While checking my email the other day I came across an email from Massdrop (massdrop.com) showing that they had a current drop (at the time, it has since expired) for the Keyport Slide v2.0 (mykeyport.com) and it got me thinking about this and other “key holders” like KeyBar or the similarly designed Keysmart. I carry a bit of stuff in my pockets or on my belt on a regular basis, as I am sure many of you do. this post is an attempt so get rid of some of the bulk.
My E.D.C. (usually) Simpsons Mighty Wallet, My Lockpicks (old set, I think my good set is in the wife’s car), Gerber E.A.B. (so I don’t mess up my good knife cutting boxes at work), Chrome Industries Key Buckle (where most of this article is actually attempting to focus on), Pilot Precise V7 retractable tip pen, Kershaw Emerson CQC-7k, iPhone 6+ Case (iPhone was used to take the picture), Glock 27 Gen 4 in Old Faithful Tuckable holster, and a spare Glock 27 magazine
Another Blog called HiConsumption already did a lot of the work for me filtering down the 40+ choices down to the top ten.’
- Keysmart
- Bladekey Bolt 6
- Key Disk 2
- K-Addict by Cineik
- Handmade Leather Key Holder
- Keyport Slide v2 (the one that I chose, Review to likely come after the first of the year as I bought it at a discount through Massdrop and it will take a bit to get here.)
- Keybiner Carabiner
- Orbitkey
- Titanium Mini Q
- Keyclip
If you want to read their insights into each of the designs then feel free to click on the HiConsumption link.
However with my research over the couple of days that I had to decide whether or not I wanted to participate in the drop or not. I found that the only key holder that easily supported chipped automotive or motorcycle keys was the Keyport Slide V.2
It does this using a chipped insert that takes up one of the key slots or a chipped side plate allowing all 6 slots to be used for keys or other accessories. Keyport HQ recommends that you only use a slide for one car as the Chips/Transponders could interfere with each other (Since both of my cars take the same type of chip I have also been doing some research as to whether or not I could encode one chip to both cars. A post on the feasibility of that will come later on.)
To sum it up, there is a lot of personal preference in the EDC or any community for that matter but if you would like some help with taking the bulk out of your keys I am always happy to help.
Padlock's Locksmithing 