We go surfing regularly but due to electronic car key fobs not being too good after you've frozen
them to death for a few hours in the North Sea we needed a solution that kept the car keys on
dry land while we play in the water.

For years my way round this problem was a basic spare key without the electronics that could open
or lock the doors so I could leave the proper electronic key needed to actually start it hidden in the
car. This worked really well until I managed to lose the key and we spent an hour freezing
cold and wet waiting for my other half to drive down with the spare. Thankfully 2 other surfers
turned up and let us wait in their van and borrow their mobile just as we were about to smash
a window.

The Frostfire Key safe looks like a slightly over sized padlock with a hardened steel shackle so
you can lock it to something and when it's unlocked there's a space within the body of the lock
where you can keep a key or other small items such as a ring or folded bank note etc. The
main body and dials of the key safe are made from strong zinc alloy. The key safe can hold
a couple of basic keys although it would struggle with some of the separate alarm key fobs as
I know my bike alarm fob wouldn't fit along with the key. The internal dimensions are 10 x 7 x
2.8 cm and externally it measures 18 x 8 x 3.1 according to the site I bought it from.

The key safe is ideal for surfers you can stash a car key in and then padlock the whole unit out
of sight under the car etc. We usually attach it to one of the safety signs on the beach by looping
the shackle through a small U style lock then locking that round the post so we can see
it from the water rather than leaving it attached to the car in a deserted car park. I still only
leave a basic key in this as hopefully if anyone does get into this they will then need to find
the well hidden electronic key before the alarm goes off which will hopefully be enough to
delay most thieves.

The key safe has a 4 digit combination lock so all you need to do is remember the code. My only
complaint with this is the digits are tiny and hard to see and even harder to operate when
your hands are numb with cold after a dip in the North Sea in October. The lock seems to be
reasonably sturdy and once my hands have thawed out so far it hasn't been sticky or difficult
to unlock although I do still keep a spare key in my wetsuit pocket just in case so at least there's
a back up plan if the safe doesn't open. This might seem over cautious but I don't fancy the repair
bill for breaking a window and I don't fancy walking home either.

While it's a great gadget for surfers it would also be handy if you needed to hide a key for family,
cleaners,workmen dog walkers etc as it's a slightly safer option than leaving the key under a bin
or doormat. I would only recommend this as a temporary solution though as we used one to store
a spare key at my mum's when she was ill so nurses could get in if she couldn't get to the door.
Although thankfully it was never needed the key was rusty when we got round to removing it
from the safe a couple of months later and wouldn't have opened the door so it might be worth
investing in a better model of key safe if it's for leaving a key for more than a couple days.

We paid £34.95 for this including postage and it's currently available on Amazon and several online
stores for the same price we paid. Although it's slightly expensive for what it is in my case it's
worth forking out for it does the job and it's still cheaper than having to replace a window in the car.