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Back in December, after a longer-than-usual-and-totally-unsuccessful search for my car keys . . . I declared to the world that the only thing I really wanted for Christmas was a remote key finder that several of you mentioned in the comments.
I was tickled to death that Click ‘N Dig, the makers of the wireless key finders that looked the best, agreed to send me a set to review.
They sent them back in December, and I had every intention of reviewing them sooner than now.
But I didn’t. I found myself thinking, “But I haven’t had any dramatic key-losing events since I got them, so what would I write about?”
Ummmm . . . . duh.
I’m pretty sure that’s actually the point.
And it’s not like I haven’t used my key finder. I have.
A lot.
While I have a handy-dandy key hook hanging by the back door, there’s only a 50/50 chance that the keys I need will be hanging from it when I need them. But the thing that is ALWAYS there is the six-button remote. I push the red button (because the red key chain is attached to my main set of keys) and start wandering the house listening for a little beeping sound.
And every single time I do this, I find my keys within a minute.
I’ll be honest. Part of me wishes the beeps were as loud as a truck backing up, but the rest of me acknowledges that the high-pitched, five-in-a-row, need-to-listen-carefully-but-you-can-totally-hear-it beep is probably better.
It’s called “Click ‘N Dig” . . . which means you click the button, hear the beep and then start digging around where you heard it. Make sense?
I do have two negative things to mention, though they’re not big for me.
Sometimes we have to push the button a few times before the keyring beeps. Even when the keyring is right where I’m standing. Like, RIGHT where I’m standing.
It has never NOT eventually beeped for me, though, so I’ve not shed even one teensy-tinesy tear over lost keys in two whole months.
The other negative is that my keyring occasionally beeps at random while I’m out and about. It hasn’t done this at any inappropriate times, but seems to do it a LOT when I go to my husband’s office. Like, the minute I drive into the parking lot.
And one day this week, we switched cars and he said my keyring beeped a lot that day in his office. Again, the beep isn’t crazy-loud, but it is kind of annoying.
BUT, he has the blue keyring on his keys and that one doesn’t beep at all at his office. Obviously, there’s a frequency thing going on in that location. Since different colored buttons make the different finders beep, you could switch out for another color in your set if that was an issue.
So are they worth the money? I believe they are.
I have the set with three thin finders (that can be attached to remotes or phones or stuck in your purse) and three keyrings. There are cheaper sets with fewer keyrings/finders. We are using all three keyrings that came in my set, and one of the thin finders is in my purse.
I really, really like them.
They really, really do make my life easier. Once a day (sometimes more), I hit the red button and walk through the house listening for the beep to locate my keys.
If someone only used the remote key-finder for a rare, once-a-year Lost Keys Drama, the negatives such as the occasional beeping might be a big annoyance.
However, as someone who randomly puts keys down in not-at-all-logical places with no cognitive awareness whatsoever . . . the remote key finder is like a dream come true.
A dream that occasionally gets on your nerves, but that you’d never want to live without again.
Oh, and the package includes an extra set of batteries!
Click ‘N Dig provided me with the F6 model to facilitate this review. I was not paid for this review, and the opinions, experiences (and intense scatter-brainedness) are completely my own. The links to the key finders are my Amazon affiliate links.
As someone with ADHD who frequently misplaces keys, phones & remote controls… thanks!! I might have to get me one of these… 🙂
I used to lock my keys in the car. ALL THE TIME. Like, I did it 7 times in one month*, and 2 of those were within an hour of each other.
* CAVEAT! I didn’t know it at the time, but I was suffering from mononucleosis, so I now think that losing my mental faculties that often is forgivable in the circumstances. That does not explain the All The Other Times I did it, in multiple cars in the first 7 years of car ownership.
As a result, when I was buying my first Big Girl car, I was so grateful to have one with a keyfob where I lock the car from the outside. I still leave my keys in the ignition and get out of the car sometimes, I still drop them in my purse and then decide I’m not taking my purse after all, but I can’t lock the car with them inside because now I don’t have the lock button!
I’ve coupled this with creating a habit (somehow) of hanging my keys on a rock right inside the door when I walk in. It’s probably the only good habit I’ve ever tried to create for myself and succeeded, but for having done so I am grateful. In the meantime, perhaps this Click N Dig system would be great for my mister who, despite helping me create that key habit, has not mastered it himself. His, however, are always attached to the last pair of pants he was wearing. So he never has to dig for them.
Today, I feel so privileged to have come so far that I don’t do the thing you do anymore. I’m not sharing this to make you feel bad for losing your keys or make you feel like if I can do it then you can do it, because we are totally different people and maybe that’s a habit you’ll never learn no matter how hard you try. But then again, you’ve mastered laundry day and I so haven’t 🙂
I need one of these for my glasses I have two pairs and still spend time looking for them every time I need them.
Merle…..
This sounds great! I do not lose my keys a whole lot as I try to always put them back in a set place in my purse. However, my cell phone and a few other objects are always gone when I do not have pockets to put them in. This sounds like a great tool. I was wondering if it beeped loud enough for someone with hearing problems… my 87 yr old mom can never find her keys!
I don’t know that it is. I know that a lot of older people lose the ability to hear certain high pitches, and this is pretty high. You might see if there’s a small set with one you could use on your phone and see if she can hear it.
This is totally unrelated, but I just wanted to let you know that about five minutes I stood looking at my messy messy house which I have neglected for about a week and I wanted to cry. Being a follower of your blog, I heard your words whisper “do the easy stuff first”, & I dug right in right where I was…… Thank you thank you Nony from the bottom of my heart for all that you do through this bblog!!!!
I love hearing this! Thank YOU so much!
I soooooooooooo could have used one of these when I lost my keys … in OCTOBER. We seriously just found them a week ago! They were hiding under one of the seats in the car. The kicker? I know that I looked under that seat, multiple times, with a flash light! Apparently, they were under part of the part that holds the seat down, and were not visible until my 13 year old was fooling around and moved the seat as far forward as possible. Thankfully, my daughter was sitting behind him and saw the keys! I’m so glad to have my clicker back! The only thing keeping us from replacing the keys was the stinking chip in the car key, which made it at least $70 to duplicate.
Great discussion Dana (like in Andrews?). Now tell me how I can use one of these to find my car in a huge parking lot like at the mall! This often happens when you live in the south where most cars, like mine, are white! I attached light reflecting tape, but that rarely works in daylight. I use my horn blowing keyset but that only works when I’m near the car in the lot. I need something with about a 100 ft range and a small remote that fits my keyring.
The only thing I know to do is to take a picture with your phone of something that will identify where you parked.
Brilliant!
Back when I was hauling stuff on the top of my little Ford Focus back and forth between SF and LA, I got roof racks *and* a metal basket to mount on top so I wouldn’t damage the roof tightening down the roof bag. Now, that is distinctive. I never have to remember where I put my car in a huge lot, because all I have to do is scan for the basket among the car roofs.