Cable length, code or key, and what it will actually stop

Ski locks, compared

A ski lock is an honest product about a modest job: it stops a pair of skis walking off a rack outside a mountain restaurant. It will not resist a tool, and no maker on this shelf claims otherwise — the cables are 1.2 mm to 3 mm of steel and the point is the minute of noisy work rather than the impossibility. The figure to read first is the cable length, because it decides what can be looped. The corpus lays out the whole range: 50, 53, 65, 77, 80, 85, 120, 125, 180 cm and a two-metre model. Under 65 cm ties one pair of skis together and nothing else; 120 cm and up goes round a rack or a post, which is the only arrangement that actually secures anything. The locking method is the second: a three- or four-digit combination has nothing to lose in a jacket pocket and is the right choice here, and a key lock is a key to lose at 2 000 m. The retracting mechanism is what makes a long cable pocketable — the models that reel in cost more and are the ones that get carried rather than left in the car. The weight follows from length and thickness and it is carried all day. The last point is the one that sets value: almost every lock on this shelf is sold for several purposes — luggage, helmet, scooter, pushchair — at 5.95 € to 24 €, so the same 20 € lock has a use in July. We compare cable length, cable thickness, locking method, retracting, stated uses and weight.

Every accessory here, figure by figure

1. 

   QWORK WD5014

   The cheapest lock here, and one of three on this shelf whose listing never mentions skiing.

   Cable length

   77 cm

   Cable thickness

   Not published; high-strength steel wire, stated hard to cut

   Locking method

   Three-digit combination, resettable

   Retracting

   No; the cable can be stretched and looped

   Stated uses

   Motorcycles, bicycles, rucksacks and cases

   Weight

   Not published

   Amazon reference

   B094VTKHGF (one reference across 6 Amazon marketplaces)

   EAN

   0734900612772

   • The cheapest lock on this shelf at 5.95 € in Germany, and priced in five stores
   • Publishes its cable length — 77 cm — as every lock on this shelf does
   • Skiing is not mentioned anywhere in the listing

   Best for: A lift-queue lock bought on price, by someone who knows what it is for

   ≈ £5 / €6

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2. 

   Fischer 752926

   The only lock here with a stated security level, and the thickest core under ten euros.

   Cable length

   53 cm

   Cable thickness

   4 mm stainless steel core

   Locking method

   Three dials, 1 000 combinations

   Retracting

   No; a flexible cable-tie design

   Stated uses

   Bicycle, helmet, ski equipment, pushchair, luggage

   Weight

   Not published; described as ultralight

   Amazon reference

   B0F6D5LSZZ (one reference across 5 Amazon marketplaces)

   EAN

   4017568752926

   • Publishes a security level — 2, on the maker’s scale — which nothing else on this shelf does
   • A 4 mm stainless core, thicker than the 2.5 mm on the ABUS here
   • The security level is the maker’s own scale and no standard is named

   Best for: Skis outside a hut, clipped to a rack post within half a metre

   ≈ €8

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3. 

   HUDORA 14492

   The lightest lock on the shelf at fifty grams, and the only one with a braked retracting mechanism.

   Cable length

   80 cm

   Cable thickness

   Not published

   Locking method

   Three-digit code, user-set

   Retracting

   Roll-back automatic with a brake, stated

   Stated uses

   Scooters, helmets, bags, buggies

   Weight

   50 g

   Amazon reference

   B071S7ZM5Y (one reference across 6 Amazon marketplaces)

   EAN

   4005998144930

   • Fifty grams — the lightest on this shelf, and half the weight of the heaviest
   • A roll-back mechanism with a brake, so the cable does not snap back on the fingers
   • Skiing is not mentioned anywhere in the listing

   Best for: A jacket pocket, where fifty grams is the difference between carrying it and leaving it

   ≈ €8

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4. 

   ROCKBROS T609

   A metre and a half of retractable cable — and a last bullet point that says what it cannot withstand.

   Cable length

   Up to 150 cm, retractable

   Cable thickness

   Not published; steel cable wrapped in thickened PVC

   Locking method

   Four-digit code, 10 000 combinations; factory default 0000

   Retracting

   Yes — the cable retracts into the body

   Stated uses

   Helmets, cases, bicycles, motorcycles, scooters, pushchairs

   Weight

   105 g

   Amazon reference

   B0BG7PRN9F (one reference across 5 Amazon marketplaces)

   EAN

   4065404453421

   • A hundred and fifty centimetres, retracting into a body that weighs 105 g
   • Four digits and ten thousand combinations, with the factory default published so it can be changed
   • Skiing is not mentioned anywhere in the listing

   Best for: Locking several things together — two pairs of skis and a rack — at a hut

   ≈ £13 / €13

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5. 

   BURG-WÄCHTER Snap+Lock 720 200

   The longest cable on the shelf by half a metre, and the only one that names skis and snowboards in its first line.

   Cable length

   200 cm

   Cable thickness

   4.5 mm; the cable end is 9 mm in diameter

   Locking method

   Four-digit combination, keyless and resettable

   Retracting

   No; the cable is threaded and tensioned continuously

   Stated uses

   Luggage, computer hardware, wheelie bins, sports equipment — bicycles, skis, snowboards

   Weight

   Not published

   Amazon reference

   B001CCMO0Y (one reference across 6 Amazon marketplaces)

   EAN

   4003482298305

   • Two metres — the longest cable here, and enough to reach a railing rather than the nearest post
   • Publishes both the cable diameter, 4.5 mm, and the end diameter, 9 mm
   • No weight published, on the longest and therefore heaviest cable here

   Best for: A terrace railing, a roof rack, or several pairs of skis at once

   ≈ £7

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6. 

   ABUS Combiflex 2503/120

   The only lock here sold as a ski lock in its title — and the only one that publishes its body size.

   Cable length

   120 cm fully extended

   Cable thickness

   2.5 mm steel

   Locking method

   Four-digit combination, keyless, user-set and changeable

   Retracting

   Yes — self-retracting

   Stated uses

   Ski equipment, luggage, helmets

   Weight

   89 g; the body measures 96 × 62 mm without the cable

   Amazon reference

   B01N4667FL (one reference across 6 Amazon marketplaces)

   EAN

   4003318725012

   • The only lock here whose title calls it a ski lock, and whose uses lead with ski equipment
   • Publishes body height, body width, weight, cable length and cable thickness — five figures
   • 2.5 mm is the thinnest published cable on this shelf

   Best for: A pair of skis outside a mountain restaurant, for the length of lunch

   ≈ £12 / €19

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7. 

   KOHLBURG Modell Valencia

   A cable tie with a combination lock: seventy grams, pulled as tight as you like, and honest about its limits.

   Cable length

   50 cm

   Cable thickness

   Not published; a steel core with a scratch-protecting plastic sheath

   Locking method

   Three-digit combination, keyless

   Retracting

   No; it tightens continuously like a cable tie

   Stated uses

   Bicycles, e-scooters, camping gear, saddles, ski and snowboard, pushchairs, luggage

   Weight

   70 g

   Amazon reference

   B0BW19QDNY (one reference across 6 Amazon marketplaces)

   EAN

   4260588092194

   • Tightens continuously, so it can be pulled up hard against whatever it is round — no slack loop
   • Seventy grams, and a plastic sheath that protects a topsheet from scratches
   • The shortest cable on this shelf at 50 cm

   Best for: Skis against a rack for the length of a lunch, pulled tight enough not to rattle

   ≈ $30 / £25 / €24

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