Loc R Bar Opinions-Worth it?

Boat is garage kept with the occasional overnight fishing tournament thrown in. On those occasional over-night tournaments when boat is parked in a hotel parking lot, I don't sleep worried about the boat. I do cover it and lock all compartments but that doesn't help peace of mind much. Do you sleep better knowing you have a Loc R Bar? Last thing I want to do is drill holes into my fiberglass. And at $300+/- it's not that cheap. For those who have one, would you do it again?

yes good value

It's a great tool in my opinion. I will warn you to ignore the comments about people using the winch strap to breach tge bar. It's not possible per some tests that it was tried on.

Best way you keep your stuff safe if you can't take it inside with you. Can it be beat? Sure, it can but not quietly.

We just installed one on Dannie Goldens boat today for his Choke trips.

Best idea is take your rods and valuables out of boat and leave latches unlocked. They can't steal what's not there and they won't tear up latches getting in empty boxes.

I wouldn't own a boat without one.

Who said anything about that?

Won't have a boat without them. I have one on the front deck and back deck

It pops up often on Loc R Bar threads

Ah. I thought someone deleted some posts.

Yeh. Even if they could wench the bar loose, I bet it would have to make a hell of a racket.

I am in the bring your gear in the room crowd, not that big a deal unless you have 20-30 rod and reels.

Lock-R-Bar and a couple Harbor Freight driveway alarms under the cover. You'll know as soon as they start messing with it.

Absolutely worth it.

regardless of the "system", if it helps you sleep at night... worth it...

go for it! i installed it myself and i love it! it was super tough to drill holes in the fiberglass. i was scared to death

^^^^^
This

The alarm lock that comes with it is loud . It gives me a little piece of mind and think the noise will deter a thief .
I hauled 25 rod and reels in and out of rooms for 30 years. It sucks putting all that stuff back in the boat at 5 in the morning.
I have insurance that replace if stolen .

I installed one just be cause my old [censored] is getting lazy !

Takes a little time and effort but this is the best option in my opinion.

Just get some additional insurance on all your contents, go to sleep and if they steal your stuff, you get to go buy new stuff, Life is too short to be waking up several times at night thinking you heard someone breaking into your boat.

Have you ever noticed that every time someone gets their boat robbed they had 57 rods in it lol. All super high dollar setups......

I don't have any add ons on my boat but I had the dealer install the Loc R Bar... I only use it when I travel, but like someone said above, I wouldn't own a boat without one... Dan

If I'm on the road overnight I still bring my electronics, rods and tackle in the room, even with a Lok-R-Bar. But I like the Lok-R-Bar on my boat when I stop to eat on the road or make a quick trip into some tackle shop. Stops the smash and grab thieves from hitting a target of opportunity.

Thanks for all the replies. Majority in favor of it....so I think I'll get one. I do unload most of my gear at night but will be nice to have for those stops to eat/gas etc. And yes, disregarding the "winch it off" comments from different/prior sources.

Any locking device can be defeated. If they can steal a catalytic converter with a sawsall a locker bar shouldn’t be a problem for a determined Theif. Bet a good tarp would have the same deterrent as a locker bar. Bet hey it’s your decision.

The locker bar isn't going to cut nearly as fast and easy as exhaust pipe. And it would make enough noise to wake up the whole motel

They don’t cut the bar. They cut the fiberglass off the top cap to release the bar.

Here's the thing.


Security devices are time delay mechanisms. From a padlock to a gun safe. They do not prevent entry. What they do is slow the person down enough to be detected. The more you stack security devices. The longer the detection period. The bigger the window to stop the person.


This bar thing on your boat will only ~Slow~ the person down. Hopefully deterring them. However, if they want it. It's not going to stop them. Just understand what a security device really does.

Time delay.

If someone was going to go through that much trouble there clearly was no stopping them. What I like best about mine is stopping on the way home from the lake and the $10,000 in rods and tackle is secure. Also while waiting around at weigh ins.

I have only seen this one time and it was with a hack saw and not a sawzall.

I would have an alarm system if I was that worried about it, aint no thief going to stand around when that siren goes off at 1 am.

I have one that was already installed on the boat, definitely use it when I'm traveling. be careful not to drop the hollow end on the carpet because it will cut it, ask me how I know

Bet a battery powered grinder with a cut off wheel would make quick work on a locker bar or whatever the Theif decides to cut .

YES!

I’d imagine that they would cut the lock, before they cut the lock-r-bar.

You may already know this but when you drill into fiberglass, start with the drill in reverse to get thru the gelcoat. That will help prevent the fiberglass from surface cracking. And use a center punch to prevent the drill bit from skating. Google for details.

Thanks bassnman. That was probably going to be my next question/need for advice. Installation. I watched a couple of videos on the installation and of course they make it look easy. None of them mentioned starting the drill in reverse.

On my second boat, just installed my second Lock R Bar. Peace of mind!

I have one that I installed myself. It's pretty easy if you are the slightest bit handy with tools. I think the system is well worth it, and the alarm lock does work. Is it foolproof? No. But few systems are. In general criminals are lazy and want no attention. Anything that takes more time and makes noise is going to scare most of them off, especially in situations where you are sleeping in a room a few feet away. Lok r bars check several boxes for that situation.

A cobalt bit and you can drill a key cylinder out in a hot minute. I lose keys to good quality locks all the time and have done it many times.

Thats what i did. I installed the alarm from the tackle smith and put a sensor on every locker. Plus it has the vibration sensor that can be set sensitive enough a cat will set it off lol

Wouldn’t have a boat without one

Heck yes, I may even put the Club on the steering wheel lol. Just kidding, I will not drill into my fiberglass and install the brackets to the gunnel of the boat, I do not stay at motels much at all anymore so when I do i bring my poles inside, I usually have to retie and whatnot anyways. If I did travel a lot I would go with an alarm system, my house has one, my vehicles have one, they seem to work pretty well. That locker bar is not protecting the trolling motor, graphs, anything in the rear compartments, batteries etc. but like many have said, it gives them peace of mind, and no way are they going to lose rods out of the front of boat.