Car key solution for me

[claymore]

With many of the new cars going to the keyless entry and push button start taking a key with you when diving can be a problem. The fob has an Emergency key that will open the drivers side door but the car has proximity sensor that knows when the fob is in the car so you can not lock it in the car if it is put in most places in the car. The only solution I have found is to put the fob in a small metal box wraped in several layers of tin foil put way in the back of my Highlander and take the Emergency key with me or hide it outside the vehicle.

You do get spoiled when you walk up to your car grab the door handle and the doors unlock and touch the outside door handle when you leave and the doors lock. No finding fobs and pushing buttons, the fob still has buttons to lock and unlock the doors raise and lower the rear gate from a distance if you wish.

 

[DiverDownD3]

With many of the new cars going to the keyless entry and push button start taking a key with you when diving can be a problem. The fob has an Emergency key that will open the drivers side door but the car has proximity sensor that knows when the fob is in the car so you can not lock it in the car if it is put in most places in the car. The only solution I have found is to put the fob in a small metal box wraped in several layers of tin foil put way in the back of my Highlander and take the Emergency key with me or hide it outside the vehicle.

You do get spoiled when you walk up to your car grab the door handle and the doors unlock and touch the outside door handle when you leave and the doors lock. No finding fobs and pushing buttons, the fob still has buttons to lock and unlock the doors raise and lower the rear gate from a distance if you wish.

I have a newer F-150 and I can lock my keys in the truck as long as the key isn't in the ignition. So it's a non-issue with Ford's.

Another solution is to dive with the keys.....oops. I had a rental when I was on a dive trip in FL when I got up from one of the dives I felt the keys in my board short pocket. Key fob worked for on and off for the rest of the day, but eventually crapped the bed. Rental agency didn't seem to care (well they didn't charge me for it)

 

[Johanan]

Another solution is to dive with the keys.....

This is what I do. I don't have to stick the keyless access key into the ignition or elsewhere, just to have it on me, so I laminated it in plastic and keep it in the inner pocket of my dry suit. Veeeery convenient. The car locks and opens with a touch of hand. Since the key is sealed in plastic, I could take it with me also on wetsuit dives.

 

[NAM001]

I have a camery and the shop says if you try too many times to start the car with an unauthorized key the computer will lock out all keys and will have to be reset by the shop. That cold mean a tow to the shop. That would allow you to use a non chip key to open the door but not to start. if you even have key door locks. I just looked at my car and I do have door key locks but no keyed trunk lock. It always made me wonder just what a valet key does any more. Used to be that the valet key only opened the drivers door and started the car. No access to trunk or glove boxes. As the trunk goes if you get inside the car, you get access to the trunk with a lever pull.

 

[BRT]

Our suburban has a chip in the key. I had one cut with no chip that will open the doors. We lock the regular key in the suburban. It sets the alarm off, but you just hit the unlock button on the key fob and it's fine. Apparently, if you try to start the truck with the non chipped key, it messes up the computer.

It goes in my BC pocket during the dive, clipped to my save a dive kit that looks like a little tank.

Tried to get another one cut as a backup and Wal Mart would not do it anymore, they did not even have a blank for it. Apparently someone tried to start their car with a non chipped key.

Good luck,
Jay

Believe me, no damage is done. Walmart just doesn't know what blank to use.

 

[scuba5150]

Electronic key fob and house key on a boat dive are a no-brainer - they go in the dry bag and all is well. When beach diving, however, even when carrying the entry only key I have no secure pockets and I don't trust the key on the D ring. So next beach dive I'll try the key around the neck and under my dive shirt and wetsuit. Thanks for the idea.

 

[agilis]

When travelling in the Caribbean I usually rent a car for the duration of the trip, airport to airport. Driving to remote beaches always raises the issue of hiding the key. Before electronic key fobs it was simply a matter of a zipper pocket in the swimsuit under my lycra skins, but electric technology has made this difficult at best.

Generally I hide the key somewhere on the car's underside, like hooked over a suspension brace or the frame. On rocky cliffside beaches there are often places to safely tuck away a key. It helps if you really know the beach well, even in the dark.

A small crumpled and apparently discarded box prominently marked 'URINE SAMPLE' can hold a key and be left in plain sight on the ground near the vehicle with relative security.

 

[billt4sf]

I will chime in with what NOT to do. For years my wife and I kept a metal key in the glove box so we always knew where it was, and simply put it into a small zippered pocket for this purpose in our undergarment.

DON'T DO THIS!!

One day I came out from the house, the car had been parked in the street, to do an errand and the car was gone. I may have left the door open, probably I hit the "lock" button on the electronic key and it didn't work or I hit the unlock button. Someone had a easy time of it to simply check the glove box and take the car.

It was found 10 days later, parked about a mile away, not too much the worse for wear. For once I got to have my car "detailed" (I had never know what this was). The DPT found it, it was parked in the street cleaning zone on the wrong day.

I guess they were pretty idiotic thieves. Cops said they were probably meth-heads.

- Bill

 

[Tug]

I will chime in with what NOT to do. For years my wife and I kept a metal key in the glove box so we always knew where it was, and simply put it into a small zippered pocket for this purpose in our undergarment.

DON'T DO THIS!!

One day I came out from the house, the car had been parked in the street, to do an errand and the car was gone. I may have left the door open, probably I hit the "lock" button on the electronic key and it didn't work or I hit the unlock button. Someone had a easy time of it to simply check the glove box and take the car.

It was found 10 days later, parked about a mile away, not too much the worse for wear. For once I got to have my car "detailed" (I had never know what this was). The DPT found it, it was parked in the street cleaning zone on the wrong day.

I guess they were pretty idiotic thieves. Cops said they were probably meth-heads.

- Bill

Yup, I did this as well... My metal key used to live in the glove box as well and then one morning I noticed that the car had gotten ransacked overnight. Thankfully they only stole the loose change and a few electronic items to flip and not my rebreather that I packed the night before. Since then, the metal key lives in the house until I go diving and I never pack my rebreather in the car until the morning.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I have a valet door key for my RAV4. I have a small plastic case that will fit in my drysuit pocket flap. I dive an Otter Britannic and the pocket flaps have their own pockets that zip shut. Diving wet in most locations there are others around I trust and pretty much no one locks their cars. In an unfamiliar location the valet key goes on a necklace under my wetsuit. My other keys are kept well hidden in the car. The plastic case also works well when the GF and I go kayaking. Never flipped it yet but if it happens I don't want my chipped key in my pockets.