Autopian Asks superfans will note that we already did a keychain question back in July of last year (What Keychains Are You Rocking?), but that Ask was more about the fun little tchotchkes like those below that some us hang off our keyrings to amuse ourselves, or perhaps to alert others to our level of car-coolness.
With that in mind, I can’t help but think of a boss I once had who, when he had a Ferrari in the 1980s, would casually place his keys on the bar when sidling up to a lady during happy hour. Or so I was told – the Ferrari was gone by the time I started there. I was also told the reason the Ferrari was no more was because it was once parked behind a lifted Jeep, and when the Jeep driver looked into his rear-view and saw nothing but clear driveway, he shifted into R and promptly backed over the Ferrari, monster-truck style. This story was confirmed by both my former boss and the Jeep driver, who was an employee at the time, and remained one even after going Full Monster Jam on the boss’s Ferrari.
Needless to say, those guys rule.
Anyway, back to this keychain query, where the focus is more on utility. I wouldn’t call myself an EDC nerd (EveryDay Carry – though knowing the term does kinda make me an EDC nerd, I guess), but I do enjoy choosing, or dare I say curating, nicely designed tools to keep on my person throughout the day. The level of kit I have in my pockets varies with what I expect the day to have in store for me, but I usually keep it pretty simple with just a flashlight and a knife (as seen in the top graphic). By affixing them to my keyring, I don’t have to think about making sure I have them with me – if I have my keys, I have my knife and flashlight. Add an AirTag in case I lose track of the whole shebang, and that’s my keychain situation.
The knife is a Victorinox SD Classic, which packs a small blade, scissors, nail file, screwdriver, toothpick, and tweezers into a mere 2.3 inches. I don’t think I’ve ever used the toothpick, but all the other items have seen plenty of action. I do wish it had a bottle opener though, as I usually grab a Mexican Coke on the way out of Home Depot, and the lovely glass bottle’s cap doesn’t twist off. Thankfully, Victorinox also offers the Rally, which is identical to the Classsic SD but swaps the scissors for a neatly designed tool that combines a bottle opener, wire stripper, and Phillips screwdriver.
As for the flashlight, it’s an Olight i3E EOS. I like this lil’ guy because it runs on a single AAA battery instead of button cells, and there’s no switch to accidentally click – to turn it on and off, you just twist the threaded lens end to make or break contact with the battery. Simple and goof-proof – and waterproof, too, thanks to an o-ring seal. Best of all, it’s just ten bucks.
“Pffft, I just use the flashlight on my phone.” Well yeah, so do I, but sometimes you need to use both your hands to fix whatever you’re shining the flashlight onto. The Olight is easy to tuck behind an ear or hold with your teeth in those situations, and it’s a backup if your phone dies.
I may not be prepared for everything, but I’m gonna be prepared for some things.
Your turn:
Ever since the GM ignition fiasco I’ve tried to keep them light.
My LTD’s keychain has the original ’94 Dean Sellers Ford leather keychain on it that has nearly turned to dust from my first car, a Thunderbird.
My Element has a HomestarRunner.com rubber Strongbadia Stop sign keychain they gave out if you bought a t-shirt / DVDs back in the mid 00s. The second Element key has Guntz from the Klonoa series I found on a Japanese auction site.
I don’t have anything useful on my Camaro’s key chain, but I have a souvenir Silverstone race track that my friend and professional racing car driver brought me back when he visited there, its been on the keychain for about 10 years now. Other than that there is a modified guitar cable jack that plugs into the a mini-Marshall head made specifically for keys, as well as a die-cast Camaro Hot wheels size body and a flat plastic Camaro rearview designed to look exactly like mine- with the same mods and license plate and everything.
I guess a picture would have made this post much easier to understand…
I have a few cars that i often rotate though, 1 house key, and a tile tracker. Each car key gets it’s own tile tracker, i needed a quick solution to attach and detach the house key to the car key.
Ended up buying these https://a.co/d/aVsjY4q
Has been working great and keeps it pretty simple.
Briefcase-sized OEM Wrangler JL key with a short loop of 2mm accessory cord. Had to remove the key spring because it always opened itself in any pocket. House and mailbox keys on separate ring that usually live in console but easy to grab if I take the moto or Jeep is back in the shop. Bike rack, ski rack, hitch pin, and trailer ball lock keys all on another ring that also lives in the console.
I didn’t consider removing the spring. I did the rubber band trick.
I did too for a short period but I use the key often enough to lock the glovebox & console when doors are off that resetting the rubber every time didn’t work for me.
A separable pneumatic fitting that was swag from a trade show. The ring on one half gets the car fob, the ring on the other half gets the house keys. It has held up for a decade and a half now, unlike the purpose-made separable keychain that I had before that. I would buy pneumatic fittings from this company.
Nothing. My key fob stays in my pocket, my Maverick unlocks the driver’s door when I walk up to it. The only time it comes out is if I need to unlock the rest of the doors.
House keys live on a separate ring with no adornment since I broke my flamingo keychain 🙁
A keychain from an aquarium to distinguish it from the other bundles of keys I have in the key dish. The car fob, a house key, and maybe a little container of earplugs?
My car key is one of those fucking rectangular things you push a button on to make the key pop out, so it’s separate from everything else because it weighs a ton compared to regular keys and doesn’t really fit on a ring with other keys and is just annoying. A bike lock key for a lock I no longer have lives with it.
The other four keys I need are on a Corter Bottlehook. Mines copper but it’s mostly worn off over the last ten years.
https://corterleather.com/products/bottlehook
i typically also carry a Victorinox Fieldmaster, or a Leatherman Arc, and frequently both.
Mine, too. Huge and heavy. At least you can make the key stop popping out by opening it, and then closing it over a rubber band and cutting away the excess. For mine, you can buy small, lighter aftermarket surrounds that don’t also house a key, but you have to be ok with extracting the circuit board and transferring it.
Another Wrangler owner?
JL ‘20.
I have a Mazda, and it’s old enough that the key is actually needed to start the car and unlock it (it has remote locks, but the battery in the fob died years ago and I ve not bothered to replace it. All my other cars need keys to lock them, so I’m just used to it)
I would love to just have a plain key.
Key fob and tiny garage door opener. End of list.
I have a separate key ring with office keys, mailbox keys and keys to my parents house that I don’t carry unless i know I’ll need it. For home, my apartment forced crappy smartlocks on us 2-3 years ago.
As minimal as I can get it. I had it down to one car key and three regular keys for some time there. Currently it’s one car key, seven regular keys and one heart keychain that says grandpa because my (then) five-year-old daughter is an impulsive child and bought it for Father’s Day. The mistake makes me smile every time.
I really just have my keys (1 car, 2 house) and I have a metal Coca-cola bottle opener that was my grandfathers, polished to a mirror finish from coming in and out of my pockets. I don’t really keep things on my key ring because I hate the sound of a million things jingling around in my pocket or in the car. I have a separate Leatherman that stays in my center console though
Diddly Squat Farm keychain!
The truck is still just a fob and a work access fob. I add camper keys when camping.
The Miat has just the key and this NC keychain from Etsy in dark blue.
. https://www.etsy.com/listing/998141013/nc-miata-mx5-bakedenamel-keychains-7
The house has a code lock, so no keys required.
Fob, housekey, and the same P38 that’s been on my keyring since I got it out of a box of C-Rats at basic training in 1983.
No keychain. My fob lives in my wallet next to my Leatherman Style PS.
Uh, keys.
Car (physical)
House
Mail
Car keys are entirely separate from everything else. Period.
Mostly because unless I am taking a car, the car keys are never with me.
My normal keys are fob, and the three required keys. That’s it.
Pretty simple. A leather and emblem Pontiac key chain with the door and ingition keys and a house key. I drive a 92 Grand Prix Richard Petty Addition that I found from an estate sale with 7100 miles last year for 20 g’s.
The Civic key fob just has a teeny Nano Streamlight flashlight and an aluminum bottle opener with it, along with the Club key, weight ~ 60 grams so not too much weight for the ignition. The Sienna key fob is bigger and all by itself. I actually don’t carry that one anymore unless I’m using the van, it turns out to be just a little too easy to have the sliding doors buttons pressed enough to open the van if it’s just kicking around in my jeans pocket. House/work/etc. keys live on a separate key ring along with a better bottle opener, Victorinox Classic SD just lives in the watch pocket of my jeans. Mutlitool and headlamp live in the center console.
A key and a fob. I don’t even have a house key. Want to break into my house? You apparently need it more than me.
For the ’95 Miata, A keychain from RevLimiter that matches the badge they made for it (see my avatar). That’s the only key on that ring to keep the play in the 30-year-old ignition barrel from getting any worse. For the remainder of my few keys, a forged carbon KeyCase from Ridge attached to the Kia’s fob with a black titanium quick-release ring keeps them compact and simple. I can’t abide a heavy jangly key ring and I usually come and go through the garage anyway. My EDC knife is a Civivi Praxis in Damascus with a cuibourtia wood handle.
the current key chain for my 2014 Honda Accord (only 40k on the dial!) is this one, which was an extremely entertaining gift from my significant other
https://hollabears.com/cdn/shop/products/Screen_Shot_2016-10-11_at_7.42.10_PM_1024x1024.png?v=1579687112
I keep mine quite simple with a couple of braided kumihimo charms I made. The Fiata has a purple and orange Halloween one with a skull. And the 2 has a nice blue and green one with a heart shaped tree trinket.
My car key and my home key hang off a wire crimped inside a 10mm audio jack that gets plugged into a little fake amplifier on my wall at home. My home key is shortened at the handle and slightly bent so that it follows the contour of the car key (the bitting is straight, only the head of the key is chopped/bent). My mail key and my copy of the wife’s car key both live in my wallet, so I can get the mail without turning off my car and drive her car when she isn’t there with her own keys.
Nothing but the key to the car. I don’t even have house keys on them, both houses have multiple keypad locks, and unless I am going to be gone for more than a few hours I rarely bother to lock the house anyway. Nosy neighbors at one (one a paranoid retired cop – ideal neighbor), housemates who are always home at the other.
As for fobs themselves, the Rover, Spitfire, and Mercedes each have a leather branded fob, both BMWs have the engraved metal gift fobs from my two BMW Euro Deliveries. Back in 2011 you got a 10 Euro gift certificate to the gift shop at BMW Welt, and it cost $10 Euro so pretty much everybody got one. In 2015 they just gave you one, no gift certificate – but you got a full tank of gas in 2015! THAT was a real gift! The one for my 328! has my name engraved on it, and the one from my M235i has Schnell (it certainly was). That one is now on my 128i, along with the German front plate from the M235i, since it’s now registered in a state that doesn’t issue two plates and I needed something to cover up the holes from the ugly US plate bracket.
The two summers both the 328i and 128i were in Maine the 128i had to have a temp fob though – having two identical keys with all but identical fobs for two different cars made for a BIT of confusion. The M235i key was completely different.