A bike lock that makes thieves vomit
Daniel Idzkowski and Yves Perrenoud created a steel U-lock called the SkunkLock that emits a noxious, vomit-inducing odor into the face of the person attempting to cut it.
The acids in the pressurized formula are food-grade, sharing the same properties as those found in fowl-smelling Swedish fermented herring. Inhalation won't cause permanent harm but it does lead 99 percent of people to throw up uncontrollably.
The inventors got the idea for the lock when a friend's $4,000 bike was stolen and then Perrenoud's bike was also scooped up by a thief. Both bikes were secured with the best available locks on the market, costing around $140.
More than $350 million in bicycles are stolen in the United States each year, according to the National Bike Registry and FBI, and Idzkowski thinks the center of this thievery is San Francisco where an estimated one bike is stolen every three hours.
Full story and video:
http://www.seattlepi.com/bayarea/article/SkunkLock-bike-lock-emit-odor-vomit-thieves-10030466.php