Anyone have a locking system for publicly stored kayaks?

Okay I think I have persuaded the girlfriend she needs a kayak, but she lives in SF in a building with community parking.  She has space to store a kayak, I could build/install/rig just about anything, but with 16 other units in the building, we have no real control over the security of the garage.  There have been car break-ins in the past and I'm not about to drop the $ on a kayak that lives in constant peril of theft.

I'm hesitant to just cable lock it through something attached to the yak since that seems pretty easy for anyone with enough time/force to get through, but maybe I haven't seen the right system.

I was thinking about setting up a sliding steel pipe system, (like a big homemade club) where a smaller diameter pipe slides into a larger pipe, that is drilled out in such a way that I could drop it into the rod pod (or equivalent), extend it, and padlock it open.  Then I could chain the pipes to something permanent.

Anyone else have a system they like or have seen?  Ease of use would be key, since she would often have to deal with it alone.

Anthony

Anything wrong with cable through the scupper holes?  That's how I do it.

-Allen

You can use a heavy bike lock or for custom length use the braided airline cable from home depot/lowes/orchards....etc  The cables can be made with nut and bolt connectors or crimps.


-Brian G

Anything wrong with cable through the scupper holes?  That's how I do it.

-Allen

I went to a bike specialty shop and got the thickest cable.
I got this one. 
http://www.kabletek-flexweave.com/IFCombo.htm

Go to Lowes or HD and get the 10,20 or 30 ft cable by masterlock I have on and it work great !

I'm embarrassed to say I never even thought of the scupper holes.  Leave it to me to over-complicate it.

Thanks guys

Anthony

Still, it's a public garage...I had a Master Python cable lock that I used to secure our kayaks to the roof rack or the wife's CRV during a trip 2-3 summers ago.  Drove 3+ hours to the Tahoe area only to realize that I'd left the friggin key on my key chain, which was sitting on the hook at home.  Had to drop $80 on a big pair of cable cutters...they cut through that 3/8" cable in about 2 seconds. 

Since then I still use cable locks for the yak when it's on my truck, but I've wondered about a more secure system for locking the yak when it's in storage here at the house.  I have a ginormous tempered boron manganese chain that I bought to secure my motorcycle & the wife's scooter, but it's too big to fit through the scupper holes, and a little too short to reach thru the drivewell of my Hobie. 

I have envisioned a system that would suit my needs, but I don't have welding skills so it'll have to wait.  I picture a steel rod just narrow enough to fit through the scupper hole, about a foot or so long, with a 2"circular plate welded to one end and a hole drilled through the opposite end.  I'll slip the rod through the scupper hole from the bottom, and then attach a big chain to the other end using a shielded lock...the other end of the chain gets locked to something immovable.  Not foolproof, but IMO it'll offer a little more resistance to a cable lock.  The system would even work on a roof rack if the rod was the right length.  Of course, if someone really wants to steal the kayak, they will.  Bastards.

Valid question. I'd say you're probably safe with a standard cable lock through a scupper hole inside the garage. Car break-ins are usually different from kayak theft; It's a lot easier for the average scumbag to pull small stuff out of cars & run down a city street than it is with a big, bright colored kayak.

That being said, if you go with a cable, you may as well get the strongest, thickest cable you can fit through the scupper. I have the same Master Python 3/8" cable Usagi mentions and someone cut through it to steal my Wheeleez out the back of my pickup (in SF). Looks like they used small nippers and just clipped their way through it, bit by bit. 

A motorcycle grade cable would be best if you need to leave the kayak for any length of time, as long as it will fit through the scupper hole. I like the modified Club idea; someone (Mickfish?) had a post about using a car Club to lock a yak to a trailer but I can't find the post.

My son, "Zan" on the board, uses something I think he called "CHP approved chain" to run through the scupper holes of his Tarpon 16, then around the joists supporting his carport roof, with some kind of big lock.   I don't know how often he reads this forum, but if you want, I can get more info on the chain - it has a kind of brownish-red glint to the metal, and the links are really big, and he must have 20 feet of chain wrapped in and out of the holes and around the joists.   Some thieves stole his catalytic converter out of the same carport, but left the yak.

http://www.hbaselocks.com/atv.htm

Spendy but it beats getting your stuff stolen.

like the modified Club idea; someone (Mickfish?) had a post about using a car Club to lock a yak to a trailer but I can't find the post.

http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php/topic,22817.0.html

I saw my son ZAN yesterday (Father's Day). He said it was "CHP Load chain", said you need to cut it with a hacksaw, not cutters.

I saw a kevlar reinforced cable lock at Lowes the other day, that I imagine would be tough to cut through. Considering how hard it is to cut a thin piece of spectra line.

Couldn't you use a club on an open hatch, securing it to a chain or cable?