Doorknobs are the work of the devil, designed only to make people suffer. "Yes, I would like to apply inordinate force on a small slippery sphere" -- statements dreamed up by the utterly deranged.
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Come to Germany.
We usually have lever handles (is that what you call them?) on doors. Except for exterior doors which have a dummy doorknob (or other form of dummy handle) on the outside, so noone can get in, even when the door is unlocked.
Only in rare cases, you will find a turning knob in Germany. Turning knobs are used when you want to pretend that a door cannot be opened without a key.
@hallunke23 I just left Germany 😅
@Gargron locksmiths: that's the point
@Gargron It actually boggles my mind that they make doorknobs in assisted living homes. As we plan for our own old age, we are thinking about all these small details for remodeling our home. Including press switches instead of the small ones, lower down, and of course voice activated everything.
@Gargron … and through the doorway, into the kitchen to use a 1980s butterfly-style can opener with ferociously sharp tips to its stainless steel wings.
@Gargron
You should try the 80+ year old doorknobs I've stubbornly left on a couple outside doors (backed up with modern deadbolts) on our early 1940s house. Add on the old wooden doors swollen by our damp coastal climate, settling foundations that have taken everything slightly out of square, and you've got a grand time every instance you have to open one of these things.
@carstenfranke Why is it a doorknob that is supposed to keep the bears out and not the door lock? Do people not lock their external doors in the US? And how does that pertain to doorknobs inside houses?
@Gargron speaking of bears and doors, this was in the news this morning 😐
@Gargron Bears are not dextrous enough to operate a doorknob, and unlikely to understand how they work. Any animal can press on a lever, even accidentally. But rotating a knob is not intuitive for them, and most can't do it even if they figure it out.
Raccoons, some cats, and a few other critters can figure them out, but they usually can't put enough force to them to operate them. A bear is obviously strong enough, but it doesn't have 'hands' the way we do, and can't grip it.
@Gargron a lot of my friends in rural areas don't lock their doors, it is baffling. Had to pick something up from friends on a farm and asked when a good time would be to meet them. They were: just come by, the door is open, we'll leave it in the kitchen. ??!
Indoors it's purely from keeping the cats out of your rooms they should not be in...
It is astonishing how little change there is in components for houses. "We came up with this doorknob or light switch 150 years ago. It's fine forever."
@Gargron this is why in commercial buildings in America we have the long sticks that go all the way across the door and you kick them violently to open them. Or we just shoot the door with our mandatory assault rifles
@Gargron They are a cursed invention. Thankfully, they are very rare in Norway.
@Gargron yep they are a dumb design. vestigial holdover from more naive era hundreds of years ago perhaps. unsanitary too
@Gargron In their defence, it is hard to get caught on one when door is open.
@Gargron They were named after the inventor.
@Gargron This toot just reminds me to read Don Norman's Design of Everyday Things again
https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262525671/the-design-of-everyday-things/
@Gargron...
Bears.
Not a concern in every place, mind you. Your likelihood of Bears will inform your tolerance for door knobs.
@GordonFawks Do you typically expect bears inside your home?
@Gargron We have bears where I am, and it's really down to enticement more than anything else. You keep garbage in plastic bags inside sturdy bins, to reduce enticement and make it a hassle for them. You don't leave pet food outside at night, or more than necessary. In the dead of winter, one might take interest in food provided for birds.
Rarely, an individual bear might become a problem in a given small area, because they've overcome fear of humans or have trouble foraging or something.
@wesdym I'm pointing out that the bear argument doesn't make sense for doorknobs on internal doors, if it wasn't clear. I'm going to be walking from the living room to the kitchen way more times than any bear.
In some parts of California it's not at all uncommon for bears to get into houses.
@Gargron Depends where you live.
Where I live now, no. Where my uncle lives, which is a fairly populous town within day-tripping distance of Toronto, that is an extremely real possibility. A lot of little things have to be done with bear (and more commonly racoon) intrusion in mind, and those bastards know how to operate a door handle well-easily.
@GordonFawks A bear must first get into the house before it can operate door handles inside your house. Given the existence of locks I find this kind of defense in depth redundant.
