How does your key floater work??

Of course! And my family ridiculed me. I even got one of those self inflating ones in my stocking the following Christmas.

I use on of these, after the clip on my old one broke I tried it out......it worked!

One of these.

Just when you though you heard about every interesting question asked... Someone takes it up a notch!

kinda like a keyless boat..no real need for starting, neat new locks for entry, etc...kinda like cars have evolved....

keys are destined to be lost or sink...

Now I have to tell a story on my dad. Back in the seventies we ended up with a bunch of toilet floats in the store. You know, that big plastic ball in your toilet at home. As you can imagine they don't sell well in a marine store. My dad took some brass screw eyes and bead chain and made key floats out of them. Damn if they didn't sell.

HopCar said:

... Back in the seventies we ended up with a bunch of toilet floats in the store. My dad took some brass screw eyes and bead chain and made key floats out of them. Damn if they didn't sell.

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You`d need big pockets.

Deep pockets...............

So is that a floating keychain in your pocket or are you glad to see me?

We have the Davis inflatables on all our key sets, particularly those that will have any exposure to the boat environment. 2 of these units have been grandchild tested & worked well. In all fairness, the key sets were rescued pretty quickly. One in a fairly deep creek, one in a toilet bowl (prior to the flush).

What makes those Davis things inflate? I would guess there is a chemical that reacts with water and gives off a gas.
Baking soda and a powdered acid?
Anybody taken one apart?
How fast do they inflate?

HopCar said:

What makes those Davis things inflate? I would guess there is a chemical that reacts with water and gives off a gas.
Baking soda and a powdered acid?
Anybody taken one apart?
How fast do they inflate?

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A tablet inside and yes it works......
Davis Key Buoy Demonstration - YouTube

Alka Seltzer Tablet, of course!

Reminds me of another story. Oh be quiet, you love them.
Back in the 1950's someone tried to market a combination rain jacket / inflatable life jacket. The jacket had a zippered pocket on the inside where you put a little plastic bag of white powder. (insert cocaine joke here) The plastic bag would melt when wet and the powder inside would react and inflate the jacket. My dad decided to use me as a crash test dummy. He had me put on the jacket fully clothed and jump into a swimming pool. After several minutes of treading water, I felt a tingling where the chem packet was and it got cold at that spot. Slowly the jacket inflated. If I didn't know how to swim, it might have helped in recovering my body.

Have I told you the ones about the Rescue Frisbee or the Damage Control Umbrella?
I'll save those for another time.

HopCar said:

Have I told you the ones about the Rescue Frisbee or the Damage Control Umbrella? I'll save those for another time.

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Oh c'mon, just two more!

rochepoint said:

A tablet inside and yes it works......
Davis Key Buoy Demonstration - YouTube

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Hmmm ... hardly, with tide or current that key would be far way and hard to locate in choppy waters. The deeper the water the worse it gets.

Thanks for posting ... I have had contemplated buying it ... not anymore.

Oliver, you're close enough that I'll tell you the stories in person one of these days.

HopCar said:

Oliver, you're close enough that I'll tell you the stories in person one of these days.

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Fair enough. I gotta grab my dad one day and head over, one of these days, one of them.

HopCar said:

Now I have to tell a story on my dad. Back in the seventies we ended up with a bunch of toilet floats in the store. You know, that big plastic ball in your toilet at home. As you can imagine they don't sell well in a marine store. My dad took some brass screw eyes and bead chain and made key floats out of them. Damn if they didn't sell.

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Damned ingenious of your dad!

I have one or two keys that we use regularly, on one of the long foam floaties, one for each key to keep the weight down. I change the floatie out about every other boat show or marine event.

Everything else (car/house keys, etc.), is locked away in a Pelican Case and stowed until we're back firmly on dry land.

My boat is the floater for my key. It never comes out of the switch unless the boat is on the hard.

I have a floating key holder that my marina gives out. It's shaped pretty much like a hot dog but shorter and fatter, it's soft plastic and comes apart. The air inside is supposed to float your keys.

I've never tested it, but around here, you only have a couple seconds before the current carries anything out of reach.

The brass chain that holds the keys corroded and failed.

jleonard said:

My boat is the floater for my key. It never comes out of the switch unless the boat is on the hard.

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Pardon me for saying so, but isn't that the ONLY time your boat is safe from theft?

Greetings,
Mr. Tom. "...ONLY time your boat is safe from theft?" I often think about just that. Hmmmm......Theft @ 7 knots.....


All good suggestions for floatation but what about a couple spare sets of keys?

Tom.B said:

Pardon me for saying so, but isn't that the ONLY time your boat is safe from theft?

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Mine would be the last one someone would steal.....they would then have to make a "crawl" for it to get away.

Besides, anyone could steal a Ford Lehman powered diesel in about 2 minutes simply by jumping battery to starter.

RT Firefly said:

All good suggestions for floatation but what about a couple spare sets of keys?

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Well hidden somewhere in the guts of my boat ... can't remember where ...

Greetings,
Mr. RW. I know! I know! Hidden in the "safe place" with my oak wedges and my SS staples.......I hear ya.

Of the hundreds of boats/yachts I've worked on in the Northeast...the joke usually was...the more expensive the boat, the closer a hidden (cough, cough) set of keys was to the door.

Most boats can be started without a set of keys in seconds.....usually it's harder to get in the boat than get it underway.

jleonard said:

Besides, anyone could steal a Ford Lehman powered diesel in about 2 minutes simply by jumping battery to starter.

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Oh yea... well... there is that.

:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

Never take boat, or any keys, out of your pocket unless on land or boat. I once had my car keys in hand while entering an elevator, while juggling a heap of files.
Recovering keys which fall in the gap between the open elevator door and the floor required an elevator mechanic callout, at my cost. Dropped boat keys with a failed float could be even worse, especially as my ancient saloon entry door key has to be handcut.