# Do you lock your front (and back) door when you are home? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 8, 2013, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-lock-your-front-and-back-door-when-you-are-home/670654 "2013-10-08T05:04:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-lock-your-front-and-back-door-when-you-are-home/670654/101 "2013-10-10T16:34:50Z")
> [@Tethered\_Kite](#): > > Have I ever done any boating? I live in MN, Land of 100,000 Lakes. And we do own a boat. > > We recently lost a well-known businessman to drowning after he hit his head and fell into the water. A life jacket may have saved his life. > > And we lost a good friend to drowning this year to a boating accident. Wear 'em or not. It’s a choice. > > But this is a forum devoted to fighting ignorance and I consider self-preservation to be wise thing. 😉 I wouldn’t argue you out of wearing a PFD while boating, I was mainly surprised that someone would present wearing one as a given. I know most people argue that solo boating is a no-no, but I love kayaking solo although I recognize the risk. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-lock-your-front-and-back-door-when-you-are-home/670654/102 "2013-10-10T16:57:13Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > I’m still wondering if the non-lockers are just kind of not bothering or if it’s a sort of philosophical stance; and if it bothers them that so many other people do lock their doors. No, no philosophical stance here. I usually walk in with my hands full, or just don’t think of it. I couldn’t care less if others lock their door- why would I? I do think it’s sad, from my POV, those who lock and alarm themselves always and have such fear of the outside. I do lock it at night, because I am more vulnerable when I’m asleep. ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-lock-your-front-and-back-door-when-you-are-home/670654/103 "2013-10-10T17:28:35Z")
> [@Tethered\_Kite](#): > > Have I ever done any boating? I live in MN, Land of 100,000 Lakes. And we do own a boat. > > We recently lost a well-known businessman to drowning after he hit his head and fell into the water. A life jacket may have saved his life. > > And we lost a good friend to drowning this year to a boating accident. Wear 'em or not. It’s a choice. > > But this is a forum devoted to fighting ignorance and I consider self-preservation to be wise thing. 😉 Error: Land of 10,000 Lakes. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-lock-your-front-and-back-door-when-you-are-home/670654/104 "2013-10-10T17:28:42Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > Then you’re the only person I know who doesn’t have a Yale lock. Many home insurers demand them. In my experience, if insurers demand anything, it’s a deadbolt, which generally do not lock automatically. Come to think of it, I don’t think I know anyone with a lock that _only_ locks automatically. There are locks that can be set that way, but if you twist a thingie on the inside part of the lock, the door stays unlocked until you twist it back, or until you use a key to lock it. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-lock-your-front-and-back-door-when-you-are-home/670654/105 "2013-10-10T18:26:45Z")
> [@Tethered\_Kite](#): > > Why would you encourage people not to lock their doors? It sounds like someone saying, “You don’t need to fasten your seatbelt because you live in a low-traffic area.” Or, "Don’t wear a life-jacket in the boat. You know how to swim. I’m not encouraging people not to lock their doors. I do think some of them are overestimating the risk they’re in. But lock away! Haven’t you ever had to work and save to have things worth protecting? [/QUOTE] Ummmm…yes. > [@SlackerInc](#): > > But you just said upthread that you live in a gated complex. Now. I haven’t always. And I’ve never locked the door before going to bed. > [@SlackerInc](#): > > As for your question, I have never had my door jiggled when I was near it and a stranger was there. But the places in the house I hang out most of the time would not lead to me hearing it anyway. What has happened twice for me over the past 20 years or so is that someone I really didn’t want to talk to, an acquaintance who was a pest, basically (which is to say two different such pests in two different states), came and knocked on the door and my housemates and I stayed quiet waiting for them to go away. Both times, after knocking and/or ringing the bell for an inordinately long time, they did try the handle. So avoiding awkward encounters with weird/annoying people is enough reason in and of itself IMO. Fair enough. I don’t care whether people lock or not. I do find it amusing that some of the lockers are amazed that some of us don’t lock. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-lock-your-front-and-back-door-when-you-are-home/670654/106 "2013-10-10T19:17:51Z")
We lock our front door unless we’re in the kitchen, since there is a good chance we wouldn’t hear someone. We usually leave one of our many back doors open for the dog, but we have a locked gate and a high fence, so that is pretty safe. We also have a heavy screen door with good locks, so in good weather we leave the front door open and that one closed. We lock up at night. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-lock-your-front-and-back-door-when-you-are-home/670654/107 "2013-10-10T19:49:26Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > The only times the doors aren’t locked are when I’m doing yard work, or bringing things in from the car. Yep. It’s the unlocked door that gets walked into freely. If somebody’s going to murder me in my own home, they’re at least going to have to break in to do it. ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-lock-your-front-and-back-door-when-you-are-home/670654/108 "2013-10-10T19:50:47Z")
I do. I lock all doors and windows. We only dead bolt at night. If I am home alone and taking a nap I even lock my bedroom door. Paranoid? Who me? ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-lock-your-front-and-back-door-when-you-are-home/670654/109 "2013-10-10T19:54:38Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > … but I’d do it if I lived in the middle of Fuckall, Nevada. Hmmm…I’m familiar with McCarthy, AL, but, I’m afraid I don’t know Fuckall… ---
**Author:** ![Whiskey\_Dickens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9fc348/32.png) [@Whiskey\_Dickens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whiskey_Dickens)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-lock-your-front-and-back-door-when-you-are-home/670654/110 "2013-10-10T20:04:57Z")
More anecdata: City of 135,000 in one of Canada’s poorest regions. My doors are rarely/never locked. Most of the ground floor windows don’t have functioning locks either. I sincerely wonder how many robberies involve people randomly trying a bunch of door handles before finding one unlocked, and entering without doing any recon beforehand. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-lock-your-front-and-back-door-when-you-are-home/670654/111 "2013-10-10T20:05:57Z")
This isn’t some odd sex question, is it? ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-lock-your-front-and-back-door-when-you-are-home/670654/112 "2013-10-10T20:59:55Z")
Normally, I have the front and back doors locked. On the other hand, my in-laws have rarely locked the front door when they’re home, and my wife often leaves the front door unlocked when she’s expecting a visitor or awaiting my return from work. We live in a nice but hardly crime-free section of Austin, TX. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-lock-your-front-and-back-door-when-you-are-home/670654/113 "2013-10-10T23:06:09Z")
> [@Moonlitherial](#): > > For me it’s a combination of laziness and the presence of two dogs who jump up and bark their fool heads off if a squirrel dares to step on the porch let alone a human. This has been such a common refrain, I am wondering: did any of the people saying already that they do not lock fail to mention having dogs? That is, in retrospect I think I would rephrase my question to ask how many people with no dogs and not in a gated community do not lock the doors. > [@Dorjan](#): > > Can you explain that a bit better? Assuming the population/number of Burglaries and B&E’s don’t change, that random chance is independent from year to year. If my math is right, there is a mean number of 71 years before I could expect to get hit. Okay, first of all the chance of hitting snake eyes with one roll of the dice is 1/36, or 2.78%. Agreed? For a 1.4% chance per year, figured for a two year stint, you would take .986, square it, and subtract the result from 100. Which is…2.78%. So again: looks to me like uncannily close to the same odds as having a “lottery” type deal every two years where you roll two dice, hoping for no snake eyes. And while it’s true that the odds in a given year are independent from the others, this is basically accounted for. After all, the odds are also independent in a day or an hour. You could get broken into more than once in a year, but these numbers provide the essential probability (while also not accounting for various complicating factors, including the possibility that leaving a door open may increase your risk) to any reasonable level given that this is an inherently fuzzy issue of criminology, not civil engineering or something. (I think I’m doing the math right here; but if I’m not, I’m sure someone here of all places will let me know.) ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-lock-your-front-and-back-door-when-you-are-home/670654/114 "2013-10-10T23:29:52Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > This has been such a common refrain, I am wondering: did any of the people saying already that they do not lock fail to mention having dogs? That is, in retrospect I think I would rephrase my question to ask how many people with no dogs and not in a gated community do not lock the doors. Me. I didn’t mention a dog and I didn’t lock until bedtime prior to having one. No gated community either. You seem to be working really hard to make not locking up immediately something that needs exceptional explanation- Philosophical stance Gated community Barky dog Some of just don’t worry about it for perfectly mundane reasons, and that’s ok. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-lock-your-front-and-back-door-when-you-are-home/670654/115 "2013-10-10T23:39:46Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > This isn’t some odd sex question, is it? I keep the back door locked either way. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-lock-your-front-and-back-door-when-you-are-home/670654/116 "2013-10-10T23:40:42Z")
Hell yes! ---
**Author:** ![Gullible\_s\_Travels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de0a6/32.png) [@Gullible\_s\_Travels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gullible_s_Travels)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-lock-your-front-and-back-door-when-you-are-home/670654/117 "2013-10-10T23:58:30Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > This has been such a common refrain, I am wondering: did any of the people saying already that they do not lock fail to mention having dogs? That is, in retrospect I think I would rephrase my question to ask how many people with no dogs and not in a gated community do not lock the doors. Nope, no dogs. No gated community. It’s not really a philosophical thing so much as habit and an assessment there’s no good reason to lock and plenty of good reasons to unlock including convenience, fresh air, no feeling of being worried or afraid when the doors are unlocked/open, and disliking the feeling of being ‘locked in’. It might be even be that I’m a little bit claustrophobic I guess. I like having the windows open and I hate sleeping with the bedroom door shut. ---
**Author:** ![MareIt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ea666f/32.png) [@MareIt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MareIt)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2013, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-lock-your-front-and-back-door-when-you-are-home/670654/118 "2013-10-11T00:11:42Z")
I do have dogs, now, but prior to their arrival I still didn’t lock my door while awake. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2013, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-lock-your-front-and-back-door-when-you-are-home/670654/119 "2013-10-11T00:15:47Z")
My front door is automatically unopenable from the outside without a key. I find it strange that many people in Dublin have front doors that are as standard openable without a key. If I’m sitting downstairs and it is warm I’ll have the back doors open. If I’m upstairs in the office or lying down I’ll make sure the back doors are closed and locked. A couple of winters ago I was in my office when an intruder, chancing their arm, opened the gate from the front to the back garden and then found the back door open. I didn’t see their face but they were in the landing metres from me before I realised they were an intruder and not a member of my family. It was terrifying. They ran down the stairs when they heard my voice and after a second I ran after them and slammed the back door and bolted it. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2013, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-lock-your-front-and-back-door-when-you-are-home/670654/120 "2013-10-11T06:01:39Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > Me. I didn’t mention a dog and I didn’t lock until bedtime prior to having one. No gated community either. > > You seem to be working really hard to make not locking up immediately something that needs exceptional explanation- He seems really invested in this, doesn’t he? I think he took a stance in a Breaking Bad thread that not locking your door behind you is completely implausible and is trying to salvage that stance. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-lock-your-front-and-back-door-when-you-are-home/670654.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-lock-your-front-and-back-door-when-you-are-home/670654.md?page=7)