Locksmith Secrets You Probably Haven’t Heard of Before
“Locksmith” is not a word many people use today, at least in everyday conversation. Unless you’ve been locked out of your home, workplace, or vehicle, you likely don’t think much about what locksmiths do or the training they undergo to learn their trade. However, locksmiths are more than talented key-makers or the people that protect us from being locked out. Today, we’re going to examine the training a locksmith must take, and learn a few secrets your locksmith won’t tell you.
Secret 1: Locksmith Education is Complicated
Many people mistakenly assume anyone can get a locksmith job because locksmiths only pick locks. In reality, locksmiths work regularly with high-security lock and key systems. For instance, they’re the ones who can help you access a complicated safe that might hold money, jewelry, or important documents, including Social Security cards, birth certificates, adoption papers, and more. In addition, many locksmiths are the ones who find and repair your lock problems. Locksmiths often find contractors haven’t installed deadbolts properly or used adequate security screws. Therefore, what looks like a simple rekeying call often turns into a full repair job. Most locksmiths must apprentice under a professional mentor for at least a few years. They must obtain specific certifications and licensure from their companies and states as well.
Secret 2: Locksmiths’ Jobs are More Exciting than You Think
When the police need undercover work done, they often call locksmiths because these experts help with a crucial part of their job – access. The police can’t protect your family from the drug dealers down the block if they can’t access the house at 3:00 AM, so they might call a locksmith for assistance. Locksmiths also assist with security breaches, particularly ones committed with “unduplicated” keys. A good locksmith will tell you keys stamped “do not duplicate” are the first ones to be copied and used against innocent homeowners. If you want to make sure your home, vault, or workshop is secure, ask a locksmith about truly high-security options – particularly if that locksmith also has experience as an undercover cop.
Secret 3: Locksmiths Need You to Be Responsible
Most locksmiths don’t mind rekeying your home or letting you back in when you lock yourself out of your house or car – it’s in the job description. Yet many people make locksmiths’ jobs more difficult because they aren’t responsible with their own possessions. For example, most people tend to leave identification cards in their vehicles or houses and then lock them inside. This leaves them vulnerable to lockouts and criminal activity. People who have safes can be irresponsible as well; they try to force the safe closed or open it before it’s completely unlocked, making it impossible to access the safe again. Locksmiths appreciate clients who keep themselves safe and take care of their safes and vaults so a lockout becomes a routine challenge rather than a safety issue.
Secret 4: Locksmiths Deal with Plenty of Drama
Your locksmith probably won’t tell you he or she has responded to a lockout with a corpse in the building or had to deal with the nasty effects of divorce. The truth is, most of them have. Locksmiths often receive calls from landlords who haven’t seen their tenants in several days and need to access a locked apartment or condo. The result is sometimes a deceased tenant who may have been dead for several days. Locksmiths regularly deal with divorce lockouts, too. It’s difficult for them because they often work with one partner and then have to refer the locked out one to a competitor, causing them to lose business. As much as possible, avoid bringing locksmiths into personal, volatile situations.
