SOBO padlocks?

If You have'nt already.

goma.

I don't know of any local retailers in Canada but they are widely available online and usually can be found new on ebay.

I haven't owned Sobo. I have never seen them sold locally only online where they seem to sell for $10-20 for the large semi shrouded shackle but otherwise traditional style padlocks. I just know they are a clone, or close, of abloy which I have owned and have found to be very good. They are not that expensive, in your position I would probably just go ahead and buy one or two and evaluate them. They certainly appear to use a lock mechanism very similar if not identical to abloy and I am fairly proficient at picking various lock designs and have never had any success whatsoever with abloy. I have heard that there is a tool in Europe where abloy is more common which can be used in conjunction with a fair amount of skill to pick them but I have never seen the tool, a supplier of it, or any specific specifications. You might want to ask over on lockpicking101.com where people will be a lot more frank and forthcoming with specific information on defeating them if any is available. I would ask about Abloy or Abloy type locks though because the Sobo brand is not all that commonly known. AFAIK Sobo also comes with 4 keys which I would consider a + since getting new keys probably won't be all that easy.