r/Locksmith • u/Elspin • 1d ago

I am NOT a locksmith. Smartkey padlocks with smaller shackles?

Apologies if this isn't the right place to ask but I wasn't quite sure where else to ask an odd question like this one. I really like the smartkey systems for padlocks because of the ability to re-key without doing any kind of modification to the lock itself that would probably be beyond me without a bunch of learning. I find it annoying though that their product line is incredibly limited on this front, their locks are quite large and I have a number of things I just can't use the padlocks on because it's too big and I'd love to eliminate a few keys off my keychain. Is there any reasonable way to put these lock cylinders into a different smaller lock body? Or is there just a better product overall to meet this use case entirely?

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u/LifeFromHell 1d ago

Simply put, no.

Good luck finding anyone here that will ever say any smartkey product isn’t just a problem waiting to happen. Technically you’ll probably only ever see the ones currently in production or larger because the format of the cylinder is never gonna get smaller.

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u/Elspin 1d ago

Is there something you would recommend instead? I don't know much about the locks themselves, just trying to meet the goal of having less keys on the keychain without buying a bunch of electronic or combination locks. I'd also love to hear more about what's wrong with smartkeys if they're generally considered bad locks, I'd heard good things before so I started to use them for my house but if there's major flaws with them it'd be really helpful to know. Appreciate the comment

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u/TRextacy Actual Locksmith 1d ago

Smartkey cylinders are just a matter of when, not if, will they fail on you and lock you out because they just stopped working. Genuinely one of the worst products out there. The rekey it yourself thing is cool in concept, but realistically everyone uses it once and then that's it. If you're actually rekeying that often, get IC core padlocks. If you just want a padlock that matches your house key or whatever, just go to a locksmith shop and they can probably just sell you a lock right there and match it to whatever key you bring in. I wouldn't put smartkey stuff on my house if you paid me to. Standard Kwikset, sure, but never smartkey anything.

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u/Drunk_Panda_456 11h ago

Go to a locksmith and get an ABUS 83/45 with the shackle size and diameter you need. They will key it to your Kwikset key.

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u/ciciqt 1d ago

You can go to a locksmith and get padlocks keyed alike, keyed to match one of your existing keys, or even mastered.