I was recently given a gift of a real nice shovel by my forest firefighter buddy. Now I need to find a way to carry it, outside, without having it stolen. I have a swing away spare tire/jerry can holder I can rig a mount to. Right now it's just secured to the back of my spare with a strap. It's secure, but I'd like something more lockable. Any ideas?

i keep mine inside, i have a giant rubber duffel bag full of recovery gear....  never seen a way to lock a 'nice' shovel, i know some of them are pricey and should be locked!  good luck.

BTW, anybody that reads this who doesn't carry a shovel should get on board and get one, 2nd best recovery item ever.

i carry mine, strapped thru the spare tire rim, between the tire and tail gate. use a ratchet strap.
i don't worry too much about someone stealing it.
i worry about other things disappearing though. hate to have to worry that way......

OK, it's just a shovel, nothing really special about it. I guess locking it isn't as important as securing it so someone doesn't use it to smash my windows and get inside!

 How about a set of hoodpins. You could weld the studs to your tire carrier then drill holes on the shovel head and handle and use a small padlock on one of the studs and a pin on the other! Small rubber bushings would keep it from rattling.

Just a thought!

I have mine mounted to a Garvin roof rack, if you look closely it is just four bolts with wing nuts on the outside, I was going to drill small holes through the 4 inch bolts and use little brass or stainless pad locks, or use the new tuner lugs that resemble big torx bolts if I can find them in the same thread pitch.

I keep mine inside  I have one of  these combo shovels

http://www.4x4equip.com.au/listProduct/4x4+Accessories/Off+Road+Shovels

ChevyTracker, Nice Rig! Tuner lugs and a couple of studs, now that's an idea.  I do have a roof rack, but only put it on when I'm going to use it. The Tracker won't fit through my garage door with it on!  Freak, the hood pins idea sounds like a good one too, I thought about doing something like that with bolts, but am concerned about weakening the shovel handle by drilling holes in it. It is some kind of composite so it may be strong enough. Cj, I have been carrying mine inside too, it fits very nicely behind the back seat, but I finally got to use it, and putting it back there all muddy and dirty is just a pita. Thanks for the ideas guys!

I just carry a military folding shovel. I like the German single-fold better than the US tri-fold style. I'm thinking about mounting it the same way chevytracker did... except on a swing-away.
http://www.fatiguesarmynavy.com/store/subcat/225/Military_Surplus_Shovels

Mine breaks down and each piece has its own pocket in the storage bag so even if it's dirty it doesn't make a mess inside the vehicle and its easy eneogh to wash the bag when you get home, To be honest it sees most use as a long handle shovel when stuck in snow or sand so mud generally isn't that big a deal anyway most of the time.