friends when you open your padlock with a key.
So would I personally buy one? no, I don’t really see the point in spending that much on just a padlock, if I wanted better security I’d consider something much more significant like a safe or deadbolts in doors etc. However I will continue to use this until Raven Imports ask for it back ( assuming it survives the torture test) because it’s super cool and super easy to use and as I said, gone are the days of ” where’s the key to the shed?” being bellowed through out the farm house when you want to take the quad down to the paddocks to feed the horses.
I’d say over all this is a really cool product if you choose to spend your money this way.
These padlocks are available at Raven Imports and you can check them out here — >> RAVEN IMPORTS
– Nick
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