Where do you keep your keys??

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Len and Jo

Len and Jo

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We were at Whitefish Point on the south shore of Lake Superior this last week.  Kind of a remote place.  Yes people live there in villages and small towns but really a fairly quite area, specially in the spring.  A man and wife we met there while birding did a no no.  At the end of the day (we all were birding and taking in lectures) it was cold and very windy.  He started his new Subaru to warm it up before leaving the point.  Stepped out of his car and the wind blew the car door shut.  Car is locked and running.  Only key they brought to this corner of the world in the ignition of the locked running car.  I knew something was wrong because he was standing by the car with telephone to his ear and his wife is a safe 20 yards away with her arms crossed.  A very tell-tell husband-wife pose.  Subaru service can get there in 4 hours.  AAA says they can be there in an hour (turned out it really was two hours).  They have this wonderful remote service where Subaru can remotely unlock their car BUT that only works (they said for security reasons) when the car is locked BUT not running.  We kept them warm in our van for most their wait but it was still a two hour wait for the AAA service man to get to Whitefish Point.

Joanne and I always on trips have two keys with us.  We each always carry one and are very religious about it.  I do think though I will add a third to some out of the way location on the exterior of the van.
 
I have a spare key hidden under the bedrail and nobody in the world knows it's there.  :eek: ::) ;D

I also have a spare inside the RV.
 
Ever since our wireless keyfob locked us out all on it's own we have a set of keys in one of those magnetic boxes hidden in a place nobody would look.

We carry two sets of keys for coach & towed and hang them on a hook in an overhead cabinet.
 
We both carry our own sets of keys, plus the extras in the motorhome.  In this case, the extra keys might have been less useful unless Len and Jo had driven them to their rig (if they had one).  Seems like that Suburu rule for remote unlocking is a bit unreasonable considering people often lock their keys in a running car.  In some cars you can't accidentally lock it when it's running.  I'd rather have that than an arbitrary remote unlock by the manufacturer.

ArdraF
 
The first year we had the motorhome, our dog locked us out twice!
The first time it was on our second trip out and the coach was running, both dogs inside, wife and I outside. You guessed it, spare keys inside!

We dragged a picnic table over, I borrowed a butter knife from new neighbors and was able to slip the lock on drivers side slider window. I proceed to crawl in and promptly leaned on the horn.

Well, the air horns go off and now EVERYONE knows something is up.

My DW explained to all, WE'RE NEW AT THIS! 

I felt about this high..

Funny now but a bit of a panic at the time..

Now, I carry a spare key to door lock AND have a keyless entry systen that works.

Bob
 
Keys are in my pocket. Never left in the ignition, and I only lock the doors with the remote. It's hard to lock keys in the car while they're in your hand.

I'm constantly doing the "triple tap" of keys, phone and wallet.
 
    One of the things I both like and dislike is the electronics on our C6 corvette.It detects the keyfob and unlocks the door so it can be opened, once opened it allows the passenger door to be opened. The doors only lock when the transmission is taken out of park and stays locked to the outside until the exit button is pushed. I can exit the vehicle when running with or without the keyfob but if I exit the vehicle and it is not running while leaving the keyfob inside it will sound the horn twice to let me know I forgot the fob. Once I exit the vehicle when not running and have the fob in my possession it will automatically lock and sound the horn once after 15 seconds.

  All that is a neat idea but it comes with an emergency key that opens the rear hatch from a hidden key slot, that allows the driver to reach in and pull a manual cable to open the doors. If it was foolproof I guess there would be no need for an emergency key.  The battery went dead from a radar detector being left on for 4 days and it didnt have enough power to unlock the doors ....emergency key used...

  All that sounds complicated and it took a bit of getting used to but now I forget to lock and unlock our Tahoe because I am so used to it.
 
Senior moment, I locked myself out of my truck in Cheyenne Wy, the phone inside, so I went to a close by Panda express and called DW who had the extra set. I walked back to the running truck and looking at the tailgate and I remembered I had hid a key, problem solved. So an extra set is ok if you remember you have it.
 
True story. About 15 years ago, we had a Dodge Caravan with electric door locks. I went to the grocery store to buy something. I got out of the car, pushed down the lock button and closed the door. YUP, the keys were still in  the ignition.  I had to go to a pay phone (what's that) to call DW. She was 4 miles away. I went back to the car to wait for her. While standing there, another car drove in the parking lot and parked in the next row behind my row. A lady got out and while walking away, she locked her door with her remote.  I heard a mild sound coming from my car but didn't pay attention to it. Why should I. 10 minutes later, she came out and when she got close to her car, she clicked her remote to open her door and you guessed it. My door also unlocked. That will never happen again to me anyway.
 
DW locked herself out the vehicle and waited over an hour for roadside assistance. I later asked why she didn't use the hidden key, the look on her face was priceless. ;D We hid one after dumbdawg jumped on the door switch at a gas station.
 
All my vehicles and my kids vehicles have a spare key wrapped in a plastic lunch bag and duct taped under the front bumper. Magnetic Metal boxes leak and fall off. Removing the Duct tape is a pain and my kids grumble about it but after climbing underneath and fighting to get it open they seem to remember better about paying attention as to where their keys are located.

Call 1-800-DAD better not be used to bring them a spare key which we keep at our house too.

On the three RV forums I'm on I'll see at least five times a year where someone has locked themselves out of their RV. 
 
I still don't know why folks post where they "hide" their spare keys. ::)
 
Dont carry them. Why have a hatch lock with key that is universal and everyone in the world can open it.?  I have a combination lock style on all of my hatchs and main door. i have my eye on a combination lock for my outdoor kitchen as well. Just my two cents
 
I have a lock that the realtors use when selling homes. Accessible from outside RV but only with the combination and also it's attached to something unremovable. Spares hidden inside RV as well and toad has a spare hidden also.
 
We always keep a key in a magnetic lock box. The type that has a combination lock, so it doesn't have to be hidden all that well. Ours was on the LP tank, which is accessible on most A & C type coaches.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Kidde-Stor-A-Key-Locking-Key-Case-Charcoal-001859/202072799

Our current vehicle is keyless, using a Bluetooth remote that works as long as it is anywhere near the vehicle. A different class of "key" problem altogether.
 
Gary RVer Emeritus said:
We always keep a key in a magnetic lock box. The type that has a combination lock, so it doesn't have to be hidden all that well. Ours was on the LP tank, which is accessible on most A & C type coaches.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Kidde-Stor-A-Key-Locking-Key-Case-Charcoal-001859/202072799

Our current vehicle is keyless, using a Bluetooth remote that works as long as it is anywhere near the vehicle. A different class of "key" problem altogether.
Click to expand...

I know in my case, if I needed to get into that lock box 6 months from now, I would have forgotten the combination.  :eek: :'( I just put a hook up high in the same compartment (unseen) and hooked the spare RV entry key there. Inside the RV, I have spare keys for everything.
 
First, Starting the car to "Warm it up" is not recommened by the manufacturers and in some cities (NOT THAT ONE) may actually be a violation of an ordance or two.. There is a "Current event" on Facebook about someone in, I think , Royal Oak, MI (Or one of the nearby suburbs of Detroit) who got ticketed for doing that. This is the area where you are most likely to find such an ordance, Several suburbs have one.

Second: Where are my spare keys
Motor home.. In a realtor's box in a place I know of that can not be locked, out of sight and out of mind and if you don't know the magic number.. It don't open.

Car: My car has 2 keys, Ignition/door  and Trunk glove box  I use a "Split" key ring.. Driving the small Ignition loop is in the lock.. The big heavy "Trunk" loop in my pocket.. 

The trunk has a set of OEM keys hiding in it.. well buried.. If you can get into the trunk, you can then open the door.. Works great..  I have a habit of locking the ignition key inside.
 
I keep a spare set of keys for the truck in the trailer and a spare set of keys for the trailer in the truck.
 
Each of our cars has a complete set of keys in the glove box.  This includes the toad.  The coach has a spare ignition key, toad key and compartment keys in the coach near the driver area  The door keys for the coach are located in a magnetic box (also taped to the wall - learned from experience) located in the area of the propane tank which has a nonlockable door.  There is a shelf in the upper area of this compartment for things like wheel blocks etc.  Magnet box fits on interior part of outside wall out of any view by probers.
 
We keep a spare key to the RV entrance door in a key safe that is mounted inside the propane bay.  The bay can not be locked.  The safe is small combination type.  Maybe large enough for 3 or 4 keys.  It's bolted through the floor of the bay with locking nuts on the inside of the safe.  It would take a pretty good whack with a hammer to break it loose. 
 
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