I believe that I have bought the world's most useless lock.

It is a Brookstone cable lock to use on zippered bags. It is a TSA-approved lock, meaning that they can open it with keys they have.

Okay, that is unavoidable given the fact that the TSA, in most airports, inspects your checked luggage out of your sight.

However, this particular lock has two other problems:

1. The cable is so thin that I suspect that a strong nail clipper could cut through it.

2. The combination is changed by setting the combination to 0 0 0, depressing a button, and putting in the new combination.

Note: You do not have to know what the old combination was. Anyone, therefore, can change the combination on your lock to whatever he wants and then proceed to open it.

Ah well, at least you don't have to worry about forgetting your combination and not being able to get into your luggage. Just set a new one.

So funny....
i guess the feature of "forget the combo and reset it when you want" makes it a wonderful product for Brkstone to sell.....

Well at least this one can't be blamed on the TSA...

Note: for the uninitiated, "TSA approved" does not mean that the TSA has taken the lock to some mysterious TSA lock testing laboratory to determine the effectiveness of said lock, only that it can be opened using a TSA key.

Clearly this is a case of some manufacturer finding a way to get useless locks made for a few cents and branding them as a high-quality, "TSA approved" lock for unsuspecting victims to purchase.

But a question for the OP - was this lock in a sealed, opaque container when you bought it? How did you only notice its uselessness after purchasing it?

Locks are made for honest people. This is my take on it after 20 years working in the key/lock business. If they want to get in..they will. I don't care how good or expensive the lock is. Luggage, door frames and windows are all vulnerable..

Yes, it was in sealed, opaque, container -- in fact, there were two of them in that container.

I plead guilty to knowing that the TSA could open it. In fact, that was the purpose in buying the lock.

I might have looked more closely and saw how flimsy the cable was, but I didn't.

I really had no way of knowing that the combination of the lock could be reset by someone who didn't know it, when it was locked, until I got curious and tried doing it.

It tells thieves: "There're something valuable inside. Open it"

I use a ggreen twistie from the fruit/veggie dept of the local supermarket. Far cheaper and just as effective.

MisterNice

Have you tested this? I ask because I bought a bunch of similar locks from Brookstone (pre-TSA) and they work slightly differently.

The initial, factory setting was 0,0,0 and the button had to be in this position when it was pushed-in to change the setting. But then to change the setting again, the lock had to be set to whatever I had re-set it to in the first place; it could NOT be reset from the 0,0,0 position.

This wasn't at all clear from the instructions which came with the lock.

Just wondering if the design has changed to make the locks less useful.

When I opened the box today, I set the new combination. Then I tried changing it by putting the new combination where the 0 0 0 had originally been. It did not work.

I then put the 0 0 0 in its original place, tried changing the combination again, and this time it did work.

I know it makes no sense, but that was the results. (It is also what the instructions say to do but I had presumed that they only meant to use the 0 0 0 the first time. My presumption was wrong.)

maybe someone should check a bag with a tsa approved lock on it with said bag containing nothing but 3 week old dirty laundry or something else just as malodorous*



*you decide-f/t tos prohibits me from saying what i think should be in the bag

Mixed in with a bunch of faulty/rusted out/not-working electronics...maybe an old 8-track?

And use high end luggage to seal the deal.

I would be sorely tempted to fill a carryon with what I shovel up from the horse stall.

Oh Yuck! That is brain dead. Thanks for confirming this.