May be a very good question. Now read, what you can do.
Car keys and water sports
Where to put the electronic car key when you are enjoying water sports? The sensitive electronics inside of car keys and water – that simply does not match. There are almost no waterproof car keys, but countless people who need just that. Every water sports enthusiast who drives a car or motorhome to the place where he goes for his sport knows this problem. Even tourists who are traveling by plane and rental car encounter this problem more often. You want to go in or on the water and often enough, the key remains hidden on the beach or at the vehicle.
But it is first of all very unpleasant to be always with an eye on the beach where your stuff is when you are swimming, surfing, kitesurfing, windsurfing or stand up paddling and secondly you are, in case of theft of the vehicle or goods inside, actually in greater trouble. Because who leaves his car key unattended, acts from the point of view of any car insurance, grossly negligent and loses his insurance coverage for the car and for the things inside.
The lack of good solutions and information
This unhealthy constellation leads to the fact that it occurs again and again that water athletes get stolen their vehicle or robbed their gear and they go out at the insurance empty. After all, many water sports enthusiasts do not know about the risks that many, as safely advertised products or the good old “hidden method” bring with them. There is a lack of information and safe, reliable and stable products to keep the key in the only safe place: on your own body.
Hide key
When people arrive by car on a beach and then, a little later, they slip unobtrusively around their vehicle, everyone knows that a key is being hidden here. No matter how creative you go here, whether you put the key on or under a tire, wrapped in the wheel or cowl, in the springs or even in the exhaust, under a stone, in a shrubbery, under a towel or in an old diaper – the result is always the same: you lose the insurance coverage for your vehicle. In case of theft one is not insured.
Key safes – the supposed security
They are offered everywhere and promise safety. They come in many shapes, colors and various qualities. You take a key safe, put your car key in it, and then connect the whole thing with the bracket on your vehicle. The key safes are then locked with a combination lock.
The problem with all these products, no matter in which quality and by which manufacturer: Who encloses his car key in such a key safe, no matter at which point of the vehicle, loses its insurance coverage. Because he also acts roughly negligent. In addition this option does not work with Keyless Go keys and salt water and sand are not necessarily compatible with combination locks. Ultimately, such a lock is also very easy to open for any halfway savvy thief.
The spare key for the emergency lockMany manufacturers still have it in the program – the emergency key and one lock on the vehicle, usually the driver’s door. At the most manufacturers, it is an expensive extra. Many do not even offer it anymore.The idea is here to leave the drive key with the electronics and the immobilizer in the vehicle to lock all doors from the inside and then lock with the emergency key the last door from the outside. So you just take the key without electronics for swimming or water sports.Unfortunately, there are a couple of crucial and already known problems: It does not work with Keyless Go keys, you cannot switch on the alarm system and, above all, you also lose the insurance cover in this way. Because the result is the same here as well. The car key is beyond your control.
A clever or only happy thief can find the key in the car and start and steal the vehicle. Neck pouch and diving eggsNeck pouches have been around for felt ages. Made at almost every discounter and usually made of cheap plastic, they are available with bar locks, magnetic closures, Velcro and in many colors and shapes. Often smell is unpleasantly strong after plasticizers and are uncomfortable on the skin. About the waterproofness and durability can be read at large online stores abundant. They are just not very durable and very sensitive. Diving eggs are already much more stable and durable. But who is walking around with such a giant dive egg underneath the wetsuit ore around the neck? You also have to screw on the egg every time you want to get into the car.
Sufficient reasons to design a better solution
We are a lot on the water and at the beaches by ourselves and have always been confronted with the problem of the car key. And we were not alone. When we broke a car key while surfing, the point was reached to develop something own. The requirements were quickly found, the idea with the design came later.Our waterproof car key case should be secure and stable, allow to operate the key in the closed housing, fits for as many keys as possible, be easy to operate, be buoyant even with a key inserted, it should be resistant to UV radiation, salt water and oils, offer various mounting options, have the IP 68 protection class, have no sharp corners and edges, be produced for environmental reasons in Germany, be packaged without plastic and of course look great. Not more and not less were our requirements for such a product. We have tried to contribute our own experiences and requirements as good as possible.
This is how the Keyfender came to live. The production of the key fender takes place in Winsen Luhe. It is completely manufactured by injection molding. This means that the gasket and the window are not glued but much more firmly connected. All other parts such as the foam and the straps are made in Hamburg. The assembling and packaging of the Keyfender carkeycover is done by the Elbewerkstätten for people with disabilities in Hamburg.The development process of such an injection molded part has been a long and difficult road and we are proud to be able to sell the Keyfender all over the world today.The question where you can keep your car keys in outdoor and water sports has finally found an answer with the Keyfender.
