Locker Room Etiquette: to lock or not to lock

Lock.  Always.

 Although I have had stuff stolen from a locked locker. 

Lock.  Just out of habit.  And I HAVE had stuff stolen (even WITH the lock).  They busted it.

Think of it as cheap insurance.  It takes no effort, and saves you from the basic pain in the arse/mental aggrivation if things got stolen.

Same here.  But I even lock my valuable in the trunk of my car and cary my car keys.

Ha!  The few times I forgot my lock, I would lay a pair of sweaty underware on top of everything.  If they wanted to dig through my pockets, they needed to get through the magical barrier of sweaty undies...

That would be the only thing I consider as 'etiquette' in this matter.  It's SO aggrevating to go from locker to locker that looks open, to keep finding clothes in them..

A lock also signifies that the locker is in use, which is a nice courtesy so people don't need to walk down the row opening every locker until they find an empty one.

Edited: nevermind, too slow...

I lock my stuff because I don't want it to get stolen.  If you're not worried about that, I don't think it's inappopriate to use a locker without locking it.  I'll admit that sometimes I get annoyed when I have to open a few unlocked lockers before I find one without stuff inside, but it only takes up a few extra seconds and it's not really a big deal  

x2 - It's a pain, I agree!

Lock, every time. I'm paranoid about getting my stuff stolen, plus it's a PITA to go down a row of lockers to find one that's empty.
 

On a related note, how much would it suck to innocently open a locker that had been stolen from, RIGHT as the contents' owner walked back into the locker room?

I used to never lock until- went over 2 years at the Y not having to lock- until one day all my stuff got stolen.

 I always lock now!

I think it depends on the part of country you live, the type of neighborhood the gym is in and and also the type of gym you go to.  I currently belong to 3 diferent gyms - one at work, a city gym with a pool where I swim and another by my house that my whole family goes to. 

At my work gym I never see locks on any of the lockers.  I've used this gym for 13 years and have never used a lock and have never had anything stolen.

At the pool also never see locks.  I never even close my locker door....never had anything go missing.

The gym by my home I see locks here and there but they are more the exception rather than the norm.

~Mike

I always lock too- for this very reason.  I've had things stolen twice at local gyms.  The first time, I lost a gym towel, some shampoo and toothbrush and toothpaste (who steals that?).  The second time, it was old gym clothes and, yes, my unused lock.

Classic!

I always lock - been burned a few times by having items stolen from lockers both unlocked and locked. I've seen where kids have had their winter coats and boots stolen and had to go home in sock feet and a T shirt [SHAKES HEAD IN DISGUST OVER THE PRESENT HUMAN CONDITION]