On 11 Dec, 21:50, "mark" wrote:
What sort of padlock is best for an outside shed.

Best? Abus Diskus Plus. Failing that, a decent copy of it.

It's a "disc" padlock, which is a good design for outdoors. Rather
than small pins to control the lock and a shackle relying on loose
locking balls and a bit of spring assist, the rotating circular
shackle of a disk is moved positively by turning the cylinder. It'll
get just as sticky as a straight shackle, but you've got much better
"wiggle" to move it loose afterwards.

It's a close shackle, so it's hard to cut off.

It's a simple design with fewer ways to make cheaper and nastier - so
the cheapies are still reasonable.

The Diskus Plus also uses an Abus key patent for keys actuated by the
angle of a cut in their face, not a pin depth. This makes them secure
against picking, but also far more robust against worn keys and
internal stickiness.

Never put WD40 near a lock, and 3-in-1 is even worse. They're sticky,
so they collect dust in the future. Good fix today, bad for next
winter. Best thing (esp. indoors) on a pinned or wafer lock is just
dry flake graphite (flake, not pencil) which you buy in a little
puffer bottle from a locksmith or decent hardware shop. Couple of
quid, lasts a lifetime. For outdoor stuff, the PTFE gun oils (Tri-
flow, Break-free) are hard to find but good and weather resistant.
For re-assembling lever locks (i.e. "mortice" locks) after
dismantling, use a light grease or vaseline.