1. The cuddelock clip prevents the camera from sliding out of mount. This would indeed act as some form of security IF the small sliding tab on the back of the camera were made of steel. But it is actually made of plastic and it is intentionally designed to release the camera with a modest amount of force. The thought was to reduce camera damage from bears by making a sacrificial mount. Which is good if you have curious bears. Unfortunately it is bad if you have thieves because it means a thief can easily steal the cam - a sharp yank will completely defeat the cuddelock clip by breaking the small sacrificial plastic tab. The camera releases from mount and is essentially undamaged and perfectly viable. An ideal solution would be a cable pass through, BUT unfortunately this is not present on the current G-cams. A thief is of course much less likely to steal a camera if the act of stealing actually destroys the camera itself.
The only remotely viable solution is to hide the cameras better, locate them at least 9' off the ground, and, to use a metal box. You are correct, the G-cam cuddesafe is quite big - because it is oversized to allow one box to fit different size cameras (ie: the cell home). Unfortunately, because there is no cable pass through on the camera itself the best results come from using two locks per cuddesafe. I use one cable lock for the top, and one padlock for the bottom. Also, do not use the screws included with the cuddesafe to attach to a tree. The screws are bugle shaped (like sheet rock screws) and some users are reporting this promotes pull through.
2. Amazon has a vendor that will key alike as many, or as few, cable locks as you wish. I have three dozen - all keyed alike. They are Master cable locks with a camo finish. Other vendors have inexpensive padlocks keyed alike.
