Comments on: Make My Keys Interesting!

Question: Make My Keys Interesting!

mooders — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 00:31:07 -0800

Help me find cool / useful / interesting keyrings...

I have two sets of keys - one set for house and office and another set for my car. I want to add a keyring to each of them so they are easier to locate in the depths of the Tom Bihn bag I carry them around in.

Rather than adding a boring fob, I thought this would be an opportunity to add something useful and/or interesting.

So HiveMind, what do you carry on your sets of keys? Bonus points for UK availability.

Oh and BTW, I am a chap, so lipstick holders etc need not apply!

By: Leon

Leon — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 00:55:18 -0800

Useful: white LED torch, USB drive, bottle opener

Decorative: monkey's fist knot, carabiner

I use a USB drive loaded with SSH keys.

By: The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew

The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 01:02:51 -0800

I, too, have two sets of keys. On each one my distinctive keychain is a combination animal and bottle opener. Neat looking, plus they open bottles. They're a blue shark and an orange moose.
here's a picture of a very similar shark.
and here is a not-so-similar moose (mine has the bottle-opener part between the back and antlers, not in between the antlers. you can't even tell it's a bottle opener, actually. the only thing that gives it away is that the closest antler is funy looking)

IIRC, I got them on an impulse rack at CVS (of which I don't know the UK equivalent). But you can get 'em online pretty easily, I imagine. They come in every flavor from green gecko to grayish rhinocerous. Anything they can cleverly stick a bottle opener on, really.

By: The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew

The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 01:05:41 -0800

Also, I have a carabiner on my keys, because I keep them clipped to my belt loop and tucked into my back pocket, janitor-style. If you're going for not-too-flashy, different colored carabiners could work. However, "seen the keys with the big blue shark on 'em?" always works alot better than "seen the keys with the subtle blue carabiner?"

By: The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew

The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 01:07:48 -0800

Third comment, sorry: I have no idea why posting replies at 4am makes me really partial to the term "'em." So you know. Disregard.

By: notsnot

notsnot — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 04:28:26 -0800

Don't forget that, unless you plan on clipping to your belt loop, Schneider-style (which at some points in my life, like when I carried the keys to ten different car washes, I have), you don't want anything that's gonna make the keys uncomfortable in your pocket. I realize, yes, they're in you bag mostly; but if you've got a huge wad of pointy things in your pocket, even only occasionally, it's gonna suck.

That said, my current keyring accessories are a bottle opener, a Leatherman Micra, and an old radiator-shop fob that is 1) BRIGHT fucking yellow and 2)rubbery so I can sort my keyrings in the dark.

By: bystander

bystander — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 05:26:09 -0800

My keyring is a bottle opener I bought for 5c at the Salvation Army store 15 years ago. Best 5c I ever spent.
Alsonice is my Utilikey.

By: raildr

raildr — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 06:17:47 -0800

Are you a car nut, how about a 1/6th scale replica of a 283/327 cu in Chevrolet timing cover? So cool I had to dig through my history to find it:
timing cover

By: CRM114

CRM114 — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 07:27:46 -0800

I am anxiously awaiting the release of this (provided I don't have to drop more than a c note on it).

By: fidelity

fidelity — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 07:30:50 -0800

Screw eyes (or eye screws) of the appropriate size can make a keyfob out of many, many things.

By: nelleish

nelleish — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 07:39:14 -0800

ThinkGeek carries quite a few amusing gadgety keyrings, from tools to cables to ways to annoy.

By: pineapple

pineapple — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 07:58:08 -0800

Assuming you aren't opposed to all fobs, just boring ones: I carry a custom keyring that is sterling-on-brass with one's initials. It was a gift and bit of a splurge (even back then), but it's also lasted for ten years and the metals have aged nicely. And because it's made by an obscure small-town Texas jeweler, you won't see this one coming and going. The back is an enormously simple hook-and-eye mechanism that makes adding or taking off keys a snap. (I think they need to update the online catalog though as the fob shape is actually a rectangle, not an oval.)

By: lorimt

lorimt — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 09:46:15 -0800

My keyrings have usually had a whistle on them. The standard silver ref. whistle is a little bulky, so I recommend finding a skinny tube one at REI or the like.

Whistles are good for emergencies, like when you're lost in the woods, or in a sketchy part of town or need to play capture-the-flag *right now*.

By: paduasoy

paduasoy — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 05:38:39 -0800

Compass keyrings. Lots around - ebay, or a purple "loch Ness" one, a 99p one with a thermometer too, or a £25 one.