Do you lock your toolbox at home?

[FishingMan]

Everything i care about is locked up. I worked hard to get the toys i want to keep them

 

[L.Cheapo]

Mine are locked. Much harder to steal a 1000lb toolbox than all-you-can-carry tools. Also would make a hell of a lot more noise trying. I have a key and my dad has a key, mostly in case I lose mine. He knows better than to try and sneak those stinky Craftsman screwdrivers I gave him back into my box.

 

[BDT/NWMN]

My tool box is 28' x 56'. It is locked when I am not in it.
Those smaller boxes with casters have locks that are seldom used.

 

[metaldad]

gangboxes and cabinets at work are locked. but i leave my handtools out in the open on my cart - $1500?
tool chest drawers in the truck are locked - to keep them closed in transit
tool chests in the carage, are open. no hi priced **** there
main tool chest in the crypt locked, to keep boy2 out
lots of power tools left out on shelves in the crypt.

 

[CJM8515]

Nope dont have to lock my stuff up. EVERYONE knows not to touch them.

 

[Mikeske]

I am not saying if my stuff is locked but they have to get on the property first and with dogs they tend to hit easier targets. also the fact my property has no trees near the house and garage plus near a road everything is rather open and most thiefs tend to hit homes that are more secluded

 

[PelicanPines]

My shop is locked from all directions... few have access... the tool boxes inside... don't get locked.

 

[jchetty]

We were working in a sketchy part of town and I got to hear the story from the guy who came out to find his car missing one of the back doors!

Stolen in broad daylight while parked on the street.

Of course he was carpooling with 3 other guys, and got pulled over by the cops on the way home for driving without the door.

That is funny. Ok- that story beats mine

When I leave my shop, the shop is locked. The property is protected by and my 100 pound dog. If someone was to get in, the building is alarmed and all boxes and cabinets are locked.

The keys to the building and cabinets are in 3 places, my key ring, my wife's key ring and my #2 son's key ring. In the event wife or son need a tool, they are not allowed to return it to my box. I have a large plastic box on my work bench. They place the tool in the plastic box.

This system works for me.

I like the plastic-box idea. My brother is starting to become more handy due to a new job. I will try the borrowed tool bin with him.

Everything i care about is locked up. I worked hard to get the toys i want to keep them

I bought all my tools. No hand-me-downs and I don’t get any from work. I wanna make it as hard as possible for a thief to take my good stuff. Although the fact that everything is labeled probably doesn’t help

 

[skruft]

No. I have alarms that I think are adequate.

 

[fxstdave]

I do always lock my tool box. For several different reasons.

 

[crewchief888]

I don't lock my box at work let alone the boxes at home. I don't even lock the house or shop unless I go somewhere over night.

When I worked in the shop the only time I locked was boxes was over the weekend, or if I was going on vacation.
I've been in a service truck for many years now, most of the time the body is locked, (electric body door locks), anytime I turn my back to the truck. (Working in and around chicago makes it a necessity)

All my boxes in the garage and house are unlocked.

 

[jeffmoss26]

Lost the keys years ago! lol

 

[Diesel Mercedes]

My elderly neighbor is lonely and recently started bringing super shady girls around. Im not sure if theyre tweakers or not but they look like it so everything stays locked.

So we're gonna act like we didn't see this?

 

[cajunfirehawk]

When I lock my shop after the weekend, I always lock up my tools and secure the walk in door so no one can walk in, lol. The tools in my attached house garage are not locked however much sense that makes?

 

[Siding Pro]

My boxes are unlocked. My wife knows what tools she can use but she mostly asks me to fix things for her anyway so no issues there. I have a German shepherd that barks at everything, annoying as heck but it'll sure be useful if anyone tried breaking into my garage overnight.

I might start locking it once my daughter gets older. For right now she doesn't even go into the garage.

 

[toolsguy]

Yup, always. The house has been broken into before. They grabbed loads of my best tools.

 

[royesses]

I always lock my tool boxes. After having my home broken into while I was in the hospital getting xrays I always lock everything and have a monitored alarm system. The burglars did not get my tools, they were locked in the boxes and the boxes are bolted together from the inside. They were caught 3 months later and are doing time in prison 10 years. I had serial numbers for everything they stole. They came to my house to deliver a bed and 2 months later broke in.

Roy

 

[slip knot]

All of my boxes are locked. The wifes tool box isn't. She has her own **** so she doesn't need access to my tools. And if someone breaks in they can steal all of her chisel screwdrivers.

 

[Tallpilot]

My boxes are locked unless I am in the garage with them. It takes 10 seconds to unlock the main box, roll cart and cabinet; one key on my ring and the other in the safe. Crime of opportunity / meth heads will probably get scared and give up before they get much.

If a serious professional thief with proper equipment gets in and knows the local LE response time to an alarm call then he could probably get a fair amount. However I would think someone with that skill set would be looking for bigger targets than my stash. I try to keep delivery people and others who come to the house out of the garage so they can't case it.

There is a family tool set in the kitchen.

 

[Lelandwelds]

(electric body door locks),

Like a solenoid? As in only? Just?

Yes. I used to live with my brother and he would steal things all the time. The paranoia never went away. Plus I’m not a trusting person. Locks keep good guys honest.

Cant choose family. I am stuck with a couple bad ones, too.

Locked. I also lock up larger items: welders, saws..... with chain or cable, to make it hard on thieves.

Perfectly stated.

I am working on a padded, hinged / sliding single exterior lock. It is based on keyed alike and captive Asus padlocks. I want to remove the wheels from HF boxes and mount them in a wall pocket. Picture a Steevo bench without the bench.

I have considered a toolcrib built like an old county jail cell.

 

[crewchief888]

Like a solenoid? As in only? Just?

all the doors have both keyed locks and electric lock/unlock solenoids.
the body company screwed up and also installed the mechanical locking rods for use with a padlock.

 

[larry_g]

Nope.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[davethorik]

Now that I live by myself, no. When I had a roommate, yes. Learned that lesson the hard way.

 

[Lelandwelds]

all the doors have both keyed locks and electric lock/unlock solenoids.
the body company screwed up and also installed the mechanical locking rods for use with a padlock.

I like the padlocks. Big, obvious target. Saves door damage. I have looked at a couple utility company trucks.

I don't know why I want one of the damn things. Probably smarter to rig up a trailer.

 

[jw3]

When my father was alive, and my box was under his carport, yes I kept my box locked. Between him and his crazy *** girlfriend, I would find my decent tools all over the place. His rusty **** had already need lost I guess. Lol. I have alarms at my shop, and with the heavy equipment my brother and I own, I would be all but impossible to remove my large roller or tool cart.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Motorman55]

I figure its better to keep the boxes locked. Rather have a locked dented up drawer or two that I can probably repair, then to have a bunch of tools easily accessible for the thief to throw in a bag and run off.

 

[mrjaw14]

Yes I lock my boxes at home. it may be an empire of dirt..but its MY empire lol

 

[FJF]

Late to the thread; a good read.

I have 7 boxes and carts. Six live in the garage and the seventh is in the house. None are locked, but we do have a nice collection of toolbox keys. We live in a safe suburban area with our own police department. The house is alarmed, has proximity sensors - their names are Stan and Sophie - a total of 170lbs of Pitbull. Folks rarely come near our front door.

Would be interesting to hear what other do, as well, if you missed seeing this thread as I had.

 

[Alamedasam]

Yes I absolutely lock my boxes both at home & at the shop. If some ************* breaks in the longer it will take him to get anything. By the time he is able to get the box open, & load up some chrome, either the cops will be on scene,(better for them), or I will be there,
(really bad for them), so locked it is.

 

[Bessy]

There are times when I do lock the boxes up and put things away properly (usually only on long weekends when we have lots of people over), but as for everyday use, no. We live in a pretty quiet area, and we're locals, so there are plenty of cottages and summer homes that are higher on the hit list than the places where someone is usually around, so I don't usually feel the need to lock it. Even if I did, my 26" stack is just too much of a hassle to lock needing the external drawer bars and my other top chest only locks when it wants to, you can usually still get in the drawers if you want. Bottom line is that the reality that one of us is usually always home far outweighs the hassle of having to unlock my box just to grab a few tools to work on something.

That said, I have an uncle with some boundary issues and sticky fingers. Sometimes he asks, sometimes he doesn't it's kindof a **** shoot. Nearly all the time when he asks to borrow something, I try to go with him to "help" work on whatever it is that needs to be done, mainly to ensure that whatever I lend gets returned rather than sitting in the back of his truck in the rain and snow or left in the yard.

Contemplating getting a box for "throwaway tools" that I can leave right by the door of the shop for instances like that. Generally if someone needs to borrow something, the "good enough" tools will get the job done, so I figure I'll stock it with some of the cheaper stuff, that I don't mind as much if it goes missing.