LOCK IT AND POCKET IT – ALLEN WRENCHES AREN’T DOORSTOPS

An Allen wrench — also called a hex wrench or dogging wrench (closed end hex) — can be two things: a key or a wrench. It’s not a doorstop. 

Too many crash bars on campus, once opened with a hex tool, are being left with the tool still sticking out of the mechanism, as if a normal door lock only works by leaving the key in the lock. It’s like leaving a hex wrench sticking out of every screw on a cheap particle board entertainment center or rolling cart. 

I have a bruise the size of my fist on my arm from going through the side door to the cafeteria on Club Day. Everyone standing around the six available dining seats heard me as I got snagged up and dropped by book bag on the way in. 

It’s even worse on powered accessibility doors because the signage dissuades you from forcing the door, so squeezing through a closing door makes it more likely to jam you into that hexed obstruction. 

Please remove the key once it’s used.