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Chemical-Releasing Bike Lock Causes Vomiting To Deter Thieves (bbc.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from BBC: The "Skunklock" is a U-shaped steel bicycle lock with a pressurized, stinking gas inside. The gas escapes in a cloud if someone attempts to cut the lock. The company claims its "noxious chemical" is so disgusting it "induces vomit in the majority of cases." Even better, it claims, the gas causes "shortness of breathing" and impaired eyesight. The idea, which tries to make stealing a bike as unpleasant as possible, is raising money for production on crowdfunding site Indiegogo. "Our formula irreversibly ruins the clothes worn by the thief or any of the protection they may be wearing," the company claims on its crowdfunding page. Since stolen bikes sell for a fraction of their true cost, replacing clothing or equipment could make the theft more trouble than it's worth. Skunklock says it has tested its foul gas, and it even penetrates high-end gas masks -- though most thieves are unlikely to go to such lengths. But the company said that the compressed gas is perfectly safe -- and can only be released "by trying to cut through it with an angle grinder." If the chemical countermeasure is released, it is a one-time only use, and the lock, which costs over $100, will have to be replaced. But the hope is that the unpleasant experience will cause them to abandon the attempted theft, leaving the bicycle behind.
Our formula irreversibly ruins the clothes worn by the thief or any of the protection they may be wearing
What about the bike? Doesn't this ruin the bike?
We had to destroy the bike in order to save it.
I love the smell of Skunklock in the morning. It's the smell of.....victory.
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Perhaps this invention will win the IgNobel prize for Peace, like the flame-throwing car alarm did in 1999.
If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
Your not wrong per se, but that is about the dumbest contrived example of why I can imagine. Now.... lets stop stroking the marketing pricks ego and admit the real scenario.
Nobody is angle grinding your fucking bike lock. There will almost always be an easier bike to steal and the majority of bike thieves are not walking around with power tools. Look right at the statements of the company: "and can only be released "by trying to cut through it with an angle grinder.
Its "completely safe" because....that is almost never going to happen.
More realistic... you lock up your bike somewhere its not supposed to be, and go inside some place. You get drunk and end up in the hospital with alcohol poisoning....now the city comes by to cut your lock and guess who gets gassed?
"I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"