See Also:
The Shed Shackle - A unique product designed to improve security inside sheds

If you intend to lock a building, a shed or a cabinet, you are likely to need a hasp & staple. A hasp and staple is used in combination with a padlock. You should also check the security of the hinges for the shed door.

The products mentioned below are listed in our online shop.

Hasp & Staple: Locking a Shed Door or Wooden Double Doors

A hasp & staple comprises a hinged hasp that is typically fitted to the side of a door, and a loop on a plate (the staple) that is fitted to the surrounding structure/doorframe and that is protected by the hinged plate of the hasp when secured. There are many of these hasps on the market, and most are very poor and are easy targets for a thief! This is one of the key reasons why shed crime is on the increase: Shed doors are generally not properly protected!

Here is a check-list for gauging the quality of a hasp & staple:

• A good hasp will be fitted with bolts going right through the wood for both the hasp and for the staple, with nuts on the inside. This is crucial: If either the hasp or the staple rely solely on wood screws, with no bolt, it is generally easy for a thief to simply crowbar it out of the wood. Once he has done that, he can get into your shed. Having even a single bolt on the hasp and another single bolt on the staple makes a huge difference as crowbar etc attacks now have to break the bolt or they have to pull the nut right through the timber. Both of these are much harder than simply pulling wood screws out of the wood;
• A good hasp will have fixings that are concealed for both sides! Sometimes, the fixings are concealed on the staple but exposed for the hasp - Doh! To be protected, they both need to be concealed!
• A good hasp will have a properly welded hinge pin, not a pin that is simply pressed into the hinge ...as it can be pushed out by tapping it with a hammer;
• A good hasp will be hardened to defeat most sawing and drilling attacks (many hasps are just soft metal, so they are easy for a thief to cut with simple tools);
• A good hasp will have a thick and strong staple as that staple is often easy prey for thieves;
• A good hasp will allow you to use a closed shackle padlock, as an open shackle padlock will surely be a target for a thief!

We designed our HS1 Heavy Duty Hasp & Staple to include all of the above features, and more, as we wanted it to be better than any comparable-priced hasp on the market. The photo above shows the main components of the HS1 without its fitting kit.

The HS1 hasp is more expensive than budget hasps, but modest investments to keep thieves out of your shed can be the best investments of all! We also offer it in a Package Deal with a recommended Squire SS50CS padlock, at a bargain price!

Door Hinges

A good hasp & staple and a good padlock can give good security to that side of a shed door or to the middle of double doors, but it is of little benefit unless the hinges are also of good quality and properly fitted. It is unusual that thieves exploit the hinges themselves, but the fixing of the hinges is another very common target for thieves. Again, just having wood screws leaves them easy for a thief to rip out of the wood and to gain rapid entry by opening the door the wrong way round. It is crucial that both sides of every hinge are bolted-through, with nuts on the inside of the shed, to avoid allowing the thief such easy opportunities to gain entry to the shed.

Here is a check-list for gauging the quality of your hinges and hinge fitting:

• Every hinge should normally be fitted with at least one but better two coach bolts going right through the wood on both sides, with nuts on the inside. Just as for the hasp & staple, having bolts on both sides is crucial: If either the leaf (that goes on the door) or the mounting (that goes on the door frame) rely solely on wood screws, with no bolt, it is generally easy for a thief to simply crowbar it away from the wood. Once he has done that, he can get into your shed. Bolts make all the difference. The exception can be where the hinge leaf and/or its mounting is concealed inside the door jamb, i.e. in the crack between the door and the frame. We still prefer large hinges mounted across the face of the door and the frame, with bolts going right through the wood, as these reinforce a much larger area of the wood, whereas hinges fitted into the door jamb sometimes use small screws that can still be vulnerable to being torn out with a crowbar;
• Good hinges will have a properly welded hinge pin, not a pin that is simply pressed into the hinge ...as it can be pushed out easily;
• Good hinges should normally be pretty big! The leaf (door side) should be at least 250mm (10") long and ideally longer, with 4 fixing holes (2+ of them using coach bolts), and the mounting side should be at least 150mm (6") tall and also with 4 fixing holes (2+ bolted with coach bolts);
• And the thicker the metal, the better! It is usually difficult for a thief to saw through hinges as they are right against the wood, but avoiding realy thin metal has to help improve the deterrent effect.

If you have hinges that are simply held in position with wood screws and no coach bolts, our Beef-Up Kit may help as it provides a selection of bolts etc to help you bolt right through the door and frame such that it is no longer a case of just pulling out some wood screws with a crowbar. There is more explanation on the Beef-Up Kit page.