Lock Stops Bike Thieves by Making Them Throw Up

You wouldn't think a product that makes people lose their lunch would be a viable item to bring to market, but the inventors of SkunkLock are hoping their innovation will be a hit in the bike-riding community, the Guardian reports. The creators of the crowdfunded Indiegogo project, billed as "the only bike lock that fights back," say their product is meant to be a "wakeup call" to thieves who can quickly circumvent traditional bike locks with a hacksaw or crowbar. What the SkunkLock is: a carbon and steel U-lock filled with a pressurized "noxious chemical deterrent" that, when deployed, causes an instant upchuck session for "99% of people" standing 2 feet or less away when it goes off.

"It's pretty much immediately vomit inducing [and] causes difficulty breathing," co-founder Daniel Idzkowski says, per the Guardian. The gas is dispersed after the thief cuts 30% into the lock, and Idzkowski says the chemical mixture is legal, though they're trying to make variants for different locales. Some states, for example, ban the shipping of products containing capsaicin, the active ingredient in pepper spray (and also used in some SkunkLocks). Idzkowski notes the stinky theft deterrent is just that, however—a deterrent, not a solution, as it could be picked like a regular lock (though it would take much longer). SkunkLock is set to ship in June 2017. ("Bike Batman" is fighting bike crime in Seattle.)