If there’s one thing we haven’t quite yet been able to rid of, it’s the key. As much as we’d like to try and avoid keys, there’s always something that needs them, whether it be a door, a mailbox, or anything else. We don’t quite live in an all digital world just yet so keys are a necessity. Keys aren’t too bad when you only have to carry around a couple but once you start carrying more than that, it becomes a hassle and multiple keys on a keyring are very uncomfortable to keep in your pocket when all jumbled up on a keyring. So what’s a person to do? Well, Left Field Design has a solution for you and it’s called the KeyCase. The KeyCase is a key holder that will hold most of the keys you need in a thin, credit card like shape that not only organizes, but also feels much better in your pockets.
Design
The KeyCase is a key holder that can hold up to 6 keys at once. It is made of .036″ thick 304 stainless steel for the backing and .06″ thick, 6061 T6 aluminum for the cover plate. In my case, the back plate is brushed stainless steal while the cover plate brushed, hard-anodized in black. This gives the KeyCase a rather modern, industrial look that not only looks good, but also functions just as well.
The KeyCase is held together by 3 stainless steel screws. Each screw position indicates where the keyholes of your keys would line up and you have the choice of either using one or two keys per position. In my case, I am using 5 keys coupled with the included floating key ring.
Installing keys is quite simple. Mainly all you do is unscrew the screws, separate the cover plate from the rear backing plate and lay the backing plate flat on a table. Depending on which version of the backing plate you choose, you may or may not need to use the washer spacers with your setup. I am using 5 keys so in 2 positions, I have 2 keys stacked on top of each other. On the last position, I have just one but am using the included floating keyring as a spacer that takes the place of a key position. The KeyCard holds most standard keys under 2.5 inches. All my keys fit, although my larger Medeco which is slightly bigger than standard, still fits, but only in the lower 2 positions. Once you have the keys in the proper position, place the cover plate back on and carefully screw the screws back in.
The stainless steel backing plate and aluminum cover plate are both fairly thick and very rigid. Once everything is put together, it is very solid with zero flex at all. The cover plate has thumb recesses cut out in three locations which allows you to flip the keys out easier. You are supposed to be able to use this all one handed, but depending on how tightly you had screwed it all in or the slight differences in thickness of certain keys, you may need to wear it in a bit before being able to use it one-handed. I will say though that all the keys remain firmly in place when tucked away and will not just pop out on their own.
Now I mentioned the floating keyring option earlier. It’s basically just a little ring that attaches to one of the key positions. The way that it is made makes it look like it is floating if you put it in a certain way. The floating keyring gives you the option of adding other keys that may not fit in the KeyCase, like your car keys. I ended up not putting anything on it and just left it empty as it looks pretty cool regardless if it has anything on it or not. Of course you have the option of not even using it at all if you want.
All of this once together is about the size of 5 credit cards stacked together. That means that instead of having a jumbled mess of keys in your pocket, you know have a slim, stack of keys that can easily be slipped into your pocket without any unsightly bulges or keys poking you.
- KeyCase 3 keys: 3.38″ long X 2.12″ wide X .20″ side profile thickness, 2.1 oz
- KeyCase 6 keys: 3.38″ long X 2.12″ wide X .28″ side profile thickness, 2.1 oz
Final Thoughts
I’ve never really used a key organizer before. Up until a couple of days ago, all my keys were on a keyring that I would carry around with me in my pocket. Yes, it would get uncomfortable at times but these were keys I needed with me at all times. Well, the KeyCase took my giant mess of keys and organized them into a slim package that no longer pokes at inconvenient times. Not only that, because the KeyCase only holds up to 6 keys, it made me seriously think about which keys I actually needed to carry around with me. I was able to cut back the number of keys I needed and now only carry around what is necessary, daily.
Where can you buy the KeyCase? It’s currently still a KickStarter project with only a few days left before the campaign ends. You can visit their page here. It looks like they just reached their funding goal today, though you can still get in on the pre-order goodies for being an earlier backer. You can pledge as little as $32 to get your very own KeyCase with orders shipping out in December. While you’re at it, also check out the CardClip which is also part of the campaign and is slim wallet design that is also made of stainless steel. Of course there is also the KeyClip, which combines both the CardClip and KeyCard into one which seriously minimizes what you have in your pockets.
Whatever you choose, these are all pretty cool little products. I know for me, after using the KeyCase, there’s no way I would ever go back to using just a regular old key-chain again.
