Holiday Gift Ideas: Can’t find your Keys? Get the KeyRinger!

I’ve been thinking about how to locate various things, specifically, my luggage when I travel, especially when cruising. If you’ve ever taken a cruise, you know that they give you a tag color such as red and then you have to go to the ‘red’ section and hunt through hundreds of bags to find yours. I wanted something that I could attach to my bags that would make a loud noise so I could find them.

I also wanted something I could put on my car so that when I lost it in the parking lot, I could push a button and it would make a loud noise so I could find it. And of course, there are many other things I lose and could use help finding such as my keys, my purse/wallet, etc.

But there isn’t really any devices specifically for locating luggage so I thought that a key finder/locator would work to put in the outside pocket or on the handle.

That sounded like a great idea, but all of the key finder devices I could find had really poor reviews and/or were very expensive and many of them worked like “The Clapper” where you made a noise and they supposedly responded. But I guess in most cases, they either don’t respond at all, or they go off with every little noise.

I found Mommy I’m Here cl-103br Child Locator, Brown for $27.99 that I thought I could use. It says “Simply attach the Teddy Bear Receiver to your child’s shoe or belt. If you lose sight of your child press the Keychain Transmitter and the Teddy Bear chirps, alerting you of your child’s whereabouts, while drawing attention to the dangerous situation your child may be in. Both units are water and shock resistant, with long-life batteries already installed. Available in Pink or Brown.”

But I was not sure about it so I kept looking. And I found several recommendations for a device called KeyRinger. KeyRinger is $29.99 for two units. They do not require a base unit so either device will ring the other (and any other KeyRinger devices). Here is a scenario they present in which you might use the KeyRingers:

“In a typical application, you might put one KeyRinger on your key chain and attach the second KeyRinger to the TV remote using the included double-sided tape. If your keys are missing, you would use the KeyRinger attached to the TV remote to find the keys; and if the TV remote is missing, you would use the KeyRinger attached to the keys to find the remote. Or you could keep one KeyRinger handy at all times on your refrigerator using the included stick-on magnet.”

It has a flashing light and loud sound (~106 db) to help you find your missing item. The two 2032 lithium batteries last approx. 12 months and can be replaced at most hardware or electronics stores (or online through their website). It weighs 3/4 ounce. It can locate the other device up to 300 feet and is supposedly durable enough to withstand being run over by a standard-size car. Here is the KeyRinger FAQ page.

In response to the question, “Will the KeyRinger ever false alarm?”, it says:

“Yes, but extremely infrequently compared to devices that respond to whistling or clapping. The clap or whistle type devices have to accept a wide range of sounds to accommodate variations in different people’s claps or whistles. But because they have to respond to such a broad range of sounds, they respond (false alarm) to various random sounds as well. The KeyRinger, on the other hand, is listening for the precise microprocessor-controlled tone sequence generated by the another KeyRinger. Because the KeyRinger can reject all other sounds, it is far less susceptible to false alarms. When the KeyRinger does false alarm, however, it is usually as the result of a hissing type sound such as that produced by a loud exhaust or air conditioning fan, or the water running in a sink.”

The KeyRinger is $29.99 for 2 units plus $4.95 S&H. You can order it here. Interestingly enough, I also discovered another use for this. In this thread from RC Hangout (for Remote Controlled Airplanes), they were discussing how to find a downed plane and one person attached the KeyRinger to their plane. It is amazing how many things you may need to locate.

Another key/item finder is by Loc8tor. The Loc8tor system is supposed to be very good too, but it is considerably more than the KeyRinger. The Loc8tor Plus is $169.99 plus S&H. It is pretty impressive sounding though. Here is what it says:

The Loc8tor Plus is the ultimate tool that will help you keep tabs on your children, pets and possessions and is ideal for use at home, out and about or for business.

The Loc8tor Plus has two main functions; Locate and Alert mode.

Locate mode – Is for Finding. To find an item, simply select from a drop down list on your handheld which tag you want to locate. Directional audio and visual cues from the handheld will guide you to the exact location of the missing tag. It will literally take you minutes (even seconds) to find things that would normally have you hunting around for hours and maybe never found at all.

With amazing accuracy you will be guided to within an inch/2.5cm whether you are indoors or out, in complete darkness or in a noisy room.

To find your item turn around in a full circle then walk in the direction the handheld indicates has the strongest signal – It’s as easy as that!!!

Alert mode – Helps stop things getting lost. Enables an invisible boundary to be set around the Loc8tor (you) and warns the moment any tagged item goes out of your preset safety zone (Alert Alarm) with a vibration alert, audio alarm and handheld display showing which item/s wandered off or has been stolen.

Select from three present safety zones – near, medium or far each of which can be further fine tuned to help define the distance required.

The Panic Tag (when used in Alert mode) contains a Panic button enabling a child or dependant to call for help. When pressed it activates an Alert Alarm on the handheld advising which child activated the Alarm. This is ideal as a personal alarm for a child or dependent and can be used on a beach, in a park or shopping centre to name but a few.

The regular Loc8tor pack is $99.99 plus S&H. It only has the locate mode, not the alert mode (as described above).

I’m sure these are very good too, but for the price, I’m going for the KeyRinger.

Happy Shopping!

~Susan Mellott