Cool-looking, just don't know how well it'd age...

https://www.etsy.com/listing/6515567...on0=1456464979

 

Looks nice, yes, but I don’t think I want another bulge in my pocket.

 

I only take ONE key whenever I drive. Keys in pockets are a bane on society. My wife, however, has every key she's owned for the past seventy mega-years, with a stuffed Husky ring decoration. Even seeing it drives me nuts.
Yes, only one key. The one for the vehicle I shall drive. My house has nothing but biometrics or keypads on it. I HIGHLY recommend getting keyless house locks. I shall never go back in my life.

 

Also available on Ebay, from Saul at British Auto Wood in Florida:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/223028300116




It's real burl wood with a self-adhesive microthin Leaper logo on top protected by clearcoat. Put it in your pocket with coins and other stuff and it'll get nicks and scratches pretty quickly.

It's the same microthin Leaper logo that I put on my shift knob. I just cut off the Jaguar lettering as it didn't fit. Unfortunately, that vendor is out of business.



I think you're better off with something more durable, if a key ring is your thing. I have a silicone case for my Smartkey fob and keep it in my pocket without a keyring. It protects my Smartkey from getting scratched up and is easy to take off and put on to change the battery.




Thanks to this Forum for giving me something to do during the pandemic.

 

I have only the key or key and fob on my older cars with me. For the 5 years i owned my x100 and x308 Jaguars, i also had a square Jaguar metal keyring novelty on the x308 key set just to tell the keys apart. For my house and work keys, that's a separate keyring I just keep in my purse.

I guess I was always taught not to have heavy key rings to not wear on ignition barrels; even before I've owned some GMs where it could lead to death lol. Less of an issue with keyless start but eh.

 

Agreed. Fitted some here too - so much better in so many ways.

 

I use the silicone covers too. When my wife had a Range Rover, the key for her car looked almost identical to the key for my XKR and I would often get all the way to the car before realising I had picked up the wrong key. I got a black silicone cover for her car and a red one for mine. Problem solved. Obviously I only needed one cover but I got one for the RR as well because they really do protect the key from damage and they are thin enough that they had hardly any bulk to the fob. A good find.

 

Do these type of locks require electricity?

 

Mine don't. They use batteries, which seem to last about a year (depending on use of course). They warn you, by beeps or by the app, when the batteries need changing. If the batteries are allowed to run totally flat, you can hook up a small 9v battery to the outdoor side of the lock in order to operate the lock to permit entry. You do this by removing a small cover and pressing the battery terminals to matching terminal lugs on the lock. Once power has been applied, you can use the normal means of entry provided by the lock. If you have a google around, or just look on Amazon, you will find various options open to you. Some come with apps which can alert you to when the lock is opened and by whom, as well as allowing you to open the door remotely etc. Some are simpler and use a hotel-style card to flash at the lock and you can add or remove cards at will using an app, as well as knowing who has used the card and when. I sometimes give temporary access to builders for example, and then rescind their access when their stint is over. They are useful gadgets.

One similar gizmo I would avoid is the 'Ring' doorbell style thing. From what I have read, the delay between the Ring unit recognising the caller is there and the info reaching you via the app is too long to be of any use. By the time you have 'answered' the door, the caller has assumed you are not in and left (or already broken in if it's a man in a striped jersey and mask). They may have fixed this - it is a while since I investigated that sort of device as I was definitely in the market for such a thing.

 

What Barnsie said. I do have combination locks on all my rental properties, that way I can access them without having to run and get keys from my house. I also don't have to change locks whenever one renter moves out. I merely change the combinations. The locks I have on the rentals have a keypad and then a lever to manually unlock the bolt, not relying on a motor to move it. That way the batteries last much longer.

 

Like others have mentioned, I only take the key or fob for whichever vehicle I'm driving at the moment. Keys are like passwords. You've got to have so many different ones that you need a system to store and manage them. I use this style below of pull-apart key ring so I can attach one car key at a time to the ring with my house and office keys. They are typically sold in packages of three, five or ten. Just use one female end for your house key and the male ends of the others for each car in your fleet and now you can carry just the keys you need all attached together. Plus get yourself a small safe or key cabinet at home to lock up the other keys. If you get in the habit of putting keys back in the key cabinet, then you're less likely to lose them, not to mention its harder for someone to steal your car once they've gained entry to your home.

And another strategy, for my home and workshop, I have everything keyed alike as much as possible to reduce the number of keys I have to carry. Did you know that you can even get padlocks matched to your front doorknob by visiting a locksmith shop instead of a hardware store? I guess maybe if you can cut your number of keys down to two or three, then you might have room for a decorative key fob in your pocket.

But its amazing to me that some new cars have a remote key fob the size of my television remote control. I just would not ever buy a car that required me to carry something that large in my pocket. The XF's remote key fob is about as large as I'd ever tolerate.