Pragmasis/Almax chains versus a grinder or hacksaw

I have searched around but have not found any videos or info on how long it would take to grind or hacksaw through these chains. I have a 16mm Almax and I am intrigued to know how long it takes to get through one but not willing to sacrifice a link to answer the question!
Anyone ever seen a video or know the answer?
Cheers

http://www.almax-security-chains.co.uk/index.asp?pg=7

never been done it says on the site.

That says it has never been bolt cropped. But have they been cut with a grinder?

get a grinder and cut the end link off to see………….. 😆

A big grinder with the chain well held, say in a vice, and it’ll take a few seconds. Real world; on the street with a battery powered grinder I’d guess at 30 seconds. There was a video posted here a few weeks back of an ex thief attacking various locks. None stood up that well the grinder but most of the better ones were cropper proof.

But have they been cut with a grinder?

Almost certainly, a grinder will get through anything.

I cant se a battery grinder cutting thru one in 30 seconds to be honest.
I have 2 of em. they are pretty hefty tough lumps of steel.

I know you can get through a Kryptonite D lock in about 5-10 seconds. Are they really that much tougher?

Are they really that much tougher?

Supposedly they are just case hardened so don’t just snap under tension from croppers. They’ll be harder to grind through, but nothing can stop a grinder if you have enough discs and patience….

Depends what size you buy of course. The Pragmasis ones come in various sizes depending how paranoid you are. The 13mm one is pretty hefty, the 16mm and 19mm ones must be monsters.

Here is a grinder test protocol for bike chains:

Trust me – with a 1mm SS disc – any lock is going to lose – and quickly.

I know you can get through a Kryptonite D lock in about 5-10 seconds. Are they really that much tougher?

I take it you’ve never seen one? I have two of the biggest Almax ones, they are ridiculous. I had to work hard carrying two 1.5m chains up the stairs in our house, they’re that heavy. A world apart from your portable Abus city lock type.

Hacksaw – you wouldn’t even scratch it. A grinder would work, although I don’t know how long – but they’re hardly discrete. If you don’t live near anyone it could be a risk, but if there’s anyone in earshot forget it.

If you don’t live near anyone it could be a risk, but if there’s anyone in earshot forget it.

Plenty of vids on Youtube of people grinding locks in the street and no one challenges them!

My house is surrounded by 8 others pretty closely. If someone was grinding away in my garage I’d think at least someone would call the cops from the secrecy of their own bedroom.

How would they know it wasn’t you? I often use a grinder and none of my neighbours have called the cops on me yet…

I wouldn’t worry about grinders when there are quicker and more silent methods of breaking a chain or lock. Unfortunately the internet is like a university for the light fingered fraternity.

I often use a grinder and none of my neighbours have called the cops on me yet…

At 3am behind a smashed garage door?

1mm inox disc will make short time of any lock. If a determined thief wants your stuff u are screwed. All you can do is slow them down. Its the smack head opportunistic scrotes we are really defending against.

All you can do is slow them down.

As the coppers said to me – you need to make it easier and less risky to go somewhere else. Most people haven’t got big f-off chains.

All you can do is slow them down.

As the coppers said to me – you need to make it easier and less risky to go somewhere else. Most people haven’t got big f-off chains.

^^This.
A decent grinder with the right cutting disc would be through that in less than a minute – a battery powered one might struggle, but it’d get there.
My bikes are chained to a huge ground anchor, in a brick built shed, behind a steel door, at the bottom of a land-locked garden, surrounded by curtain-twitching pensioners, in one of Londons safest boroughs.
However i’m well aware that professional thieves with a petrol powered cut-off saw would be loading bikes into a van within a few minutes – Only the noise would give them away.

At 3am behind a smashed garage door?

Why would I smash the garage door when I could drill out the locks (or cut then out) neatly in under 30secs. As for stealing a bike, I’d do it in the middle of the day when people are at work…

Why would I smash the garage door when I could drill out the locks

Not in my door. The only way into mine is smashing it or nicking the key.

And drilling locks out of a resonating garage door makes quite a lot of noise.. ask me how I know.. 🙂 Method of choice of garages round here is to peel the bottom up – takes even less than 30s.

molgrips -you’re underestimating the potential knowledge of certain people…..

Big lover of Almax chains and I believe this may shed some light on it (I believe Zanx is the man in the Almax videos who does the cropping..eg: the big fella)
Almax chains

Standard concept- anything can be broken but most bike locks can be cut near-silently with boltcutters, faster than you can open them with the key. So sure, you could angle grind it, but it’s like swimming with sharks- you don’t need to beat the thief, you just need to make it harder to steal your bike than the next dude’s. You can plasma cut it or use other less common attacks, but why even bother? Somewhere nearby there’ll be a £4000 bike with no lock at all.

I’ve not angle ground one of these big chains but it took me under a minute with a 4 and a half inch cutting disc to go through a cheap Onguard u-lock a while back. With a chain you’d have to cut both sides of the link, and the chainlinks are 16mm of steel rather than 14mm including rubberised coating on that lock, so each side’ll be slower.

molgrips -you’re underestimating the potential knowledge of certain people…..

And you’re over-estimating the standard of scrote in my neighbourhood 🙂

There may well be a way to “hack” my electronically operated garage door, of course. Do you know of one?

The big chains are easy if you know how….
15s and a 16-20mm chain is in pieces – but again that depends on your knowledge..
Actually molgrips – I do 😉

PM me if you want to give me any tips, they’d be appreciated. I have thought of one way you could get in, and I need to set up a baffle to prevent that.

Like my “how many miles before a puncture” thread, I can’t help feeling you’re setting yourself up here Moley.

Yeah 🙁

If they really want it and it has a BFO lock and chain on it they cut cut the frame, No?? And isn’t several (or at least more than one) chains/locks better than a single BFO one??

Shame you can’t get a chain that you can wire to the mains that becomes live if you cut through one side of the link

Shame you can’t get a chain that you can wire to the mains that becomes live if you cut through one side of the link

Schoolboy electrical project that but what about the little darlings human rights? Shame tasers and stun guns only legal for Dibble.

Google says an Almax 3 has been cut.