Homemade Helmet locks for Jesse's

[plugugly]

I made some locks to hold helmet straps, and mounted them on my Jesse bags. They are pretty simple and could probably be made to fit any solidly built luggage. I started with some scrap blocks of aluminum, and drilled them to receive a bent stainless socket head bolt. I also drilled and tapped them to mount to the lids of the case. I took the aforementioned bent bolt, and mounted it to the lower portion of the case. Now when the case is closed and locked, the hook formed by the bolt is captured by the block, and the helmet is secure. The pictures show it all. Not meant to be used while in flight, obviously.
Block:

Bolt:

Bolt mounting from the inside:

Outside bolt view:

Closed view:

Both mounted on the bags:

 

[Don in Lodi]

Slick.

 

[tomatocity]

Very creative.

 

[Mellow]

I don't understand what the blocks are used for.

Just the bent bolt seems like it would work well enough.

 

[AVGeek]

I don't understand what the blocks are used for.

Just the bent bolt seems like it would work well enough.

The blocks are mounted to the lids, so when closed and locked, they lock the helmets onto the bent bolts.

I'll be looking to use this one when I get the panniers mounted up...nice job plug.

 

[Mellow]

The blocks are mounted to the lids, so when closed and locked, they lock the helmets onto the bent bolts.

I'll be looking to use this one when I get the panniers mounted up...nice job plug.

Ah... VERY COOL! Bravo!

 

[plugugly]

If I had a mill, lathe and more time, I could have made something that looked a bit nicer. I just figured this would work and fits the utilitarian theme. The hardest part for me was getting the hook mounted in the right spot. I mounted the blocks first because I wanted them centered on the flat spot of the lid, so I could use a flanged bolt on the back side for strength. I also made it a bit harder on myself by drill tapping the box for the bolt, which eliminated and adjustment (short of bending a new bolt) for height. I put blue loctite on everything on final assembly, and it's plenty stout. It could surely be defeated with enough force and tools, but I'd say it's as secure as most other helmet locks out there.

If you go to do this, don't just buy two bolts. Getting them bent exactly the same using a vice and hammer is part luck, and stainless isn't really crazy about being bent. I probably went through a half dozen bolts, between mismatches in length and ones that snapped or partially tore during the bending. I used 2.25 inch x 1/4-20 bolts from McMaster Carr, I would have preferred to use metric but I didn't have a tap and wanted to get it done. Also it's not something you should need to ever fiddle with after you install it anyway.