Bike theft could be a thing of the past thanks to a new lock that could turn thieves into a vomiting mess.
The Skunklock is a new invention that releases a burst of noxious spray when someone tries to break it.
So if a bike thief tries to make off with your beloved fixie, they’ll be covered with a spray similar to pepper spray, which in theory, could make them throw up.
The Skunklock is the invention of two San Franciso inventors who were sick and tired of having their bikes pilfered.
“Basically we were fed up with thefts,” said co-inventor Daniel Idzkowski, from San Francisco. “The real last straw was we had a friend park his very expensive electric bike outside a Whole Foods, and then went to have lunch and chat. We went out and his bike was gone.”
Idzkowski’s friend had used two locks, each $120, whose inability to stop a thief outraged him. “I blurted out, ‘why didn’t it blow his balls off?’”
Potential explosive castration aside, that idea got the inventors working on a device that would tag a thief if they attempted to nick their bike.
With co-inventor, Yves Perrenoud, Idzkowski created a U-shaped lock of carbon and steel with a hollow chamber to hold one of three pressurised gases of their own concoction, including one called “formula D_1”. When someone cuts about 30% of the way into the lock, Idzkowski said, the gas erupts in the direction of the theif.
“It’s pretty much immediately vomit inducing, causes difficulty breathing.”
Now at time of writing, the Skunklock is still in testing, with the inventors trying out formula D_1 on themselves and volunteers at distances of two feet (60cm), five feet, 10ft and 20ft. “At two feet it was pretty bad. It was absolutely vomit inducing in 99% of people. At five feet it’s very noticeable and the initial reaction is to move away from it. At 10ft it’s definitely detectable and very unpleasant.”
As The Guardian reports Idzkowski said their chemical had passed compliance tests and was legal, and that its variants were designed to be compliant according to the varying rules of 50 states, major cities and EU nations.
The Skunklock is currently in its crowdfunding phase, where a $99 (around £80) gives backers a SkunkLock on release come June 2017.
