Master Lock Directional Combination Lock, Set Your Own Directional Lock, Combination Lock for Gym and School Lockers, 1500iD

Amazing lock. Tested from the spring of 2015 to the summer of 2016. Based on the reviews I've read before purchasing this unique lock, I never would've guessed that it works 100% of the time. This lock is a bit thicker than most but that's due to its mechanism and very unique lock structure. Positives of his lock include the ability to open it up with only one hand and it's very stylish metallic body. Along with allowing you to set your own unique "password". Mine currently works with a set of 8 shifts with one shift repeated twice. The main problem that kept coming up during the first week was that the middle knob kept getting stuck on edges such as in the picture I've included. However, after months of usage, that hardly ever occurs unless specifically forced. It's as if it has its own break in period in where you just play around going up, down, left, right in order to get the lock all greased up and loose. The instructions for the lock must be taken seriously and must be done precisely in order to get the lock to remember your "password". This is where I had the most problems. I messed up once and couldn't open the lock with the new password I set. That's until I noticed it actually didn't recognize one of the shifts I made because the lock jammed up during a shift (main reason why you should play around and break it in before attempting to give it a new password). It was able to open up once I tried some variations of the password I tried to save into it. Just follow the instructions and the lock will work correctly. Keep notes of what you've registered into the new lock password beforehand just in case the new password you set didn't recognize of your shifts. For me, the ability to open up the lock with one hand outweighs the troublesome setup and break in, which is why I believe it's worth every penny. Just have patience. PS: For the first few days, I suggest a simple password that doesn't include two of the same shifts, one after the last one, such as up up or down down until your sure the lock is able to make those shifts.

If I lost this lock, I'd buy another without hesitation. That's the kind of review I always look for when I'm looking to buy something from Amazon. It's got a solid weight, good feel, and as long as you keep your thumb on the knob you won't have any problem with getting the combo wrong. The only negative is that it was just a bit too big to fit through the hole in the recessed latch-style lockers at my gym. The lockers that have those stick-out metal tabs work just fine. And for some odd reason, the company selling these doesn't let you pick the color you want. I would have picked blue, but got the red one. Luckily it's a very nice red, and I might actually like it better than the blue now. You'd think you could break the combo on these just by messing around since there are only 4 possible ways to go, but you can have sequences of more than four moves (I put 8 on mine), which means 256 possible combinations (>65,000 for 8 moves). I've never tried to have more. That would be overkill when I'm really just protecting my street clothes. Add to it that you need to yank on the lock twice before entering the combo, and you can feel pretty safe that a stranger isn't going to just walk up and guess your combo. There are a lot of reviews saying these things "decide" when they want to work. That's simply not true. Sure, you can't blaze through the sequence you set like a spastic monkey, but you can't really do that with the classic dial locks either. The problem these people are having is that they're letting go of the knob, which springs back just enough to register a stroke in the other direction. There's nothing to complain about here. That's the same as spinning a regular lock and complaining it didn't stop on "32".

I wanted a lock for my motorcycle fork that wouldn't require a key or tiny number tumblers. I received this lock in 3 days. That's good. The rest isn't worth even one star. (long story but there's no other way) The instructions for first opening the lock were not easy to find (the code to open was clear and prominent enough, but the initial instructions didn't say where to find them) but I opened the lock and went ahead with the programming of my own 12 step code sequence. The end result was that the lock would not open. So, I figured that I may have entered my code in haste, and maybe one of my 12 steps didn't go out far enough from center. So, I repeated my opening code sequence several times, each time omitting one of the 12 steps - and voila! - on the 5th try (skipping my step 5) the lock opened. So, now, I very, very carefully re-entered my code, making sure the center dome went out to the end of each stroke using only 8 steps instead of 12 (for obvious reasons!). The result was exactly the same. The lock wouldn't open! So, back to my Sherlock Holmes routine and - I opened it on the 4th try. Not willing to give up just yet I went through the set-up with my 8 codes, very, very, carefully, and at the end the lock wouldn't open no matter how many times I tried by skipping one of the 8 steps. At this point I reasoned that two, or more, of my set-up steps must have failed to take. Not being in a frame of mind to try 64 different opening steps (or maybe more?) I have no choice but to return it. It may be that this one lock is defective, but I am not about to risk one of these failing (even though upon receipt of a replacement it may work fine) when I have to hit the road on my motorcycle far from home on a Sunday night with no locksmith capable of removing the lock with bolt cutters. The one star I give it is for a good idea. But the execution must be 100% flawless. This one is far, far from it. UPDATE 10/30/2011 Repacement arrived and I programmed a simple 4 step code. Wouldn't open! Tried and tried and tried and on about the 10th attempt it opened. From then on it opened once every 6 to 10 attempts. No way am I going to find myself trying to open it over and over out in the real world. Great idea but totally unreliable mechanism.

I've had several of these in service for at least five years in a medium-light duty application: gate locks on several gates on a ranch. They they have been as reliable as any other lock I've used for this application, with the added advantage of requiring no keys, no glasses and no light to open. I soak 'em in soapy water at the end of dusty summer, rinse well, dry and then squirt some Teflon lubricant inside and with this treatment these locks have proven more resistant to icing than the conventional keyed locks. If they do ice up, a few moments in a warm hand does the trick. I just bought two more for two new gates and after seeing the negative reviews decided to share my own positive experience. These are not heavy duty locks, they won't stop a determined intruder, but they strike the perfect balance of security, convenience and reliability for me. Follow the instructions carefully and maybe you'll have as good of luck with these locks as I have. A final note, another reviewer stated all the locks come from the factory with the same combination. This has not been the case with the locks I have purchased. So if you buy in bulk pay close attention to the documentation with each lock so you can open it and reset the combo.

I'm going to start off by saying that the security features on this lock are outstanding. It has an anti-shim clasp, and the method of unlocking the lock via multi-directional dial (with pretty much endless possible combinations) is a genius idea! You pretty much have to destroy (or dismantle) the lock to get through it. I've spoken to an industry expert, and he told me this is one of the best pad/combo locks you can get today. With that said, below is my personal experience with the lock: So, I bought this lock despite multiple reviews stating that resetting the lock combination could lead to permanent malfunction. When I received the lock, I played around with the default combination, and the lock unlocked without any problems. I followed the instructions and changed the combination to a personal one. I was disappointed when the lock did not unlock. I tried my new, personal combination a few more times, and still no luck. At that point, I figured I had a non-functioning lock and decided I was going to return the lock to Amazon for a refund. However, for some reason, I continued to play around with the lock, attempting my personal combination over and over again just for the heck of it (because I knew I followed the instructions perfectly). Don't ask me why I did this, because I wouldn't be able to tell you. After trying my personal combination approximately 10 more times, it unlocked! I thought to myself, "Hmmm... maybe it'll work from here on out!" Not so much. Again, it took many repeated attempts for me to be able to unlock it (same combination over and over and over again). My wife and another couple we were having dinner with made a game out of it and tried to see who could unlock the lock the most. Every now and then, we were able to unlock it. Once we were done having fun with it in that manner, I decided to reset the combination and change it back to the default configuration (once one of us was able to finally get it unlocked again). I was able to successfully do this, and the lock locked and unlocked just fine. I reset it again and changed the combination to my personal combination once again, and now it works perfectly without any issues. I don't know if it just needed to get "broken in" or something, but it seems to work just fine now. As a result, I probably won't be returning it. My suggestion to those who follow the directions and find their lock not unlocking with their new, personal combination is to just keep at it until (hopefully) it unlocks. Then, reset the combination and try changing it again. Maybe, just maybe, it'll start working like it should. If not, return it. With that said, I hope my lock doesn't freeze up on me again should I decide to change the combination (hence, the minus one star for my troubles)... Oh yeah... and another thing. I didn't like the fact that I wasn't able to pick the lock color I wanted (the description states "Assorted colors," leading me to believe Amazon picks and chooses which color scheme they will send out). With four different color schemes in the pictures, there was only one I was hoping not to get. That meant I had a 75% chance of getting a color scheme I liked. I thought to myself, "Those odds aren't so bad." Well, guess what? I probably shouldn't go to Vegas anytime soon...

I wish this lock was still being made, and I’m glad I found one here. I love it! I can open it one-handed and without even looking.

This is my favorite unreliable lock. It's a neat little mechanical toy, but too cheaply constructed to be a good lock. Here are what I consider the pros, cons, important technical aspects, and some troubleshooting tips. Pros: * When it functions properly, it is usually faster and easier than dialing a combination on a typical locker dial combination lock or spinning the 4 wheels of a 4-digit combo lock. * It'easy on eyes that have trouble with little tick marks on dials. * It's easy on fingers that have trouble with little wheels. Cons: * It needs a thorough troubleshooting guide. * Many times it just won't open when you enter the right sequence of moves. * The shackle often sticks when you try to pump it up and down to clear a combination. * The internal components are plastic and cast metal, not machined metal. That's why it malfunctions so often. Technical Aspects: * Even though you can program it with a combination of arbitrary length, there are only 7,500 unique internal states, not counting the reset position. This means an internal state can be reached by more than one combo. For instance, if you program it to open with up-down-right-left it will also open with right-left-left because these two combos produce the same internal state. Another example is down-up-down-right is the same as left-down-right-right. * Any combo with 12 or more moves is equivalent to some combo or combos with 11 or fewer moves. This is because it takes at most 11 moves to reach any of the internal states. (All this info is available in a PDF on the toool.nl site, just Google "toool master lock speed dial"). Programming with a really really long combo won't make it extra secure. Troubleshooting: * Pushing the shackle down toward the lock body puts the internal wheels in the reset position. Several times the instructions refer to pumping the shackle twice in succession, and this is because they know the shackle can stick on the first pump. Well, it can also stick on the first two pumps, which also won't reset it. Pushing it down at least 4 or 5 times really quickly will ensure that it is really reset. * If the lock doesn't open after you set it to your own combination, it's most likely because it didn't properly reset between entering the factory combination and your own. If this happens, the new combination is the factory combination followed by your own combination. * There can be a lot of kickback in the opposite direction if you flick the button too fast. If you flick it to up really fast, it might actually move down below the center for a split second afterward, which effectively inserts an extra move in your combo. When you are setting the combination for the first time, do it slowly so you don't inadvertently insert extra moves. * The instructions say to use the nib of a ball point pen to move the little lever to change the combo. It's better to use something less tough, like a piece of plastic, because the little lever is prone to breaking off. Don't use something hard or metal like a screwdriver or you might break it. Overall I think it's too glitchy to secure anything important, but I do like playing around with it. I hope Master Lock comes out with a second version of this lock made with machined components some day. The concept is great, the manufacturing needs more quality control.

I already have one of these that I keep in my gym bag, and needed a second one for a similar purpose. For me, remembering a directional combo is a lot easier than remembering a numeric combo, and I can open it in one hand. Best of all, you can set your own combo, so I used the same combo as my first lock! So easy!

This lock is simply amazing. It’s easy to set up and use. No keys and very difficult to breach or break. easy reset of combinations. It’s sturdy and it’s the real original thing having used one previously bought from the US. No need to remember complicated numbers or letters of the alphabet. It’s just a mixture of four different cardinal directions. Great buy if you are looking for a tough keyless lock. Will fit most doors and latches in the Indian context

Il lucchetto è perfetto , bello , solido . Sono rimasto male perchè lo avevo preso per il mio armadietto da palestra ma per un nonnulla l'arco non entra dentro e non lo posso utilizzare , questo peò non toglie nulla alla bellezza ed alla perfetta funzionalità dell'oggetto. Imballo e blister da paura !!!

What a great idea! So easy and quick to operate, much better than fiddling with combination wheels or having to go and get a key to unlock the shed. For the reviewer who cannot remember the combination, you can change the sequence to something you can remember. Only downside; it's not weatherproof.

So far so good. I ordered 4, but the other padlock got broken in the same day i got them when i was setting the new codes. Rest were fine. Saw some reviews that this lock doesn't last. I am not sure though but i will see. I will edit my review when this happen to me. Made of sturdy steel. Feels secured.

Bought this lock because I wanted a different more simplicity gym lock. No one is going around thinking about breaking into my stuff at the gym... I hope. A lock is deterrent enough. I did need something basic and strong. I hate restring combo locks and bike lock dials. This was a good simple alt. Quality - 10/10. Looks and feels good. Nothing cheap. The body casting is a bit glossy and the paint doesn’t look like it will last too Long but it’s a lock not jewellery. Security - 10/10. Early to tell but the thing looks safe. Hard metals and good Mechanics. Convenience - 10/10. Easy to set up. Instructions are bang on. Great and easy password change option. Simple and easy to use. Nothing out of left field here. Reset to try again super easy. Squeeze 2X times.