Spare key holder

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skintgrandad

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Hi all
Was thinking of secretly hiding a spare key on vehicle in case of losing keys and the thought occurred to me with the electronic key readers now available is there a really secure way of hiding keys on vehicle, obviously keys inside should be in faraday box/bag or similar but I’m talking about hiding key externally
 
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If anybody uses such a place, they are going to be very foolish posting about it here.
 
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You need to secure a main vehicle key inside the vehicle in an appropriate location and secure box.

The key you need to hide outside to enable entry is a habitation key.

Ok so; you loose your keys!
Get the hidden hab key enter the vehicle then with the alarm blasting find you secure box open and retrieve the spare key and spare alarm fob.
Stop the alarm, make your peace with the neighbours 🤭 and job done!🤣
 
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Best check with your insurance company. My previous insurance company specifically excluded theft of the vehicle if a spare key had been left anywhere on the vehicle. I think all policies impose a duty of care to protect the vehicle from theft.
 
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On my old van I used to have a spare Hab Door key in a ittle plastic bag stuck down under a lump of Duct tape behind the bottom fridge vent. A spare Ignition key was burried deep in the gunnels of the van.
Must say in four years never needed the emergency Hab door key at all
 
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Terrified of losing keys so we have three sets. Mrs DDJC carries one, I carry the other, and the third set is extraordinarily well hidden inside. You would need to dismantle the inside of the van to find it
When we leave the van we lock the cab door and the cab HEO bolts, and lock the Fiamma on the hab door and garage. The windows have the little clips on them, but someone with a decent set of tools could lever them off easily.

I have been toying with the idea of secreting a hab door key & Fiamma lock key somewhere on the bus that can be accessed from outside, but in separate places. Still mulling over it.
 
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I just keep the key in my pocket. Then its on me either in or outside the van…zip pockets are prefered.

For more security, get a big key fob…a monkeys fist is really good…..once prevented a dropped car key going down a drain cover!

Or one could look a proper chopper and attach them by chain to your belt -aka Mr Mackay….FLETCHER!
 
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Not recommended, though appealing for peace of mind. Insurance will wiggle out of paying for your van in the event it was made off with using one of your keys. Split the key carrying duty between you, either a full set each, or the other permutation is one carries all the van keys the other all the secondary locking keys 🤷‍♂️ Leave a spare full set at home that could in an emergency be posted to you wherever you are.
Mike.
 
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I have an external key 'blade' I had made by a locksmith,
It's just the blade of the key, so very small.
It also only fits one door (not the hab door)
It's hidden in a difficult to access place.
The alarm will go off when opened.

You then need to find the other set of keys with the fob to switch off the alarm and drive off.
Lets just say that would be 'difficult' to do, I'm sure even an experienced Customs 'black gang' would take at least an hour.
In the meantime the alarm will be going on at full volume until it cuts out.
 
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This thread is a timely reminder that I need to do something about this issue over this winter. The problem is more acute for me as I travel solo - So no partner to keep a 2nd set with her when away from the van. A local locksmith has quoted £70 for cloning the Transit ignition key. All well and good (and I can then hide that somewhere under the van or whatever and hide the full 2nd set of keys somewhere in the van) However I would much prefer to have a 3rd hab door key cut plus another Fiamma for a variety of reasons but in particular that way, in the event that a thief discovered my hidden 3rd keys outside the vehicle, he would still have to find my hidden 2nd ignition key before driving away which would take time and so lower the risk of losing the vehicle.
So two questions:
(a) Is it easy to acquire spare keys for the usual Fiamma hab door 2nd lock?
(b) Anybody here any experience of sourcing a spare Hobby hab door key? The van is an LHD import but I doubt that makes any difference.

While writing I can tell an amusing tale at my own expense about keys. I sing opera & classical music solos as well as doing chorus work. I work in Leeds but live in Bolton. Post Covid I work mainly from home but pre-Covid was commuting most days (by motorcycle). I sang in a solo in a Carol Concert in Leeds and, because I was going for a few drinks with friends after, I was travelling by train that day. So I changed into a posh suit at work, sang my solo, went for my drinks and then caught a late evening train back to Bolton. Only as I approached my front door did I realise that my door keys were still in my works suit in Leeds and, because I was not travelling by vehicle I had no key fob on me with a garage key giving me access to spare house keys hidden in the garage! I tried springing the garage door - No luck. My only bit of good luck was that, by accident my old Rav4 sat on the drive was not locked. So I slept in the car overnight, caught the first train back to Leeds in the morning and arrived at work very early for a wash and shave etc. with colleagues surprised at my very early arrival!!

Thereafter I put a spare garage key in a magnetic box under my bike trailer to avoid a repeat of the problem. I have since sold that trailer but you can maybe guess where that magnetic box now lives!!

So the moral of the story is plan for even the most remote eventualities!!!

P.S. I think a digital key safe hidden somewhere inside your van is an excellent idea I am less sure about doing that near the front door of your home. It advertises where house keys can be found and, in my case, with the van no longer sat on the drive it is fairly obvious when I am away from home. Although I do my best to disguise that fact ramps bolted to the drive so that the van is almost level when parked up do not help when away!!

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PlacidoD said:
This thread is a timely reminder that I need to do something about this issue over this winter. The problem is more acute for me as I travel solo - So no partner to keep a 2nd set with her when away from the van. A local locksmith has quoted £70 for cloning the Transit ignition key. All well and good (and I can then hide that somewhere under the van or whatever and hide the full 2nd set of keys somewhere in the van) However I would much prefer to have a 3rd hab door key cut plus another Fiamma for a variety of reasons but in particular that way, in the event that a thief discovered my hidden 3rd keys outside the vehicle, he would still have to find my hidden 2nd ignition key before driving away which would take time and so lower the risk of losing the vehicle.
So two questions:
(a) Is it easy to acquire spare keys for the usual Fiamma hab door 2nd lock?
(b) Anybody here any experience of sourcing a spare Hobby hab door key? The van is an LHD import but I doubt that makes any difference.

While writing I can tell an amusing tale at my own expense about keys. I sing opera & classical music solos as well as doing chorus work. I work in Leeds but live in Bolton. Post Covid I work mainly from home but pre-Covid was commuting most days (by motorcycle). I sang in a solo in a Carol Concert in Leeds and, because I was going for a few drinks with friends after, I was travelling by train that day. So I changed into a posh suit at work, sang my solo, went for my drinks and then caught a late evening train back to Bolton. Only as I approached my front door did I realise that my door keys were still in my works suit in Leeds and, because I was not travelling by vehicle I had no key fob on me with a garage key giving me access to spare house keys hidden in the garage! I tried springing the garage door - No luck. My only bit of good luck was that, by accident my old Rav4 sat on the drive was not locked. So I slept in the car overnight, caught the first train back to Leeds in the morning and arrived at work very early for a wash and shave etc. with colleagues surprised at my very early arrival!!

Thereafter I put a spare garage key in a magnetic box under my bike trailer to avoid a repeat of the problem. I have since sold that trailer but you can maybe guess where that magnetic box now lives!!

So the moral of the story is plan for even the most remote eventualities!!!

P.S. I think a digital key safe hidden somewhere inside your van is an excellent idea I am less sure about doing that near the front door of your home. It advertises where house keys can be found and, in my case, with the van no longer sat on the drive it is fairly obvious when I am away from home. Although I do my best to disguise that fact ramps bolted to the drive so that the van is almost level when parked up do not help when away!!
Click to expand...
I travel solo post #10 applies :rofl: l
 
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Another consideration is to attach a Tile tracker or Airtag to your usual keyring, then if you lose them, you have a chance of finding them again. Inexpensive option.

Tile Tracker | Bluetooth Trackers for Keys, Wallets, Phones, and More

Tile trackers help you find your keys, wallet, phone and more. Join the world's largest lost and found community and never lose what matters most.
www.tile.com www.tile.com
 
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I managed to loose my small bunch of keys at a festival last year, it was the clean water filler and the toilet access key!

We managed OK for the weekend but was starting to get worried what I was going to do after the festival as we were touring for the week after, the morning after the last night, whilst sitting in our camp at breakfast time, I moved my chair and the leg hit something metallic, yup it was the keys!

Six of us had spent the weekend looking for them without success and there they were all along!

They are now on a massive carabiner type clip that hooks to my belt when ever I leave the van, and I'm reminded constantly about it too
 
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Good reminder thread. Off to buy an airtag type thingy ma bob…

Had my wallet stolen 2 months back, driving license, ID card the fully monty. Tried tracking it down at the last place I’d used it but no luck.

Anyway the “stolen” bit turns that some numpty had left on the roof of his car whilst getting into it🙃 no idea who that was, i tried to blame everyone i could but apparently it was my fault😂

So now added a credit card sized tracker inside my wallet, it’s also rechargeable 👍🏻
 
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Ridgeway said:
Good reminder thread. Off to buy an airtag type thingy ma bob…

Had my wallet stolen 2 months back, driving license, ID card the fully monty. Tried tracking it down at the last place I’d used it but no luck.

Anyway the “stolen” bit turns that some numpty had left on the roof of his car whilst getting into it🙃 no idea who that was, i tried to blame everyone i could but apparently it was my fault😂

So now added a credit card sized tracker inside my wallet, it’s also rechargeable 👍🏻
Click to expand...
Don't forget to charge it 😉

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I’m invariably travelling with a friend so my spare key is in her van safe and hers are in mine.
When a large number of us went to France some years back we applied the same approach - just had to remember who had who’s!!🤣
 
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Cal54 said:
I’m invariably travelling with a friend so my spare key is in her van safe and hers are in mine.
When a large number of us went to France some years back we applied the same approach - just had to remember who had who’s!!🤣
Click to expand...
Really, sounds dead dodgy to me😉🤣.
Mike.
 
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