Home › Forums › Bass Cat Boats › Loc-R-Bar – Puma!
TennHawk.
Wondering if anyone has installed a Loc-R-Bar on their Puma (mine is a 2007). If so any installation problems/precautions? Especially interested in BCB inputs on this one.Im not completely comfortable with the alarm system. Seems to me that any reasonably knowledgeable thief would know how to disable the alarm before opening any boxes.C.
While I see you point, I also dont think most knowledgable thief expects an alarm system on a boat.With that said…loc-r-bars are fool proof either. You can take the winch strap and snap that bar w/ the winch. I bet it is going to tear up some glass in the process.The only fool proof way is to unload the boat and leave your lids open. This is probably what you should do if you are worried about it that much.Sorry, probably not what you wanted to hear.Judd Lasiter
I have a Loc-R-Bar on my Cougar FTD. I had my dealer install it when I bought my boat. Cause I dont drill holes in my boat. Not sure if the Puma is the same but with the FTD the side wall where the gunnal meets the carpet is curved so the bar had to be installed about a 1/2 inch above the deck. I like having it on then not having it. I think most theives are lazy so they will move on. For additional safety I have a motion sensor that chimes when someone goes near my boat. The speaker is wireless so I turn it on and put it in my hotel room and be warned if someone is near my boat.In the years of people saying that you can use your winch to take it off I have yet to actual see someone who it has actually happened to. To get past it I am sure the weak spot is the lock.
I met a guy last summer at the ramp of a local lake. I noticed that the top cap of his boat had two pretty good sized jagged holes in it. When I asked him what happened, he said he had been at a motel while fishing in Michigan. Thieves had taken something and pried up the lok r bar, ripping the mounts out of the gunnels. They relieved him of his tackle and of his loc r bar and its mounts!! It wasnt a BassCat, but one of the top three brands of boats. No alarm system on it. I just use the alarm on my Cougar and leave the lids unlocked. I have a set of those battery operated baby monitors I leave in the boat under a console…so I would hear the boat alarm go off if someone was messing with it. I dont lock the lids as they would screw them up prying on them before they popped them open.
Thanks for your opinion. No disrespect intended, but I think youre kidding yourself if you think thieves are not aware that some boats have alarms and if easily disabled, how to do it.I am also aware of reports of thieves using the winch strap to rip out the Loc-R-Bar, but the possibility of that can be lessened by also locking down the winch! The Loc-R-Bar is certainly not thief-proof given one with the will and the time. But, that said, if you have a group of boats gathered in one place (like a tournament overnight) and some boats with visible locking systems (Loc-R-Bar, etc.), and some without — which boats do you think they will target?Yes. removing rod box contents is an alternative and lacking additional security is likely what Ill do.I just wish BassCat had chosen to make the arming and disarming of the alarm on their boats more secure; eg. password/code, keylock, hidden switch, etc. That is certainly do-able and would not be expensive.The main reason I posted the question is to try to find out if there are any good reasons NOT to install one — such as possible/probable damage to wiring running in the area!Hopefully BCB will get on here later and provide some clarification of their thinking on the subject.C.
Im with Judd on this one. If youre worried about getting ripped off then remove all your stuff from your boat. While the loc r bar will make it harder to get in or make them possibly skip your boat for one next to it………..theres still the chance they may want to get in and when they do they will tear your boat up in doing so. As far as installation, just reach under the gunnel inside the rod box and feel whats there. Im sure theres probably a tube that goes down the side of the boat on the drivers side, so missing that may be tricky. Then again, Im not sure how a loc r bar is mounted!As far as Bass Cats security system, its not going to stop thieves either. It is a nice feature though when youre running into a restaurant or where ever that you will be in and out in a short time. I will say though, that it too will probably send someone packing if the alarm goes off. You have to remember that real thieves want more than tackle. Its the meth heads that are looking for a quick fix that will steal your tackle. Real thieves will take the whole boat! So the likelihood of a meth head figuring the code and how to disarm the alarm is very slim!
We dont think most thieves are even remotely aware that there are alarms on bass boats. If there are, we have never heard of it. We have heard of the alarms saving other thefts, and after several have gotten hit. This has happened on multiple occasions.Back in the early 90s when we first put the alarms in, there was a crew in Houston area that was customizing their alarms so they could ID the tones of theirs. One weekend at the Ramada Inn, Jasper Texas, there were 12 boats hit before they got to a BCB. The individuals were using a pick up truck. Just jerk it open and throw it in the bed method. They got to a new P2 with an alarm, and it saved another 12 boats or so from being stolen from. And they hightailed it at a mid morning hour. They were eventually caught, though not until months later in the act again. The alarm obviously saved many some grief and many anglers tackle.The Ramada Inn was the major spot to stay back then and often had a full motel of tournament anglers.As for your Locker Bar, we can have it out of your boat in less than 30 seconds without a winch. Though not without damaging your boat excessively. Yes 20 to 30 seconds, and they do know this at Locker Bar. While they have tried to improve it, the design would have to change. The Tackle Safe was the only bar that could not be removed or cut, though they went out of business. The alarms remain to be the safest method we know of. And again we have never heard of one being disarmed. They are usually used at a motel in a dark setting. They have to find all of the functions, and take time to sit in your boat to disarm an alarm. And they must know how, as figuring out is not an option. The thieves usually just rip the locked lids open and throw the tackle, rods & etc. They then exit as fast as possible. In the case of those on the water thefts such as were once had at Ouachita and Lake of the Ozarks or Table Rock, they usually tow a group of boats out into the lake and strip them in the dark hours. Then they use one of the boats to depart the area. Often that boat is either found a drift or burned.There have been many cases of thieves being thwarted by the alarm as most are hackers any ways. Though we have never heard of the alarm being disabled or turned off. We remain trusting the security system and the locker bar will also act as preventive. We also like the idea of either scaring the dickens our of them, or perhaps catching them in the act.BCB
BCB and others – thx for the responses.C.
In my opinion, no security, alarm, Lock-R-Bar, lock, etc., will stop a serious, well trained thief, but that is not usually who rips off boats in a parking lot. As Phil, BCB, and Judd have stated most folsk who rip off tackle arent exactly the cream of the crop, are looking for a quick few bucks and the alarm will usually send them down the highway quickly.Here is a story of a “real” thief. Back in the late 60s or so, my uncle have an inline Merc and I believe it was a six cylinder on the back of a small runabout. He kept it at his dock floating during the week and would come to his lake cabin each weekend.One night, some thief or thieves, unbolted the engine, cut the cables, and stole the engine “with the boat still floating in the dock”. Thye had to do this from another boat or something floating as the boat was facing the bank.Now those are real, serious thieves.
What is involved with adding an alarm system to a PIV. Cost? Dealer or factory?Bill
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