Lockbox for gear

I live in a smallish apartment and I have a boatload of gear.  I want to move it into my car, but I want it to be in a locked box so it doesn't get stolen.  Does anyone have some recommendations, for storage?  I'm thinking more wide than tall.  I have a Subaru outback btw if that helps any.

We use to live in a 680 sq ft apartment which is kind of small. We got creative storing all our bike stuff, climbing stuff and ski stuff

​One place we stashed stuff into our apartment was behind the couch. We just pulled it away from the wall maybe 10-12”. Then out boxes down low where the space was bigger and duffel bags higher up. Seasonal gear that was out of season went back there

​Have a coffee table? We made a skirt for ours so we could stash stuff under the coffee table and end table in our tiny living room

Barry M wrote: We use to live in a 680 sq ft apartment which is kind of small. We got creative storing all our bike stuff, climbing stuff and ski stuff

One place we stashed stuff into our apartment was behind the couch. We just pulled it away from the wall maybe 10-12”. Then out boxes down low where the space was bigger and duffel bags higher up. Seasonal gear that was out of season went back there

Have a coffee table? We made a skirt for ours so we could stash stuff under the coffee table and end table in our tiny living room

Thanks for tha advice, but I'd really like to have everything in the car.  I'm asking about storage containers that lock.

Any lumberyard in the country has a few different sizes. They aren't too heavy and usually take two locks. The problem is people use a grinder to open them from the top in about 2 minutes.

Some answers to OP in:
https://www.mountainproject.com/forum/topic/118895701/car-dwelling-essentials?page=3#ForumMessage-118897041

A locking case inside a locked car seems a bit excessive; would the trouble and cost of a case be more than your homeowner's/renters ins. deductible? Seems like if someone goes to the trouble of breaking into a car, they'd have no problem taking off with a locked case.

You could make a pretty basic lockbox yourself with good 3/4" plywood and a padlock. Plenty of pickup truck roadtrippers have incorporated those into their sleeper platforms, since camper tops can be so easy to bust into. Gator Cases also makes bombproof music/audio cases of all shapes and sizes, and many of their cases are either padlock-able, or have TSA latches. You may be able to find some one pretty easily too on reverb.com; there are a lot of starving musicians out there right now.

https://www.gatorcases.com/

I’ve used big plastic husky brand boxes in the past.  They can be bought at Home Depot.

A car is way easier to break into than a lockbox.  Problem is lockbox needs to be secured to the car as well.  

I toyed with the idea of building a platform above my spare tire area to lock stuff and still have a flat trunk but never did it.

I imagine any metal tool box a pad lock and a chain would work

Thieves might break in just because "must be something expensive in there"

Get a trunk safe ... gunsafes.com/store/p/75405-…

Really depends on how much you value your valuables. A steel box welded, chained or cabled to the car is too much for even an above-average smash-and-grabber. And then comes the spiteful response of destroying the interior or torching the vehicle. How to prevent that?

Renter's insurance

You got quite a few replies, but before going down the rabbit hole too deep see if putting all that gear inside your car will make appreciative difference - official cargo storage in a new Outback is 73cbf, that is without any lockboxes. It is not that much storage space.

Unless if you have the fabrication skills and tools to build a custom box and bolt directly to the car the money would be better spent on a downpayment for a van.

And living in my car for 5 of the last 12 months one thing I’ve learned is space is a premium and the immutable nature of a box would just get in the way.

• Park smart
• Downsize
• Store off season gear at a friend’s house.
• Get insurance if you have a rack of totems
• Cover your shit in dirty cloths and burry the priceless / expensive stuff. 

tint the windows of your car and lock it

I also know someone who put a metal bar lengthwise across their trunk area and used it to rack/organize gear.  The area where the spare goes was where he kept ropes, shoes and harness etc...  It wasn’t locked up, just covered, out of sight.  It was a very effective way to store gear on the road 

william tyson wrote:

For storing your gear securely in your Subaru Outback, I'd recommend looking into a Husky tool box. They offer sturdy, lockable storage options that are wide rather than tall, perfect for fitting in the back of your car. Husky toolboxes are durable and designed to protect your belongings from both theft and the elements, making them a great choice for keeping your gear safe while you're on the go!

Bad bot

An expensive looking box filled with goodies seems only mildly less enticing to the average smash and grabber than laying it all out on the seats. I'd recommend looking at a big roof box, I've yet to hear about one of those getting broken into (and after losing the keys to one I can attest it's surprisingly hard to do)

Only one solution: you need a Trunk Monkey: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AidAXgq9dWc

Had the same issue in a small SF apt.  I just used a standard roofbox (the Yakima/Thule type) and kept skis and backcountry/climbing gear up there full time.

SF is pretty notorious for car break ins and I was OK for the couple years I did this.  Thieves can’t tell if there’s actually goodies up there and I’ve heard they’re not so easy to break into (from a buddy who had to break into his own when his key broke off in the lock).  I just never opened it in the same place I parked…but gotta be extra anal in SF.

In another place I stored all my gear under my bed which also worked really well.  I didn’t try it but ikea has a lift up hydraulic box spring storage thing that seems pretty slick.

Micah Hoover wrote:

An expensive looking box filled with goodies seems only mildly less enticing to the average smash and grabber than laying it all out on the seats. I'd recommend looking at a big roof box, I've yet to hear about one of those getting broken into (and after losing the keys to one I can attest it's surprisingly hard to do)

I had a Thule roof box stolen off my car, parked right in front of my house. I know I hadn't left it unlocked because it was designed so that you can't get the keys out without locking it. It was empty, so if I'm speculating, I'd think they probably pried the clamps open and took off with the whole box. Right? Because if you first broke into the box to get to what was inside, but it was empty, would you then bother stealing a broken empty box? On the other hand, there was no damage to my roof or to the crossbars, and once inside the box, all you had to do was twist some knobs to open up the clamps. Tweakers gonna tweak...

I used to keep stuff in there sometimes, or put our skis in it the night before heading to the mountain, that sort of thing. My replacement box requires a tool to open up the clamps once inside the box, so perhaps offers a little bit more security for the box as a whole. Either way, unless I'm on the road, I do not leave anything in that box overnight anymore.

Exiled Michigander wrote:

Only one solution: you need a Trunk Monkey: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AidAXgq9dWc

This is the only real solution. Thanks.