Are all ski locks more or less equal.

A snowHead

Ooo, the pedants are going to love that subject line Laughing

I can buy a retractable cable lock for between about £5 and £14, or a cable lock that doesn't retract for similar money. Is a cheaper lock better than the dearer ones, are the non-rectractable type stronger etc.

A snowHead

Not really sure Megamum, have seen all manner of ski locks and bought a retractable one myself some years ago. Have never actually used it and still have my skis to use Shocked

I think they are mainly a deterrent as anything can be cut and a lot of the portable tools people carry could do this.

I tend to either split skis or stack em near another unlocked and newer pair than my own Smile

working on the basis that they are more attravtive to any potential thief than mine Toofy Grin

But I would work on the fact that the thicker the cable the stronger they are ( and heavier to carry )

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Megamum, I bought a retractable, 4 digit krypton number - about £14. I thought the v cheap ones looked insubstantial. It's not at all heavy to carry.

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As long as you have a lock your insurance company will be happy. Any small lock can be cut by a decent pair of snips.

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Scarpa, Yes, none of them look that substantial, but I suppose their use deters the 'opportunist thief' at least in the eye of the insurance company - my own Leatherman has cutters that I think would go through most of them (handy though if I forget the combination!!)

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Megamum,

ebay link

on ebay pal snowHead

After all it is free

Megamum, I really have never experienced anyone stealing ski's.

^^ I have

We were sitting outside a restaurant with all the skis leant against the fence nearby and some guy walked past and blatantly picked up a pair of skis belonging to a guy in our group! Luckily he saw him do it and he put them back..

Also, many years ago in Alpe D'Huez thieves cleared out all the non-hire skis from the boot room in our hotel one night. My dad and brother both had their new skis nicked!

Our ski host had a ski lock last week, and I really must buy one. My skis are about 3 years old now but I still don't want them stolen! His looked quite heavy duty and as said, it's just a deterrent to make someone move on to the next pair. At the moment I just swap mine - and hide them underneath hire skis!

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Whistler has on average, 1 pair of skis stolen per day,per mountain, during a season. not mention to snowboards, which is probably higher.....
most are believed to be opportunistic, but that hasn't been substantiated.
so having a lightweight lock is probably better then having nothing.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

We use a lightweight cable lock. It is only a deterrent, and light cable cutters could cut it, so in addition we split our skis, matching one of mine with one of Mr DS's, and put them in different places, stacking them so one of his skis is showing and one of mine - so the matching pair isn't obvious.

So somebody trying to steal them would have to cut the cable AND find the other half-pair. There are probably easier pickings available, so unless they really want some Racetigers, they would go elsewhere.

It's just about making your skis less worthwhile to steal compared to all the others around them. Somebody who really wants them, knows you've got them, and has the right equipment will steal them anyway.

snow reports

I use this Combination Retractable Cable Lock

As I see it If someone wants your ski's they will have the means to get them.

I use a lock for 2 reasons:

1, Stops the genuine accidental pick up, it can happen with popular skis + a few pints Smile

2, Dear mister insurance company I took all reasonable measures to secure my skis............ Give me some news ones TY Smile

(May I suggest that we start banning people who post huge links which screw up the page, instead of using the [url] tag properly? Very Happy

)

Seriously though, it's incredibly annoying, especially when you're using a laptop Sad

You know it makes sense.

My skis are quite short (154) so I put then next to long ones. On the theory people tend to want to "upgrade" to longer skis not the other way around. Wink

I don't think people would take mine by mistake, how ever many pints they've drank.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

I would reccomend a retractable cable lock,.. & go for whichever one you can afford.- & dont just lock them together like some iv seen,... Lock them to the rack or a fence!!!
A member of our party once had her hired snowboard go missing at the end of the day, whilst we were in a bar.....& upon visiting the shop the next day to report it etc.. (tail between her legs) she discovered that the shopkeeper himself had picked it up and taken it in for safe keeping....
Puzzled

A snowHead

A snowHead

mark_s, I guess you mean when some wrights follow THIS LINK and the URL is activated as the text is clicked. I know how to do this in something like an Office application, but don't know how to do this on this board - if someone can point me/us at the instructions which I guess are around here somewhere it would be good.

Thanks folks it seems that the little retractable ones are the way to go, I still don't know whether to go for the £14 manbi job, or to go with the £5 ebay one, but I guess if they can all be cut and are only a deterrent to ensure that unlocked pairs go before yours do then the cheap one may do as well as a dearer one.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

mark_s, Yep lets ban me.
While we are at it lets ban all those that post big .BMP's and those who post endless rant's. People who's opinion differs from mine, anyone who ski's better than me, Has more hair and can drink me under the table, Oh Is taller than me and shorter in fact lets ban me.

Back to square one.

I was going to get sarcastic but the new me does not do that any more.

Back on topic Megamum, I think you got it

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Ref long links

sorry not sure how to change the wording Embarassed

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I bought a Dakine Combination Lock

It's as light as a feather as there is only the cable & the small combination lock, and it packs away small too.

As the wire is quite thin, it probably isn't the most robust lock you could buy, however, I've been using it for a number of years and when we stop, there's always someone parking their skis next to mine to be locked up! Works for me. Smile

After all it is free

For short links

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you got that right pal wink

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

Megamum, As others have said, they are only a deterrent and preventative for opportunistic thieves/accidental taking.

So the most important factors are ease of use, and ease of carrying.

Personally, I use a fairly lightweight coil bike lock rather than one sold as a ski lock specificaly.

One similar to this http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=11571 but with four digits. I can't remember where I bought it now, but it was under £5.

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alex_heney, That looks quite a nice one - a good price too - appears to be just that bit more robust than the majority of the retractable ones (I must have looked at about 30 ones this week online). I'm off to basildon next week there's a good cycle shop in the town centre there, I'll see if they do anything similar if not I might order the one in your link. Toofy Grin

This thread made me think (a first NehNeh

) a question for those in the know. Do the European police use UV lights to check stolen found goods? Is it worth using permanent invisible marker on your ski tops?

It would stop a lot of "there mine" arguments if they had your name and postcode on them.

You know it makes sense.

Megamum, When you are looking for a lock, just remember to check that the ends of it will fit through your bindings wink

After all you dont wnat to arrive on the sl;opes and find theres no way of actually securing your skis Shocked

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Dwarf Vader, I've already plastered mine with UV pen in the points that I don't think will wear!!

Bones, Will bear that in mind - mind you there's not many points on the bindings that it will go through I think - At the moment I'm heading for a little 'n' shaped piece of metal somewhere in the middle of the binding I think, or else going tight round the middle of the binding so the binding toe and heel stops the movement of the ski through the loop round the pair and the immovable object.

A snowHead

Megamum, Remember that you have to carry the lock with you when skiing,
I use one similar to Dwarf Vader, and FenlandSkier, and can either have it in my pocket or carry in my small rucksack.
Another alternative is to just ski with FenlandSkier, or Liz B cos they lock mine up for me Little Angel

A snowHead

Megamum, I gave up with the retractable 'ski' locks after mine jammed and now use a cycle one, much more sturdy and mine came free with a magazine Very Happy

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Dwarf Vader, do you have the serial number of your skis written down ina place that you can easily find on a ski trip? That could settle that arguement quite quickly Smile

(I haven't but keep meaning to, the numbers off my old ones were written in the warranty/instruction booklet that used to live in the skibag)

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A rather more expensive way to secure them is to get your butler to keep an eye on them, whilst you dine

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

FenlandSkier, serial numbers hmm I did not realize they had them.

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Dwarf Vader, Mine do Toofy Grin

I noticed a printed number on them when they arrived - queries on here confirmed that they are unique serial number. What I don't know is how deeply they are embedded into the top coat, i.e. will they wear off in time. Mine are printed on the sidewall (I think that's the right term) of the ski (above the metal edge, but not on the flat top surface) about half way along the binding. I've added it to my list of important numbers that I leave with mum - a quick telcon and I can have it.

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Megamum, any excuse to fondle my babies... err that came out wrong. Embarassed

I have found the number on mine so thats another number to write down on the inside of my case lid.

After all it is free

Dwarf Vader, Glad that was useful - its obviously a fairly common thing among the various manufacturers then. I wonder if anyone here has got some skis with considerable slope time on them that can tell us whether they wear off with time.

Dwarf Vader, Just a note on serial numbers - In addition to that one on the ski edges which seems identical on both skis, mine also have two different barcodes printed along with the technical specs on the tails of the skis - on mine the last digits are different on each ski - I guess when they were made each ski was labelled separately and then paired up separately as I've seen SZK describe before being given that matched number on their edges - so it might be worth checking and if its a barcode that you've copied down to check that its same or otherwise on both skis - I've just added both barcodes to the number on the edge that I'd already noted.

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I bought one of these in Mottaret last week. It's dead easy to use and can be used with any skis. You can secure two pairs together too.

Help!!

Are all ski locks more or less equal.

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