Spare key

[JandP]

Hi Guys, not been on for a while but here's a question for you. What do you do with the spare car key? Do you take it with you and if so where (approximately!!!) do you keep it or do you leave it at home or don't have a spare in which case what would you do if you lost or damaged the one you have with you? I once managed to break the car door key (sat on it!) but that was in the pre-electronic days so it wasn't much of a problem but it seems to me that it would be know. I thought I was being clever (!) by keeping the spare van key in the car and the spare car key in the van until I realised that if the van was stolen they could come back the next day for the car! I understand that insurance companies are very suspicious of stolen vehicles because of the modern high security and may not pay up if a key was used so any hiding place would need to be very secure and how easy would it be to obtain a replacement if you dont have the paperwork with you? Just a thought! Jim.

 

[emmerson]

Simple - I carry one set of keys for both car and van, and herself carries a duplicate set. That way, if we seperate for any reason, we can both get in the car or van.

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

Ditto.

 

[emmerson]

Hell's bells, LB, a Welshman and an Englishman in complete agreement!

 

[xtrailman]

Only have one car, and one key each.

 

[JandP]

Talk about ironic! About an hour after I posted this question about keys some (it begins with b and ends with astard) broke in to our daughters car and stole her bag while she was picking up her daughter from nursery. The car was in the nursery carpark and fortunately they dropped her purse as they ran off but her spare keys for her house were in the bag and so was some paperwork with her address on it. What a coincidence that I posted a question about keys, my first for some time. I will be more careful what I post in future! Jim.

 

[Mel]

Sorry to hear about the theft; hope you get the locks changed OK.
Since the time that I locked the only set of car keys we had taken on holiday in the car boot (don't ask) and we had to call out the AA to get it open, we take two sets. He has one and my handbag has the other. ditto two sets of van keys.
mel

 

[colin-yorkshire1]

Hell's bells, LB, a Welshman and an Englishman in complete agreement!

One welshman and two englishmen emmerson or perhaps commonsense is nationwide??

 

[emmerson]

Colin, I suspect that you, LB and I are all of a similar age, and our generation seems to be the last one with in-bred common sense!
As some else said, common sense ain't that common any more.

 

[JandP]

Thanks for the replies. It is of course common sense for each partner to carry a set of keys but while we are out on the beach, walking the dogs etc we dont like to take too much clutter and Mrs J and P doesnt like to take her bag in case it is lost or stolen, as our daughter's has been, with all the problems that causes. I was hoping that you might come up with some way of keeping spare keys in a secure place without having to take them with us everywhere. Jim.

 

[colin-yorkshire1]

hi Jand P. trouble is if you think about it there is no safe place to put the spare keys, all the places you could hide the keys have locks on them battery box, front box, toilet compartment, and so on, so you would still have to take a key with you,

little true story here my mate maurice many years ago (before cars had keycoded electrics) had this idea of keeping a spare key to the car hidden so if he ever lost the car keys he could still get home brilliant idea where did he hide it " in a match box taped to the inside lid of the fuse box under the bonnet" nice one exept one day he did lose his keys he got to the car and hit a little snag you had to get into the car to "OPEN THE BONNET" DOH????.

I suppose if you really wanted to hide a spare key just for the van "with the spare keys for the car in the van of course" you could put a van key "none electrical type" in a daily yogurt pot the type with a water tight lid and drop it in the aquaroll.
colin

 

[ValA.]

Although I'm not going to say we do it, I have heard of people who hide a spare caravan key on the chassis under the caravan, in a tupperware box taped to the chassis. However, if we meet you on site, and you're looking for my spare key to nick my stuff, don't look on the chassis!

 

[Martin24]

I am very prone to losing either set of keys on a regular basis, either at home or away!! many hours are wasted every week looking for them. I could do with a spare wallet and specs too!!!! We take both sets of car and van keys away with us but as I'm not allowed unsupervised control of them I have no idea where they are kept. Get given keys as I need them and taken off me before I can put them down anywhere. Same process for wallet and specs too!! How lovely it is to be so well looked after!!!

 

[colin-yorkshire1]

Although I'm not going to say we do it, I have heard of people who hide a spare caravan key on the chassis under the caravan, in a tupperware box taped to the chassis. However, if we meet you on site, and you're looking for my spare key to nick my stuff, don't look on the chassis!

I think Val A's point while amusing could be the reason why the OP has not had the answers he was looking for??

however seeing as how I never leave anything unsecure, "even the step and water hog are chained up" there's no way I would leave the keys anywhere near the van un secured.

 

[JandP]

Thanks for the replies. I recently went out with just a single key in my pocket and lost it in the market. Fortunately the stall holder found it otherwise I would have been locked out of the house. This was very worrying so I decided to bury a spare key in the garden, now if only I could remember where! Of course the correct answer is I suppose that there is no really safe way and probably all that can be done is reduce the number to a minimum and ensure there is nothing with the key to indicate what it is for. Jim.