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Question for owners of skis

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
How many of you are using ski locks when you use racks outside restaurants and Apres?

I’ve been deliberating it for a while but wanted to hear thoughts and experiences.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
@DanFuller, do a search - loads of people do and loads of people don't. I do simply to avoid hassle of losing them by accident or deliberately. They have no insurance value now but some policies will not cover skis unless locked. Why wouldn't you, I say.
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Yeah usually. I tend to have quite distinctive skis and while some of them have had a hard paper round I don't want some scrote chancing his arm. If you've got something new shiny and highly desirable then even more reason. Mind you lots of "thefts" are indiscriminate or simply rental punters not knowing what type/model/detail of skis they've rented.
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I don't bother. But don't leave them hanging around at resort level.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Not at small huts in the middle of the mountain but at top - and especially bottom - of main lifts/gondolas etc I do. It's only a flimsy cable/combination lock though - sturdy pliers or tin-snips etc would probably cut it on first attempt however it will stop the accidental taking of my skis. If someone really wants to nick them, they will although mine are now 4 years old so prob a bit less likely.
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Cheers. The Dakine one is a tenner so may just get that.

I’m always stopping halfway down the mountain and my skis are brand new
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
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Mosha Marc wrote:
I don't bother. But don't leave them hanging around at resort level.


This is also my approach. Most of the thefts around here are in town
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Quote:

I don't bother. But don't leave them hanging around at resort level.

My approach too. I did once have a pair nicked but I had left them at a bus stop on the main drag for an hour (got distracted by an unexpected offer of a drink... Embarassed ).
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We left skis and boards unlocked on the garden-level terrace of our apartment night and day for 15 seasons - never got anything nicked. My OH started out faffing with long chains led through all the bindings but we soon gave that up. It was a very quiet area!
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Never. I guess that like other crimes, some places are more prone to thievery than others.
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@DanFuller, we have the Dakine ones and also rarely leave them at resort level anyway. Rationales are:

1. If we have to claim, we can honestly say they were locked.
2. It stops idiots taking them by mistake.
3. It makes them that much less attractive if someone fancies them.

On using tin snips: I locked mine to the rails of a base station using my sis in law's lock who wasn't there and whose code I had no idea. I asked one of the lifties if he had tin snips, no questions, 2 minutes later, free as a bird.
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 And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
We have got a cable lock thingie but rarely use it. OH has new skis this year, the ones I am using are countless years old, and so far if we have stopped at a busy cafe up the mountain we have split the pairs, just to stop someone taking them by mistake. Would really try to avoid leaving them at top or bottom of gondola etc or at street level.
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We lock ours after we came out of a restaurant in VT once and found a chap trying to put my skis on. It did appear a genuine mistake, his skis were a little like mine and he was very apologetic, but had his boot been as big as mine he would have gone before we knew. Locks won't stop a thief, but why would a thief bother with locked skis when there are so many unlocked.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
We are a family of four so at the mountain restaurant we mix up our skis and put them in different racks so one of mine would be paired up with one of my daughters and so on. I would not leave them unlocked near a gondola or in resort.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
thecramps wrote:
We lock ours after we came out of a restaurant in VT once and found a chap trying to put my skis on. It did appear a genuine mistake, his skis were a little like mine and he was very apologetic, but had his boot been as big as mine he would have gone before we knew. Locks won't stop a thief, but why would a thief bother with locked skis when there are so many unlocked.


Yeah this was my thinking, even if they are delayed for 5 mins I always leave mine in sight.
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Yes. I bought my lock after my brother in law had his high-end rental skis lifted from outside a restaurant near La Tania a few years ago, though I tended not to use it all that often.

That changed last season when my own skis disappeared from a rack in Flaine near the lifts. By chance a short while later I saw a guy walking towards the lifts carrying my skis and poles (which are a very distinctive colour). He'd just skied a run and was heading back for more when I approached him. I think it was an honest mistake - he was amicable enough, but seemed a bit dopey and insisted they were his rental skis because they fitted his boots and were the approximate colour of the ones he'd had, despite the absence of any rental shop stickers or markings. We settled the matter by going to the rental shop, where they confirmed they were not his skis and were not even the same colour after all. The lock now gets used at every stop.

The incidents I've waffled on about above were both near roads and/or base lifts, but I know of a couple of others that occurred outside mountain restaurants.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
I lock mine up on Friday afternoons as it the day before change over and many skis seem to walk! Mind you the lock I use is very poor!
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
removal of duplicate


Last edited by Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see? on Wed 16-01-19 17:25; edited 1 time in total
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I have a lock and usage is inversely proportional to ski age. My original skis are now a bit trashed and scratched so I can't be bothered locking them. When my brand new ones go out they will be getting locked as a deterent to the casual thief.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
I have a lock, primarily to stop inadvertent "theft" outside mountain restaurants. I nearly always forget to use it. The only times I have remembered have been at base stations or in town. I do try to split skis with family/companion if possible. It has worked so far (several years of multiple weeks per season, across a range of French and scandi resorts).
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BobinCH wrote:
Mosha Marc wrote:
I don't bother. But don't leave them hanging around at resort level.


This is also my approach. Most of the thefts around here are in town

+1
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Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
I've had one of those cable ski locks for a while but didn't really use it much. Will definitely be locking skis and looking after poles since my bro had a set of £80 Leki poles swiped at lunch and the £20 cheapies I had went missing too.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
double entry


Last edited by After all it is free Go on u know u want to! on Wed 16-01-19 17:35; edited 2 times in total
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I never bother locking mine. And neither do I wrap my credit cards in tin foil Laughing
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@Pamski, I am not sure splitting them helps the taken by mistake thing. Outside a restaurant last season, distraught person,

"lost my skis, wail, someones taken them, wail"
"Oh there they are" - pointing at a very fluo pair of bright yellow ones
"no darling", says the other half, "yours are pink and have flowers on them"*

*All true but edited for political correctivity

Can just imagine, "Some boogers gone and locked my skis to this tree!! Barsteward!" ...
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 snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
I never bother locking mine. And neither do I wrap my credit cards in tin foil Laughing
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 And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
@under a new name, Very Happy Very Happy
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Got a lock. Always lock our skis.
Feel anxious if don't.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
I "Swap and Lock".....and always bring my Graphite Poles with me.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Quote:

I do try to split skis with family/companion if possible. It has worked so far (several years of multiple weeks per season, across a range of French and scandi resorts).

Post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy. wink
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
@pam w, Brainiac!
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Yes, have a Safeman lock. Light enough to carry in ski jacket pocket, adds about 30 secs to arrival and departure.
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
My skis are not the most sought after. And I have tiny feet, hence the binding is set so small almost no one's boot fit. I think that's the reason I haven't had much issue of people taking my skis by mistake.

I casually leave them outside in the mountains. But I don't leave them leaning against the rack at a bus station, nor the rack outside the ticket window. Those are the 2 places people grab the skis without actually trying to step into the binding. Mistake could happen there leaving me the victim.

I really don't believe in locks stopping real thief. If it's a high value skis, a thief WILL take it, lock or no lock. To prevent mistakes, you can also put unique stickers (or even your name) on the skis. Less work than locks and IMV just as effective.
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Locks will only deter honest people.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Have got a lock but never used it, always swap a ski with another member of our group and then put the non matching set together, stops anyone making an honest mistake of taking the wrong ones
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I don't use a lock, but usually try to play swap-a-ski with someone else in the group so that both of my skis aren't together, and leave the now mismatched pairs some distance from each other.
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@MountainIdiot, no, it doesn't, not always...people are way too stupid for that
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Bin dun many times before.

My insurance says something like they're covered for theft if "forcibly removed". Therefore if I use a cheap cable lock, it requires some kind of force to remove them, other than just lifting them.

It won't stop a determined thief, sure, but at least I can say that I've done my part to satisfy insurance.
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Never locks. I always split them.
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VaDinci wrote:
Locks will only deter honest people.


That's all I want, to make it a bit more difficult to steal my skis than it is the skis next to mine.
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