I bought magnetic "Hide-A-Keys":
http://www.amazon.com/Magnetic-Heavy-Duty-Hide-A-Key-Holder/dp/B002O71KXS
from a local locksmith
and position them on the steel vehicle frame behind the grill or inside a steel bumper. Of course I bought them AFTER needing them once: a consequence of not following my dad's example. They have since saved my and my kid's bacon on more than one occasion. They can usually be positioned on a more or less horizontal surface; the magnets are very strong.

It wouldn't be a bad idea to put in a house-key as well.

I like the duct-tape-behind-the-license-plate idea: cheap. works, creative. There's not a problem in our area with plates being stolen. Theft resistant license plate screws are means to make a thief move on to easier pickins: http://www.platelockers.com/

Well, I can't lock the door of my unit from the outside without a key, but I could theoretically be locked out of the complex. Then I'd start buzzing other units until I find somebody who's at home.

Playing along, though, if somehow my front door was locked and I didn't have my Primary keys:

1. Secondary keys in my EDC bag.

2. Call my landlady.

3. Call a locksmith and then make copies of the tertiary keys that are inside the unit.



Re: duct tape -- I've read that it's not very reliable for long-term use, especially in warm environments. Perhaps Gorilla Tape or something similar instead?

Speaking from experience,... I went around to my bathroom window and was surprised at how easily and quickly, without any damage, I entered the house, although it was pretty startling to the house cats.

I beefed up the security of that particular entryway, and stashed a key outside..

I have a key safe mounted outside of the house. It contains our keys and the neighbor's. The combination can be changed, so if we need to give it out to someone else (like a contractor doing work on the property) we can. It can also be given to first responders via 9-1-1 if they need to make entry.

For home use I have a keypad that opens the garage door (assuming no power outage). There's a key hidden in my garage.

For the car, if my keys were locked in the car I'd ask the cops to slim-jim it for me. If my keys were lost, I'd have to get the spare set from home. On longer trips the spare set is with another driver at all times.

Where I live I have to worry about car theft quite a bit, so the tradeoff I've made is that my car is harder to steal but I have to be very careful not to lose my car keys.

Based on too much experience:

I carry spare keys in wallet.

Also set in vest I wear 95% of the time.

Call AAA.

My father used to wrap or shrink wrap a key and hide it in the window washing fluid reservoir, may try that also.


Afraid if I had a locking license plate mounting screws I would need to be sure to have the special wrench on me to access my hidden key.

Yep, about it. BTW, I get to collect keys from my parents 2 neighbors next Wednesday, as we close on the sale of that house Thurday, 10:00am. Gad, there was a lot of survival useful stuff there - mostly moved to my place, but a lot of dupes in the tag sale (today and tomorrow)

For the car - the AAA provided me with the plastic key copy engraved in the credit card shaped piece of plastic when I've subscribed. Very lightweight and always on me along with the other cards.

A friend has a small plastic sealed Q-Tip box with a house key in it hidden under a certain rock. Since she decorates her yard with the large number of rocks from the garden beds, if a thief even knew that she was doing it, he would have to look under a LOT of rocks to find it, as it's away from the house.

Sue

For the house, I have a set of keys hidden in an outbuilding, inside an electrical box. If someone finds it, they've earned their reward, which is a close encounter with the Great Danes that live indoors.

Standard procedure for cars is a spare key in my wallet and a spare key in DW's purse.

I've always been leery of the magnetic box thing; prospective joyriders are known to troll parking lots and check bumpers for these.

But I may need to reconsider. A couple of days ago, DW managed to lock her keys in a running car, and the spare key had migrated somewhere else (south for the winter, presumably). I therefore went for a drive -- can't resist a damsel in distress.

So: where's a good place to hide a key/magnetic box that's not readily found by vandals on a fishing expedition?