Locking your toolbox?

[csargents1546]

THose who work in a shop of anykind, do you all lock your toolbox whenever you are away from it, ie lunch, break, weekend?

 

[Griff93]

Depends on the shop. I've worked in places where I definitely locked it on lunch and when I went home. Another place nobody locked their box. Everybody respected everybody else's tools and the boss even left his box open 24/7.

 

[slip knot]

Hell, I lock my box at home whenever I'm done for the day!

The company pays for my tools at work but they get locked up when done with as well. I truly hate not being able to find a tool that I know I have but has been "borrowed" by a co-worker. It's a PITA to replace tools regardless of who pays.

 

[kmkalf]

shop i'm in is trusting, box gets locked before leaving for the day

 

[nitrohog]

Everybody in the shop that I work in that has SO, Mac, Matco, etc including me leave their stuff unlocked and no one has ever had a problem. Ironically the one guy with all harbor freight junk and plastic tool boxes locks all of his stuff at night LMAO.

 

[DanCo]

Always lock my boxes, unless I'm taking a break on the shop floor.

 

[dansmurf]

I always locked my box too. It gave me a chance to do a midday cleanup and tool check to make sure nothing was misplaced though out the morning.

 

[D9H 90V]

I Always lock it!! too much money in tools to risk it

 

[cowboyjosh]

I grew up in the car business, family still owns dealerships. Even though all the fellas in the shop have been there forever, know each other and don't touch others stuff from what I see when I visit they all lock their **** at the end of the day. Mind you most of the tech's tools are Snap On or MAC; most of the "junior tech" start out with Craftsman but still lock their boxes. Our buildings are old and don't have security systems (they are also in small town USA) so it behoves them to protect their tools. A couple fellas (there are only 5 in the shop) also use a wrecker type chain wrapped around the buildings support poles and padlocked to their box.

There is a common shop toolbox with scan tools, multi meters, cheap screw driver and plier sets, etc; they don't lock that box, and nothing ever goes missing.

 

[61falcon]

i lock my box at work every night. leave it open during lunch. i have 2 friends at work and we all have keys to each others tool boxs. we have have an unspoken open box agreement with each other.

 

[adcrawfo]

I leave mine open when I'm around but lock it up before I leave. No one in our plant trusts anyone to leave their box open during the night. One of the main reasons that everyone buys craftsman there is so they aren't out a lot if it does get taken. Unfortunately it's not the other mechanics we need to worry about, it's the bottom feeders they hire to work on the molding lines that we are more concerned with. I too have keys to 2 other guys boxes but none of them have a key to mine, guess that's what happens when I don't have anything exciting to use.

 

[Radio Flyer]

shop i'm in is trusting, box gets locked before leaving for the day

that is what is done by all techs in our shop.

 

[archirelic]

I don't work in a shop/garage like most of you guys, but I lock my cart and box even though it's in my garage...force of habit I suppose.

 

[matty d]

This last weekend I went to a Neighborhood Watch meeting. Although crime is low in our area, just talking to the police and neighbors about crime/theft makes me want to lock everything up and close my garage door all the time. I love leaving it open on a sunny day to walk in and out whenever I please, but you never know who is driving by and eyeing your goods.

 

[REAL HOT SCHITT]

Go to cabelas.com and buy a "trail camera" , then hide it to capture the moment of thievery from your trusty m8ts.....then broardcast it on youtube.....make sure u look up buyer /user feedbacks so u dont buy a dud.

 

[jethro29]

at work, in a five bay shop,five large s.o. boxes loaded. and none of us lock them. never a problem. the shop is alarmed,motion sensors,video cameras.pretty safe.and my home boxes are alway open also.

 

[gbrett]

When I worked in a shop no one locked their boxes, and I don't lock them at my personal shop the doors arn't even locked. I lost the keys to my boxes and shop years ago. When I was in college we always locked our boxes when we were gone though.

 

[mdbeck1]

I never lock it, but the wife doesn't really like tools (except my small pliers) and the son (16 years old) isn't into fixing cars yet.

However that doesn't keep me from putting the toolbox tight against the second garage door. That way nobody can see that nice box from the street.


...is it paranoia if they REALLY are out to get you?

 

[Aklass]

at our place, the two techs lock their boxes at night, during lunch they leave them open. The boss leaves his stuff unlocked 24/7 and he even leaves the shop box unlocked 24/7, lets just say he is a slob and no one enjoys finding tools in his box

 

[bentwrench54]

i lock my stuff up at the end of the day, but leave it unlocked during the day. for the most part i have unspoken tool rights with the other techs in the shop. if a co-worker leaves before i can return what i've borrowed, i lock it up with my tools and return it when i'm done.

i have 5 locks between the tool boxes and the screwdriver caddy mounted to my tool cart. makes it an annoyance to be locking and unlocking several times a day.

 

[Ohio Auto]

I've always locked my box. At one shop it would really piss my boss off because I had more and better tools than he did.

Now I have my shop out back of my house and I still lock it up after every use. Also padlock my garage doors, deadbolt the man door, and set the alarm.

 

[Eagle Point]

When I worked at a Datsun Dealership for 13 years I always locked it at the end of the day. At home I keep the large bank of drawers locked with the key still in it with my KR1000 in case of an earthquake. The roller bearing drawers could shake open and tip the box over. Maybe its a California thing!

 

[moose knuckle]

Working in a factory w/ 3 shifts, its locked before leaving and as much during the shift as possible! Stuff grows feet around here too easily.

 

[Kevin54]

Don't lock it at home, but do at work. Too many items came up missing at work while I was off with shoulder surgery. Everyone used to have keys to the others box and that worked fine until they switched departments around. Now it seems that no one trust anyone, which is a shame. I do leave it open at lunch though but it is locked every night before leaving.

 

[Scuderia-F1]

I've always locked my box. At one shop it would really piss my boss off because I had more and better tools than he did.

Now I have my shop out back of my house and I still lock it up after every use. Also padlock my garage doors, deadbolt the man door, and set the alarm.

Thats the proper way to do it, as do I!

 

[35mastr]

Never lock at home unless we go away for a few days, At work no real need to lock them as most dont touch other peoples stuff. But I do when I go home at night anyways. I just sleep better.