Back Page, December 2025
10 Years Ago
Just like this month, our December 2015 issue highlighted the best products of the year. Our Best of 2015 coverage included an article on the best key machines, highlighting the HPC Rapidkey 7000, the Ilco Futura and the 3D Pro Extreme from Laser Key Products. The Best of Electronic Access Control article looked at the Camden CV-350 access control system, the Schlage NDE lock with Engage technology, Paxton Net2Entry, the SDC IP Pro controller and Alarm Lock’s Trilogy Networx. Another “Best of” article listed rim-mounted electric strikes: the HES 9700 Series, Trine 4800 Series, Rofu 2464 Series and RCI 0162 and 0563 models. On the automotive front, top products included Genuine Lishi picks, which revolutionized automotive locksmithing, Advanced Diagnostics’ T-Code Pro and MVP Pro and the 884 Keyline Decryptor Mini. The Jumpbox from Lockmasters, which eliminates the need to drill many electronic safe locks made its debut. Multiple small sales can have a huge impact on your store’s revenues and profits. Lucky Line’s Jan Howard-Merutka noted in her article, “Maximize the Value of Your Impulse Sales.” Other articles looked at biometric trends and hinge replacement.
20 Years Ago
Tom Gillespie recommended things to consider before purchasing a new key machine. Jerry Levine tested a Rytan RY2000 which punches out key cuts. Gale Johnson checked the Jet Keys line of key machines. Jerry Levine showed how to service profile cylinders. Rod Oden devised ways to determine what a specific master key system bitting array is and then to expand the master key system when all normal key cuts have been exhausted. Tim O’Leary provided a primer on card readers and keypads. O’Leary also suggested biometrics as a new, more secure access control system. Bill Silver, then president of Security Hardware Distributors Association (SHDA), explained a new program called SHDA University. Jerry Levine lock reviewed the CCL super-sized Sesamee padlocks. Gale Johnson commented on rekeyable lock cylinders from Hampton Products. Keysure showed their key control system with owners’ keys sealed in tamperproof containers. Billy Edwards introduced the various keyways available from American Lock Company. Jerry Levine advocated the sales of personal safes as a growth market. GE offered the Stor-A-Key system for securely storing keys for emergencies. Tiny tested the Ilco Triax-E-Code machine.
20 Years of YouTube, Google Maps
It’s hard to believe that YouTube and Google Maps have only been part of our lives for 20 years! Video-sharing platform YouTube made its debut in February 2005 with a short video of a day at the zoo. Today it has grown to include approximately 14 billion public videos, with more than 500 hours of content uploaded every minute. Locksmiths can learn to install or service nearly any lock or door hardware product, if they find the RIGHT YouTube videos.
Today, the challenge is sorting through the multitudes of channels. Every manufacturer has one, which can be a huge help in researching products. SecurityInfoWatch, Security Business, Security Executive and Locksmith Ledger’s combined channel can be found at https://www.youtube.com/@Securityinfowatch. Two of our other favorites are https://www.youtube.com/@waynewinton (check out his podcast series) and https://www.youtube.com/@clksupplies, which hosts a regular Tuesday night gathering of locksmiths.
And who can imagine getting to jobsites quickly without GPS running off apps like Google Maps and Waze? I don’t think many of us want to pull out those folded paper maps and atlases again, unless these services have some sort of catastrophic outage.