On Wed, 2 Apr 2008 21:26:08 -0400, "Mark" wrote:

I had a double cylinder on my back door for 25 years. The door had small
windowpanes, easily broken and was somewhat secluded from view on the
outside. It entered onto the basement landing, making it also secluded from
the inside. It was the main door we used since our parking was at the rear
of the house.

I put decorative hooks on the wall at the top of the stairs where we always
hung our keys when we came in, with one hook with only a door key. My
theory was that even if one of us forgot to hang our keys there would always
be at least one there, and even in the worst case of fire we'd be able to
get out. The risk seemed much less than the possibility of someone breaking
one of the small panes and getting in.

If you had bottom posted, the relevance of my reply to you AND
Percival would be easier to show.

When I had the double lock, I lived in an apartment, with only one
exit. There was a fire escape, but I didn't want to resort to that
just because I couldn't find a key, and the fire escape is meant to be
one of two exits, not the sole exit.. If the fire is in my apartment,
there can be some who can exit through the door without crawling
through the flames, and others who can exit throught the fire escape
without crawling through the flames.

If the door can't be unlocked, some people may not be able to reach
the fire escape becaues of the fire. Although there never was one in
the building, and probably not even on the block, in the 12 years I
lived there.


"Percival P. Cassidy" wrote in message
...
On 04/02/08 12:11 am mm wrote:

What is the difference between sgl cyl & dbl cyl? -- Thanks

One is a seagull cylinder and the other is a Double Stuff Oreo
cylinder.

With double, if someone breaks in through a window, they can't unlock
the door to carry things out.

Also, if you have windows in that very door, they can't break the
glass and unlock the door.

I put in double when I had an apartment, because the fire escape was
accessible to others. But I never locked that deadbolt when I was
home, because I didn't want to depend on finding the key if there was
a fire, or if I were in a hurry. Even with various roommates, it was
easy to get them to follow the same rule. (and they weren't very good
learners otherwise.)


A few years back I lamented that I had been unable to find locks like the
lock (maybe Yale) I had on my front door in Australia: one did not need
the key to lock it, but, once the button was pressed and the door was
closed, the deadbolt tripped, so that the key was needed to open it either
from the inside or from the outside.

I was told that a lock that could not be opened from the inside without a
key was a safety hazard in the event of a fire and was a violation of the
Code.

Perce