Inventors develop vomit-inducing lock to deter thieves
Posted on in Cycles News
San Francisco inventors have created a bike lock designed to sprays a noxious foul-smelling chemical at anyone that tries to tamper with it, triggering vomiting.
Daniel Idzkowski, an inventor and entrepreneur is co-creator of the SkunkLock - an innovative security device that promises to make anyone attempting to make off with your bike vomit.
The idea is that should someone attempt to cut through the lock they will puncture the seal on the chamber, which will cause the liquid inside to spray out and over the thief.
"After witnessing first hand and becoming victims of bike theft ourselves, we realised that people don't need a bigger, stronger lock, we needed a lock with a fundamental deterrent, said Mr Idzkowski. "After six months of work, we created SkunkLock.
"SkunkLock is a hardened medium-carbon steel U-Lock that's as difficult to compromise as the strongest U-Locks, and comes with a surprise.
"It's pressurised inside with a noxious chemical deterrent that slams the would-be thief with noxious chemicals. The chemicals are so disgusting they induce vomit in the majority of cases, and elicit an instinctive response to run away immediately.
"If anyone attempts to cut into the SkunkLock it instantaneously emits the vomit-making chemical, a proprietary compound called ‘formula D-1', which the company boasts has "economic implications for the thief.
"Our formula irreversibly ruins the clothes worn by the thief or any of the protection they may be wearing, and replacing these items is likely more expensive than the resale value of your stolen bike (generally only 1/10 of the retail price).
Describing the effects of the compound, Mr Idzkowski told the Guardian: "At two feet it was pretty bad. It was absolutely vomit-inducing in 99 per cent 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."
The SkunkLock team is appealing for funding on Indiegogo, where anyone who pledges $99 should receive their lock by June next year.