Getting locked out of your home is terrible. There’s no debate about it. Not only can lockouts pose a major inconvenience for your schedule, potentially delaying your to-do list for hours, they can actually pose a major safety and security risk – especially when locked outside at home at night, or worse, in freezing or wet temperatures. Here’s a guide from the Raleigh lockout service and security experts at DKNY Locksmith Raleigh on how to never get locked outside of your home again.
Check your pockets or purse
This is the sort of action you want to cement into becoming a habit. Before you lock your doors, make sure to check your pockets or bag for your keys; a simple graze or touch of them will suffice. If you do this every single day, it will sink into your muscle memory, and become an easy and natural action for you.
Buy a Lock Pick
While we at DKNY Locksmith think that delicate lock operations should be left to the experts, we think it’s smart to buy a lock pick if nothing else but to be prepared. However, lock picks aren’t allowed in every State, so you might want to check your local legal codes. Additionally, not all locks can be picked – but if you learn how to do so, having a small lock pick handy in your wallet can prove a saving grace if you ever get locked outside of your building.
Keep a Spare Key
We always recommend keeping a spare key on hand for your home – but it’s never a good idea, despite the common use of this strategy, to hide spare keys underneath your doormat or under a rock. You may want to keep your spare key inside your wallet so it’s always on you. If you decide you absolutely want to hide your spare key somewhere outside of your door, make sure to hide it well – the key to doing this is to hide in a deeply inconvenient place – think at the bottom of the dirt of a potted plant. You want to hide spare keys somewhere where it cannot fall out, be spotted, or even be retrieved easily. However, we really stress that we believe it’s a much safer security strategy to either carry a spare key on you, or if this is too much, give a spare key to a trusted neighbor, or local friend or family member. This way, if you find yourself locked out, you can always contact them and retrieve your spare key right away.
Have a Designated Spot for Keys in your Home
Always leave keys in a particular spot in your home – we recommend a small dish on an uncluttered shelf near your front door. This way, you can integrate placing / removing keys from this area into your muscle memory, and it will become nearly second nature to you. By ensuring you have a designated space or area for your keys, you can always be sure where they are (at least when you’re home,) which takes half the struggle out of your personal organization.
Carry the Contact Information for a Trusted Licensed Locksmith
Make sure to always have the contact information for a local trusted licensed locksmith programmed into your phone. Here at DKNY Locksmith we pride ourselves on our rapid response times, meaning that if you find yourself inconveniently locked out of your home or business, that you can contact us and relax in knowing that your lockout predicament will be solved in an incredibly efficient and professional manner, restoring your safety and security, and allowing you resume your busy schedule, or finally kick back.