My incident

[Sludge]

Or if you dive dry, put your key in your undergarment pocket.

[loquat149]

Congrats on the new truck, does this one have a working drivers side window?

Well, it did before we starting prying at the door with titanium dive knives...

[MORGAN]

I locked my keys in the truck on my most recent dive - the weekend before last. The keys were sitting on the dash, since we were at a friend's camp way off the beaten track and not planning to lock the truck at all. I was standing on a tarp by the open passenger door, leaning back against the seat to put on my booties, and must have bumped the electric lock button. Upon returning from our dive, we discovered we were locked out. We tried to get in with a coat hanger for a while, then called AAA. After giving the tow truck driver a long series of the usual rural Vermont directions involving a lot of dirt roads with forks and intersections but no road signs, he came and get into the truck in under a minute. When we are in Florida or on the New England coast we carry extra keys and have a magnetic key box to prevent this, but only an hour from home we didn't think of it. We will now.

This is the second time those damned electric locks have got me. When I was a paramedic in the 1980's, we got new trucks with electric locks. The buttons were placed where it was easy to bump them with your knee getting in or out of the cab. After unloading a patient I went out to move the truck and lock it up while we did paperwork, and found the keys locked in it. Just as I realized what had happened, CMED called on the radio with another job. I had to call them back on my portable (this was before cell phones) and put us out of service until we could get the truck unlocked. Fortunately a cop with a Slim Jim was able to get us in before too long. I got teased a fair amount until another crew did the same thing the next day, and then we had the electric locks disconnected on all the trucks.

[nwffdiver]

Great story!

And the van was sitting at the loading dock at the major fill station for all the dive shops in the area, and was blocking everyone's access. That was really bad. . . .

Yes Lynne but in your defense Cuzel is hard to find even if you know where it is. We fill there every trip, and I still sometimes drive by the correct Retorno.

[Squirrel Girl]

If you have non submersible keys, then you can walk in various cardinal directions, and odd number of paces, and bury your three keys. Squirrels could be problematic if they observe you digging holes, but you can just run them off.

If you do it correctly, squirrels can be your ally. Have them bury the keys for you.

[Greenwood_60]

Great story! This is why I own Ford's and everyone has a the keypad entry on the door, and all of them are programmed with the same number. I never have to carry a key

About the only thing that can go wrong there is a dead battery. Can't even get in to pop the hood to jump it at that point.

Sorry, Greenwood...I couldn't resist and thought you'd be a good sport about it

How'd I do?

[Danseur]

Dead battery is an important one... Always have a real "key".


What if someone got bent? Break a window perhaps?

[OFG-1]

If you do it correctly, squirrels can be your ally. Have them bury the keys for you.

Well, I suppose that if you disguise your key as a large acorn this might work, however, I have never seen a squirrel that traveled in a cardinal direction.

[Squirrel Girl]

Well, I suppose that if you disguise your key as a large acorn this might work, however, I have never seen a squirrel that traveled in a cardinal direction.

Maybe you need to become a squirrel whisperer.

[gschaut]

Back to serious ideas. You know those little key safes that Real Estate Agents use to hang house key in, when they are selling a house? They look like oversize padlocks with a small chamber that holds a couple keys?

I have one as a permanent part of my dive equipment. My own car has electronic (can't get wet) keys, and I'm always driving rental cars (one key only) in Florida.

So I hang my car key, in a locked key safe, on the side of the car when diving.

Key safes cost about $40 at most locksmith stores, and feature a resetable combination lock.