So what locks do you guys use ???

[javolo]

LOCKITIS, The MUL-T-LOCK is not one that that I'm familiar with. I did a quick google search and found their site. Those locks look interesting, but I didn't bother loading the hebrew languauge support to my browser. I wonder if there is an all english site where I can find more information? Can you suggest a distributor in the US where I might get some info? What would one of these locks offer me over an ABUS Diskus model?

OLDLOCK, I did do a bit of reading on the ABUS sight including details on the ABUS plus cylinder. I would have to go back to poke around a bit more to see if I could get that particular cylinder on one of their Diskus padlocks.

HeadHunterCEO, you are correct about the bolt cutters in a gym. Actually this gym has been pretty good up until now. The police informed me that there have been some issues lately in various locker rooms in the area. The surprizing thing is that I don't believe that they are actually investigating this issue. Even though the thief in this case managed to run up almost a thousand dollars in damage agains my debit card before I got them shut down. They managed to cross a state line and do all of this in about 4 hours which is somewhat remarkable. Most of what they did was in the form of gift card apparently at a BestBuy. You would think it would be pretty easy for them to get a photo record of this fellow, especially given that my gym photo ids everyone and makes us all swipe a card when we come in so they can verify our identity. I suppose I could pursue this, but I will get all of my money back with only the cost of rekeying my apartment and changing the alarm codes and RFID codes on my car keys.

I believe this to be a crime of opportunity. I used a cheapo lock in a secluded corner of the locker room. Mea culpa! So in response I think a reasonable lock like an ABUS lock is a rational response to this. That and I basically think I will begin to carry wallet cash and keys in fanny pack or something. I believe a lock that says GO AWAY in capital letters and that has no simple hacks available would suffice for my purposes. I don't need to be the absolute most secure lock in the room. I just don't want to be among the easiest to crack. And if they think they can take the stuff away from me personally before I beat them to death with a dumb-bell, then they are welcome to try!

Oh, FWIW I will never carry a debit card again. He didn't hit any of my credit cards, but I won't sign any of those either. I've been advised to write "CHECK ID" in the signature zone of all my cards and this is probably a pretty good approach. I've learned a hard lesson here. People suck.

Thank you all for taking the time to respond to me. I know I'm really off topic here in this forum.

Thanks,

Javolo

[skold]

Primary: lockwood777 with 2 spools each
secondary: Kwikset
Screen doors: whitco tasman

[MrB]

I've been advised to write "CHECK ID" in the signature zone of all my cards and this is probably a pretty good approach.

Continuing with the slightly off topic, I know, but:

Where I am in the USA, they either check ID or they do not; but they NEVER check signatures. So what you do or do not write on the signature strip of your card has little impact, IMHO. Sadly, the latest trend is to have "swipe it yourself" terminals. When the shop has one of those terminals, the sales assistant doesn't look at the card or your ID. I think maybe the argument is that if they didn't even touch the card they didn't "accept" the card and so can't be liable for fraudulent use.

All my UK issued cards are just being replaced with "chip and PIN" cards; with these you don't sign but type in your PIN instead. This at least is likely to be somewhat effective in preventing fraud.

Finally, I agree: when you go to the gym, take your keys and cards into the gym with you; don't leave them in a locker.