Tradesman rigs his van's door with 1,000V to stop thieves from stealing his tools

A tradesman in the UK finally got sick of finding his van cleaned out.

Twice he walked outside and realized his tools – and once even his entire vehicle – had vanished overnight.

So instead of buying another lock, he built something a lot more… persuasive.

And suddenly, every tradesperson online wants to know exactly what he did.

DISCOVER SBX CARS – The global premium auction platform powered by Supercar Blondie

This tradesman kept getting robbed, so he built a shock device

The guy’s name is Ray Taylor, and he’s had a brutal year.

The first break-in cost him about $2,650 (£2,000) in gear and the car it was sitting in.

The second hit him for another $3,300 (£2,500) after he bought brand-new DeWALT tools that didn’t even get used once.

Then thieves came back a third time, heard his alarm, and still walked off with more stuff. 

At that point, who wouldn’t snap?

For Ray, the worst part wasn’t the money – it was losing a tool bag he’d spent 15 years building with tiny, super-specific bits.

He says van theft is so common now that thieves literally peel open doors like sardine cans, grab everything, and disappear. 

A lot of tradespeople can’t even work the next day because they’ve got nothing left.

So Ray built his own alarm system.

He hid sensors in the weak spots thieves pry at, added flashing lights bright enough to look like a police car, and locked his expensive stuff inside a heavy-duty van vault.

Then the tradesman installed the feature everyone’s talking about: a shock device on the back door that can hit with roughly 1,000 volts if someone breaks in while the alarm is armed.

According to Ray, gloves won’t save you – the voltage goes straight through.

The zap won’t kill anyone, of course, but it’s enough to make any thief regret their choice.

Police have already turned up to question the setup, and Ray reckons they’ll be back to decide if he can keep it or not.

Now other tradies want the same setup

Ray didn’t stop at protecting just his own van.

He’s now fitting the system for other tradespeople and calls the setup ‘The Stingray’ – because his name is Ray and, well, it stings.

He says it’s built for anyone sick of waking up to an empty van: the siren, the lights, the vault, and yes, the electric shocker that screams ‘not today.’

And honestly? 

For tradespeople who keep getting robbed, this van-door shock device feels less like an overreaction and more like the only thing that actually works.

DISCOVER SBX CARS: The global premium car auction platform powered by Supercar Blondie