Walk into any self-storage facility and you'll see round disc locks on half the units. They're usually cheap, shiny, and made by companies you've never heard of. They exist because ABUS invented this form factor in the early 1960s and the rest of the industry has been photocopying the homework ever since. But here's what the copies skip: the stainless steel body that's hand-welded (not stamped). The ABUS Plus disc cylinder (not a standard pin tumbler). The 250,000 key combinations. The drill protection. The pull protection. The fact that it's actually made in Germany by the company that designed the concept in the first place.
The Diskus 20/70 is what happens when the original inventor keeps iterating on their own design for half a century. Everything about it is deliberate.
Why Round Matters
The disc lock shape isn't just aesthetic — it's the whole security concept. A traditional padlock has an exposed shackle that sticks up above the body, creating a gap for bolt cutters, saws, and pry bars to grab onto. The Diskus inverts this by recessing the shackle almost entirely within the round body. What you're left with is a narrow opening on each side — just enough for the shackle to pass through a hasp — and virtually nothing for an attack tool to grip.
Pair it with the ABUS Diskus Hasp 140 (sold separately but strongly recommended) and the shackle disappears entirely. The hasp wraps around both sides of the lock, leaving zero exposed metal. Bolt cutters become useless because there's nothing to cut. Pry bars become useless because there's nowhere to insert them. The only attack surface left is the keyway — and the ABUS Plus disc cylinder handles that.
The cheap disc locks at the hardware store copy the shape. They don't copy the cylinder, the steel, the welding, or the engineering. Shape without substance is just a round-looking pin tumbler with the same old vulnerabilities in a new outfit.
Mounted on the ABUS 140 hasp, the shackle is completely enclosed. There's nothing for tools to grab. This is how it's meant to be used.
The ABUS Plus Cylinder: Not What You'd Expect Inside
Here's where the 20/70 separates itself from every imitation disc lock on the market. The cheap knockoffs use standard pin-tumbler cylinders inside a round body — which means they're vulnerable to all the same attacks as any other pin-tumbler lock. Raking, single-pin picking, bumping — all still on the table. You just can't cut the shackle as easily.
The Diskus 20/70 uses an ABUS Plus disc cylinder instead. This is a disc-based mechanism (not the same as the Abloy disc detainer, but a related concept) that provides what ABUS calls their "highest protection against manipulation." It offers 250,000 unique key combinations — orders of magnitude more than a standard pin tumbler — along with built-in drill protection, pull protection, and a cylinder cover that keeps dirt and water out of the mechanism.
The practical result: the 20/70 is virtually pickproof for anyone using standard pin-tumbler techniques, because there are no pins to pick. The disc mechanism requires a fundamentally different approach, specialized tools, and knowledge that most attackers — even experienced locksport hobbyists — simply don't have for this particular platform.
ABUS Plus disc cylinder — not a pin tumbler in a round body. 250,000 key combinations. Stainless steel body inside and out. Hand-welded seam for maximum break resistance. Hardened alloy steel shackle, double bolted. Built-in drill and pull protection. Cylinder cover against dirt and moisture. ABUS Security Level 9. Keyed alike option across multiple locks. Made in Germany.
The Build Quality You Can Feel
Pick up a cheap disc lock from a hardware store, then pick up a Diskus 20/70. You'll feel the difference before you even look at the specs. The 20/70 is heavy — the stainless steel body has actual mass to it, because it's solid material, not a stamped shell with air inside. The hand-welded seam joining the two halves of the body is precise and smooth. The shackle drops into place with a solid, satisfying click. The key turns with the kind of precision that makes you think "this was built by people who care about locks."
The stainless steel construction also means genuine corrosion resistance. This isn't chrome plating over cheap metal — it's stainless steel all the way through. Coastal environments, outdoor storage yards, industrial sites with chemical exposure — the 20/70 handles all of it without seizing up or corroding the way a plated brass padlock would within a season.
What to Know Before You Buy
A few important caveats. First, the 20/70 is not rekeyable. The cylinder is keyed at the factory in Germany. If you want multiple locks on the same key, you order them keyed alike. If you need to change the key later, you're buying a new lock. For most storage applications this is fine — for commercial fleet management where rekeying matters, look at the ABUS 83/55 instead.
Second, the 10mm shackle diameter is too thick for many gym and school locker hasps. This lock is designed for storage-style hasps, gate latches, and the ABUS 140 hasp. Check your hasp opening before ordering.
Third — and this is important — buy the ABUS 140 hasp. Seriously. The Diskus design only achieves its full potential when the shackle is completely enclosed. Using a 20/70 on a standard open hasp still leaves the shackle partially exposed, which defeats the purpose of the round body design. The lock and hasp are designed as a system. Use them as one.
Not rekeyable — factory keyed in Germany. Shackle is too thick (10mm) for gym/school lockers. Needs the ABUS 140 hasp to reach full potential — without it, shackle is partially exposed. Key code card must be kept safe — needed for ordering additional keys. More expensive than knockoff disc locks by 5–10x. No key control beyond the code card system.
The Spec Sheet
| Category | ABUS Diskus 20/70 |
|---|---|
| Mechanism | ABUS Plus disc cylinder |
| Key Combinations | 250,000 |
| Body Material | Stainless steel (interior + exterior) |
| Body Diameter | 70mm (2.75") |
| Shackle | Special hardened alloy steel, 10mm |
| Shackle Locking | Double bolted |
| Welding | Hand-welded seam |
| Drill Protection | Yes |
| Pull Protection | Yes |
| Cylinder Cover | Yes — dirt and moisture protection |
| Rekeyable | No — factory keyed |
| ABUS Security Level | 9 |
| Origin | Germany (ABUS) |
| Price | ~$55–$90 |
| NoPryZone Score | 8.5 / 10 |
The Lock That Invented Its Own Category
The ABUS Diskus 20/70 is the lock that every storage facility disc lock is trying to be. The difference is that the knockoffs copy the round shape and skip everything that actually matters — the disc cylinder, the stainless steel, the hand-welded construction, the 250,000 key combinations, the drill and pull protection.
For storage units, containers, warehouses, gates, and any application where you can use the ABUS 140 hasp, the 20/70 eliminates both the physical attack vector (nothing to cut) and the manipulation vector (no pins to pick) in a single package. At $55–$90, it costs maybe five times what the knockoff costs — and provides roughly fifty times the actual security.
Buy it. Buy the hasp. Mount them together. Forget about it. That's the entire strategy, and it works.