A buoyant key ring can save your day.

While on a dock have you ever dropped your keys in the water and then helplessly watched them disappear into the depths below? If you have, you know what a hassle it can be to recover them. In this situation, you have several options. Provided the water is shallow enough you can A: Break out your fishing tackle and try to snag them with a treble hook; B: Horse around with a magnet or C: Put on snorkel gear and dive down yourself and grab them. Oftentimes though, boaters choose another method, which is to pay a diver (assuming one is available) to recover those keys for you. Depending where you are, the going rate for this service can easily be $100.00—and that is whether the diver is successful or not!

Buoyant Key Chain Choices

Aware that every year thousands of butter fingered boaters suffer the ignominy of the above-described situation, West Marine offers an outstanding selection of floating key rings. Keychain choices include buoyant key rings by Taylor, in the form of miniature renditions of their popular Storm Guard Fenders and their Mini Tuff End Key Float. Other options include West Marine branded vinyl covered key floats and a salty little number by Cal-June—their Life Saver Floating Key Chain. Note: We strongly suggest that users of buoyant key floats determine the maximum number of keys that their key float will float by testing them in the kitchen sink.

One interesting variation of key floats is Davis Instrument’s Inflatable Key Buoy. Capable of floating up to 2.8 ounces, this ingenious device automatically deploys a buoyant bright orange marker tube that will float your keys to the surface for easy pickup.

Other Key Chains

Apart from buoyant key floats, at West Marine you will also find a variety of other key rings. Options include key ring/cork screw/bottle openers, carabineer style key rings, flashlight key rings—and a nifty creation by Harken, which is their Micro Block Key Ring.