Master Lock Folding Door Security Bar Review: Properly Secure Your Hinged or Sliding Doors, Even When Traveling

We tend to make home security quite technological and complicated. You can have Bluetooth door locks, HD cameras, door sensors, window sensors, and the ability to watch it all from anywhere in the world. Sometimes though, simple can be better. The Master Lock Folding Door Security Bar doesn’t connect to anything, but it will lock your house down just the way you want it!

The Master Lock Folding Door Security Bar is simple but effective. It’s a shade under 2 pounds and can be telescoped out from 25.5″ up to about 43.5″. You can also fold it in half for easy storage or travel, making it even more compact.

Adjusting it is simply a matter of lining up the locking bolts with the holes in the bar, and there are plenty of holes for precise fitting.

You can use the Master Lock Folding Door Security Bar in two ways: as a barrier for hinged doors or as a block to keep sliding doors closed.

It’s quite effective at both, and Master Lock has some thoughtful touches to the design, like rubber stoppers on the bottom and a handle-shaped end for the hinged doors that make it easy to set up without concern that you’re damaging the door or the floor.

I set it up against my front door and attempted to open it from the inside, and I couldn’t get the Master Lock to budge! Both the rubber stopper and the doorknob end can be removed easily if you’re using it as a sliding door bar.

I was especially excited to test it as a sliding door bar because my townhouse has them.

If you’ve ever lived someplace with, let’s say, “basic” sliding doors, you may remember that the locks are often flimsy, and the solution is to throw a piece of pipe or a dowel of wood along the track.

While that solution does work, it also offers some give because you can’t line it up exactly and still fit it in the opening.

The Master Lock Folding Door Security Bar can be micro-adjusted, so it’s a tight fit. This has also solved the slight draft issue my doors have from being a touch loose, which is a nice bonus.

So the Master Lock Folding Door Security Bar is a handy thing to have around, but the fact that it’s so portable makes it really intriguing. It can be folded up and packed in a suitcase for travel, so it’s portable security no matter where you are.

Staying in a sketchy hotel? Or maybe you’re a little concerned about how many people have keys to your Airbnb.

Maybe you’re in the middle of moving, and want to make sure things are secured while everything is in flux.

Whatever the reason, you can sleep soundly knowing you’re locked down and no one’s busting in on you.

The Master Lock Folding Door Security Bar is one of those inventions that fall under the heading of “so simple it’s brilliant.” Especially for the price, you can pick up a Master Lock Folding Door Security Bar for as low as $26.98 from Home Depot.

Sure, that’s about $20 more than you might spend for a piece of wood or pipe cut down to size, but you’re getting an actual fit and not an approximation, plus you can bring it on the go.

The Master Lock Folding Door Security Bar is the kind of thing you should keep in your home and could gift to someone who needs to outfit a new home. Plus, it’ll look far more organized and fancy when you take it off your sliding doors to open them for guests instead of an old sawed-off pipe!

The Master Lock Folding Door Security Bar sells for $45.03; it is available directly from the manufacturer and other retailers, including Home Depot and Amazon.

Source: Manufacturer supplied review sample

What I Like: Works with hinged and sliding doors; Folds for portability; Lightweight; Easy to adjust to various sizes; Has rubber stops to keep from damaging floors and doors

What Needs Improvement: A small pouch to hold unused hinge door hardware when in sliding door mode would be convenient