Here's what my back door looks like now: I really need to make sure I unlock the knob before I go out that way... Side note: Small rock = not good window breaker Pickaxe = GREAT window breaker
I have found that one of these inexpensive lock boxes from Home Depot can be a handy preventative in these types of situations.
He's probably referring to one of these. http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=p ... lpage=none I've been meaning to get one for a while for my house. You mount it somewhere outside and lock a spare key in it . I bought one for my mother-in-law after they were broken into because I knew she left a key outside under a flower pot. They are pretty rugged and secure. For only $29 I should go ahead and buy one. Probably cheaper than a locksmith or a replacement window.
Ask, ye shall receive: I could not find link specfic to Home Depot, but I did find a link to show the product in question: http://www.wholesalelocks.com/shurlok-l ... ckbox.html This lock is rather nice... uses letters instead of numbers which allows to pick a choice four letter word for your combination. Ten characters per dial, allowing for 10,000 different combinations. Avoid this type: http://www.wholesalelocks.com/avanti-gu ... ckbox.html It use a push button combination which, since button order is irrelevant, only provides a set of 1024 different combinations ( 10 buttons, 2 states = 2^10 = 1024) Even if button order were important, it would still only offer 5040 different combinations (10! / 6! = 10 * 9 * 8 * 7 = 5040).
Of course, there's always this informative video on how to bypass the locks of (presumably) your house.
A related story for you: About a year after I started dating my wife, she calls me at work one day. Here's the first thing she says... "How do you know when you need stitches?" Not what you want to hear at 9am. It turns out that she locked herself out of the house. Rather than finding a rock to break the glass, she let her temper get the best of the situation and hit it with her fist. The result was a nasty gash that continued to bleed despite her best efforts. Eventually she got it under control and avoided a trip to the ER. I repaired the damage with a plexiglass panel instead of glass