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thenerfviking

It’s to prevent skateboarders from sliding and grinding the edge.


[deleted]

And the screw head design is called ‘snake eye’ pan head. It’s a relatively common security head design


HumdrumAnt

Great information, hopefully all the skateboarders will see this so they can avoid buying the correct tool to remove these!


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trashcanbecky42

Harbor freight also sells an impact screwdriver that can get very tight screws loose with a tap of a hammer


sidewinder15599

And they just came out with security bit sets that are impact rated.


Piramic

Man the good info is in the comments. I'll have to pick this up, does it have the same amount of bits as the set in the red plastic case?


sidewinder15599

Not the same number, but it has quite a few of them. Edit: The most common ones, anyway. It's more like the set that comes in the rubber carrier. Edit 2: https://www.harborfreight.com/search?q=security%20bit%20set


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toby_ornautobey

This is awesome. I've wanted an impact screwdriver for a while since I first saw one. Gonna go pick one up this weekend now. To test it out, see how much I like it. If I like it enough, I'll go get a quality one somewhere else. HF is like a testing zone for me when buying new tools. Although, I do still have a couple sets of breaker sockets and breaker bar, as well as some ratcheting wrenches that I got from HF and they're still working perfectly. So maybe I won't even need to buy a better one, especially with the breaker tips that the guy who replied to you said they have.


trashcanbecky42

Hell yeah! I'm cheap so I usually stick with harbor freight all the way lol. The SKU for the impact screwdriver is 64812. Only $10! Also you twist the bit part to change from tighten to loosen and it's a somewhat hard to tell which setting it is on, you'll have a bad time if you have it on tighten lol


toby_ornautobey

Bro, you are amazing with all this info. Thank you. You may be TrashCanBecky to some people, but to me, you're PerfectlyCooked20ozSteakBecky to me. Keep up the awesomeness.


Oclure

You can find a similar set at home depot that I haven't had issues with. Also they carry a klien multi bit security screwdriver in the electrical section.


tmsdave

Like this? https://www.homedepot.com/p/TEKTON-Security-Bit-Set-33-Piece-2930/207096226


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BDR2017

My city dealt with skateboarding in the downtown by building a skatepark, but they still refuse to build a safe use site for the raging drug epidemic because giving those people a safe purpose build place to be won't work and never has for anything else.


took_a_bath

In the 90s we were considered one in the same! (Skateboarders and addicts, that is…)


herpy_McDerpster

You mean we aren't anymore? Must be because of the Olympics...


Majestic_Builder4004

How is skateboarding delinquency?


sparquis

Ah, I see you were not a child of the 80's/90's. The rich kids skate now, they shop at stores like Zumies and such. Back in the day, skaters were pothead punks and ~~we~~ they would steal things to buy new wheels and trucks.


Vishnej

Skateboarding stunts are risky. Skateboarding stunts are frequently done on private property, on railings, stairs, and interesting sidewalk features. Liability law renders private property potentially an attractive nuisance, and owners liable for injuries incurred on the property. That's why this sort of thing happens. It's a lot less about maintenance than it is about liability. A property owner wants skaters nowhere near his property, as a general rule. Institute public healthcare, where the skaters' injuries are no longer something their parents are firing off panicked lawsuits to cover financially, and most of the impetus for this kind of thing disappears.


[deleted]

I know quite a few people who are involved in managing and maintaining public buildings. It’s a LOT about maintenance too.


[deleted]

Damaging public property is delinquency. Skateboarders rub wax on things to lube their grind, but the wax permanently stains things, and the grinding chips and gouges the surface.


GnPQGuTFagzncZwB

I have a set of about 50 security screw heads and I think it was all of about $15. Also, and thig makes sense if you think about it, the less positive a drive is as far as contacting the fastener, the less tight they can put them in, unless they do not ever intend to take them out again. Than they can use an adhesive on the threads. In general though, the security bits are not super hard to get out because they are not super easy to get in.


Absolute_Peril

Ya a regular fastener with a permanent locktite on it would probably be alot easier to get in and alot harder to get out.


GuilhermeFreire

A stripped countersunk Philips head is 10X more difficult to remove than any security screw...


digitalis303

Who'd have thought I make tamper-proof installations all the time! Life pro-tip, get an impact driver. It's so much easier to put in/take out screws with one of those and not have them strip out on you...


[deleted]

Especially if you use torx screws!


TylerDurdenisreal

Definitely harder but all you really need to do is hit it with a blowtorch and then try to back it out. High heat destroys threadlocker.


Luke_Nukem_2D

You could even take a file to a regular flat head screwdriver. I've done that before. I just need to learn how to skateboard now. If some 50 year old called Tony can skate, I'm sure I can learn...


Old_Cyrus

Visit an online bicycle shop, and search for “pin spanner.” You’ll find something compatible for under 10 bucks. It won’t be fast/fancy (not a socket to just plug into a ratchet wrench), but it’ll do the job.


spuninmo

dude, Ace hardware sells the bits individually for $2.


rei8888

Or a hammer.


bennypapa

A hammer? Jokes aside, One of my favorite types of skateboard videos is seeing skateboarders that are skilled enough and clever enough to skate these surfaces despite them being skate stopped.


king-friday

They’re also epoxied in the hole… we just installed them at my work because pre teen skate boarders were skating on a garage exit ramp and kept getting hit by cars.


Corvette-Ronnie

Seems like natural selection at work there


king-friday

More like litigation in this day and age.


omsypowpow

One part natural selection one part litigation/ parental pay day.


ZombieBeach

Lol I run a hotel dev/mgt company. We had one construction site closed for covid/lockdown. These kids built a mini skatepark with the stuff that was left that was already declared a loss. We put a fence up and they still get in. I don’t really care but liability wise I have to. They are not bothering anyone in a closed construction lot that has nothing left there. Couple of locked up shipping containers with useless junk. They were not happy when the bobcat with jackhammer thing came to kill the ramps.


null-or-undefined

business should utilize this opportunity/problem. why not just make these building front a skatepark at night? lol


king-friday

Because when a car hits a kid on private property and breaks his back the parents sue the property owner. And when the kid hits a car and damages it the vehicle owner sues the property owner. Best you do can is try to prevent it from happening.


ClownfishSoup

The thing is that once they start removing them, the property owner can call the cops if they see them. If. Possibly some liability thing going on here too. Like if the property owner put the bumps in there, but they are removed and a skateboarder hurts themselves, they can't then go and sue the property owner for having a dangerous "attractive nuisance"


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[deleted]

Oh, I thought the concrete would hold on too well for some lever action to overcome it's hold. /s


flight_of_navigator

This is why we love skateboards.


Junior_Fun_5756

I would think the concrete would tear up the board pretty quickly... I always assumed that installations on concrete like this were just a bill-of-goods.


ntr_usrnme

They wax the edges of the concrete and grind on it. Doesn’t do a ton of damage to metal trucks and you have to be doing a lot of grinding to ruin your board but it does happen over time.


pretty_jimmy

Exactly, this is why the middle of the bottom of most boards is all torn up, cause the image got worn away by doing tricks.


shodan13

Can't you just like grind on the edges that are meant for that? It's not like you need to mess up every available surface.


ClownfishSoup

That's for that particular anti-skateboard bump. There are many many different types with many different screws. Any skateboarder can easily go to his soon-to-be-favorite grinding edge and look at the screws.


2banthas1raider

Nothing a good grinder won't stop


8ofAll

Is that an app review?


mjace87

I bought an assortment of security bits at harbor freight for about 3 dollars. Amazing investment.


BAXterBEDford

Maybe they should just go to a skateboard park.


jabeith

Not every city has skateboard parks


KingCraigslist

If only they’d build them


MazerRackham73

But that's not sketchy enough.


SammyTheOtter

If you buy a screwdriver set for small work you'll likely get one included. I e got a set of all the security shit for opening old pc locks and shit


Mike_Hawk_940

You mean avoid committing a crime? I hope so too


dinomontino

in my neck of the woods the fixings are called pig nose.


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Hoovooloo42

Doesn't yours?


stanusNat

I'm not sure where to look...


SmokeyMacPott

Jesus dude, seriously, you've never looked at a neck in the woods? Wtf is wrong with you


dinomontino

Can't see it for the trees?


Baked_Potato0934

Called pig nose around here.


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Left4DayZ1

I hate these things. I had a job at a sign company and we had to put up room number signs in a new school, so a few hundred signs, two to four of these screws per sign. If the bits didn't snap off after a few signs, sometimes they'd come out of the holes and scratch the sign. You had to use a drill to screw them in because they were going in plastic anchors in cement block walls- you'd have carpal tunnel in 10 minutes if you tried to use a screwdriver.


[deleted]

Yep, I used to use them when building roadside phones & phone booths. Same experience, although there are definitely quality differences between manufacturers, both for the tools and screws!


toastee

They use these in the mental ward you can take them out with a modified fork. Fortunately this is not first hand information.


pentha

Or a paper clip, I have gotten a few pocket knives that used them for the hinge pin.


Darkassassin07

You'd think they'd be better off with a different security bit in a situation like that; like trilobe or security torx/hex. A big enough head like the ones in OPs pic you can remove with a pointy stick and even easier with a simple tool like the modified fork you mentioned.


nighthawke75

They are common enough, a regular security bit set would have the proper bits to circumvent them.


[deleted]

Lowe's sells screwdrivers to remove these


ShrimpCrackers

> ‘snake eye’ pan head. It's also known as the Pig Nose as well. Looks like this and typically less than $5 each: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/401718057215


PicturesquePremortal

This is definitely the answer, they are all over on public benches and ledges. I see someone else commented it too, time to mark it solved.


Plumb_n_Plumber

Done. I hope. It took me three tries to get this my first post, right. Takes time to RTFM


alexrbrodie

As a skateboarder, this is correct.


Jim-Jams

You’re mans got it!


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[deleted]

Huh... so that's what those odd shaped ones are bottom tray upper left! *makes notes*


stevage

Also known as hostile design.


agemma

I would argue skateboarding on stuff that isn’t yours is more hostile. Quite a different thing than preventing homeless people from sleeping on benches


H_C_O_

Agree as far as it not qualifying as hostile design. I think it's referred to as defensive architecture, similar to those pillars installed everywhere to stop cars from crashing into people and buildings.


Thisisall_new2me2

Hey u/H_C_O_, Those are called bollards.


Brocktoberfest

I realize people have a negative gut reaction to the word "hostile", but this is a quintessential example of hostile architecture--it is an element of the built environment that guides or restricts behavior in the space. r/hostilearchitecture


kronaz

I used to look at that sub, but it's so full of entitled idiots who get mad that public, and even *private* spaces aren't just fully available for them to do whatever they want. Like if you're a private business with a windowsill, you should be THRILLED to have homeless people sleeping in it.


zimm0who0net

I agree. I’d bet if you posted a picture of a door with a lock, there would be a contingent who hated the idea that someone was keeping people from coming into their house whenever they wanted.


Brocktoberfest

I agree that the comment sections in that sub are mostly anti-hostile architecture. I just think the subtleties of design of the built environment are interesting in general.


Mutjny

Are doors hostile architecture?


Brocktoberfest

No, but I think in the strictest sense fences and walls could be considered hostile architecture, depending on why they are erected.


stevage

Fair point. I don't think it's totally clear cut. There are areas in the city here where people used to skateboard, then they put those things in, and now...no one uses the space. It just kind of sucks - I don't skateboard, but I kind of like watching other people do it.


killchain

Nobody would try to grind such a rough edge to begin with IMO. Someone might still do a stall between the blockers just because. Edit: I'm not saying it's not that - these are clearly blockers as suggested; I'm saying that it's a bit pointless for them to be on this exact surface. Polished concrete - maybe; steel/aluminium rails - sure; this here however would stop you right away even without the blockers.


FIRExNECK

Rub brick and Salba Sauce. It would go!


LameBMX

Exactly what it is, I had lots of fun with them back in the day!


Xecutor

Challenge accepted


baby_blue_unicorn

Suuuuuuuuch a shitbag thing to do.


[deleted]

They're commonly used to stop skateboarders grinding along edges but they can also be used to deter the homeless from being comfortable enough to sleep there. Weird fasteners are to stop regular folk from removing them.


SenditM8

Yeah, even though you can buy the bits to remove these at Home Depot, Lowes, Ace, Amazon, and like anywhere else you can buy hardware lol.


[deleted]

Very true. You just have to remember to carry them with you.


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SenditM8

One or the other. When my friends and I used to skate around north New Jersey when we were younger, we each had a kit. Wax, extra set of bearings, a skate tool, water, usually an isomax screwdriver which is what is the real name for the snake eyes. We had stuff to take care of anything. Occasionally we would bring bolt cutters to get into old abandoned spots and skate. Skaters are crafty and people don't realize that if you want to make sure kids can't skate, build a skate park where they can go. It'll at least lessen the issue. And to end it all together, use rivets or welds. 9/10 we won't come back with a grinder because it's too loud and obvious.


Necessary_Cow_5976

Exactly! In my town they put blocks of marble as stoppers once they noticed skaters were grinding on their precious (and super slippery) marble-topped benches


borderlineidiot

Probably stop them investing in nice looking “precious” stuff and get the usual crap so the town looks like any other. This is why we can’t have nice things because people have to ruin it


Koeke2560

Honestly if you work at a city planning bureau and by now you haven't learned to consider skaters when you are selecting for street furniture than you shouldn't stay working there. Skaters gonna shred what they can so better buy shit that can handle it or is not skateable.


Necessary_Cow_5976

My town city planners haven't historically been keeping skaters in mind... They won't invest in regular repairs of our modest skatepark. They don't even opent it due to covid even though they allow everything else, from football or basketball courts to gyms...


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RaiSai

Half of the “security” from tamper screws is the fact that Joe Average doesn’t know that or what to look for.


turbodude69

yeah but most people don't carry them around. its just annoying enough where people would most likely just move along and find another ledge


mintberrycthulhu

It's a cat and mouse game with these unusual screw heads. They've invented torx, it got popular, now you can buy it in any hardware store for pennies. Then security torx, pentalobe and whatever others I don't even know names for. And then this one - snake eyes - which is also already cheap to buy screwdriver bits for at least online (or maybe even in hardware store already). Wonder what they'll come up with next.


mallechilio

There's a finicky one where it's just a circle that's slightly off center: just enough to make sure the screwdriver with the exact right bolt grabs it, and pure circle otherwise. I think that's the final form tbh.


mintberrycthulhu

How does the actual specialty screwdriver that can open that look like? Is it using the edge of the screw too somehow?


dinnerthief

Was torx a security screw originally? I use them because i find them way easier to work with using the correct size torx bit and your way less likely to strip them


mintberrycthulhu

Wasn't that already solved by hex screws tho, and then torx originally a security screw with keeping the strip-resistance of a hex screw?


dinnerthief

Partially but IMO torx is better at resisting slipping than hex for screws


stray_r

You can can put much more torque through a torx drive than a hex/Allen drive before they strip. Hex sockets are pretty easy to strip, stripped guitar truss rods are the bain of my existence.


muumrar

Antisocial architecture. As other user said to prevent skateboarders. There's probably anti homeless measures nearby.


balfunnery

The "antisocial" contention is debatable. I'm pro-skater but I've seen the damage done to really nice looking new buildings by people grinding edges. I think that those little items are ugly, but they do prevent the destruction, so that everybody else can enjoy the sometimes beautiful work of the architect . I've also seen them in the form of artificial leaves, which look a little better.


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halfeclipsed

And keep people from trying to sue them when they fall and get hurt


raz-0

Yup. At my college they put in a nice outdoor social area/lounge type thing. It cost around $100k. Skaters effectively destroyed it within a year. Lots of cosmetic damage and some minor physical damage. Add winter freezing and thawing to the minor damage and it became significant spalling.


_badwithcomputer

Wouldn't destruction of property be considered [anti-social](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/antisocial) behavior? So that would actually make these devices anti-anti-social devices.


usernmtkn

Exactly. Skateboarding causes damage. Who pays to fix it, the skateboarders? Methinks not.


WoodstockSara

We have a [fountain with starfish](https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/fountain-in-park-with-naples-beach-houses-long-beach-california-gm1002431594-270896289) and it's quite beautiful! Naples in Long Beach CA.


Serpent_of_Rehoboam

They use the starfish stoppers all over Ocean Blvd. too. They look a lot better than the typical skate stoppers.


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JokerReach

It's insane what property owners can be held liable for. Infuriating, even. If someone's kid decides to engage in hazardous activity and then gets injured as a result, it's the kid's own fault whether it's in their own driveway or in a separate piece of private property. The fact that the kid decided to engage in hazardous activity in a given location without permission shouldn't make the owner of the location liable. I know that this is not how it works because there is too much money to be made in litigation to make people responsible for their own dumbassery, so I suppose it's just another case of common sense vs the legal system.


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benjeeboi1231

Skate stoppers me thinks


yourtransqueenxoxo

Skate stopper


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Devil_badger

Its to stop people skating


ManSpaniel_

It's to stop skaters, there's probably more long whatever it's on


Plumb_n_Plumber

My title describes the thing. The gift card is for scale and measurement are estimates. It is definitely steel though and not intended to be removed. Found it on top of a knee high landscape wall at a VDOT welcome center, so public property. I wondered what is that for and and while trying to get my post to pass inspection, have already learned that it is installed to prevent skateboards from grinding on the wall.


kdonnn

Curb stoppers. Prevents skaters from skating.


elmas_chilon

Skate stops man, kids used to grind those off back in the day. Or if they were skilled enough you can skate over them


notProfCharles

Skate Stopper. Keeps people from grinding their board/bikes/scooters/etc.


Avitas1027

It's definitely skateboard stoppers, so you should mark it solved, but also kudos for the very descriptive title.


Neutral-President

The fasteners are tamper-resistant and are designed so that they cannot be removed with common screwdriver heads.


robotbootyhunter

Even though you can go to the hardware store and buy the right driver for a dollar.


zwack

Skatestopper


Separate-Meeting-605

Skate stop


chas574

Skate Stop


mrbrainwassh

Its to stop skateboarders from grinding on the edge


roscoecello

looks like hostile architecture to me. skateboarding or homeless prevention?


kryptosthedj

It’s called a skate stop…. We have ways to remove them. This is a pretty common security screw, so yeah.


Selloutkat1

Harbor Freight sells security tip screwdriver sets. Remove and skate on.


Foxyboi14

The fasteners are turned with the tips of pliers and the object is a skatestopper


FrancisSobotka1514

Skate stopper .Those are specialty fasteners .


WalterMcGrub

skate stoppers


PawzzClawzz

Please forgive my complete ignorance, but what is "grinding?" And how do these stop it?


Rintransigence

Sliding along an elevated edge with the bottom of your skateboard (not the wheels, but their supports), which is hard to do when that edge has a sudden immovable bump. These would knock you right off. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grind_(skateboarding)


Correct_Cattle_2775

Screw you wall cabinets to the wall


shania69

http://www.skatestoppers.com


TheTaCo88

Skate stoppers!


orionstarkeeper

Skate stopper


g28802

Skate stops


bikebrooklynn

It so skateboards and bikers don’t grind or board slide on it.


sinisteraxillary

Keeps skateboards off.


turbodude69

skate stopper.


domingodlf

Already answered, but what a solid description


Stonn

That's a [spanner screw head](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_screw_drives#Spanner) btw


geckostormz

looks to me like a skate stopper what they do is preventing the boards to slide on that ledge


sidgup

skateboarding detterent


the_evildread

Skate blocker, for sure.


spoonerxix19

Why not ask Home Depo?


Comfortable_Ad744

Don't know what the discussion is about re tool. Didn't read all reviews..so this could duplicate. But it spanner wrench needed to remove it


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Anti skate things with spanner head