Mate had his house broken into last night and keys used to open up the back door and loot the place easier than the window, but they left the car, what is your opinion on key location at night?

Bedside, with chance thief comes upstairs looking for with utensil from kitchen.

Downstairs on show, let them stay downstairs and get on with it

Downstairs hidden?

discuss!

General view these days is downstairs, not as a temptation, e.g. visible from window/front door, but somewhere they can be found. As you say you want to avoid them coming looking for them upstairs.

never considered it. at the in-laws place most of the time you’ll find the keys in the car.

Just do what my misses regularly does…. leave ’em hanging in lock on the outside of the front door.
Save the burglars the bother of even having to come into the house!

All keys out of locks and upstairs BUT close to hand/in the same place incase of fire.

You keep a clawhammer or pliers, screwdriver etc upstairs. If you are thinking negatively- Dont forget the crim has to come upstairs/disadvantaged. Dont keep a baseball bat or golf club. Useless to swing in confined spaces.

All hypothetical.

Just put mine in the bowl, with the others…

Put them somewhere you can grab on your escape route out in the event of a fire without having to look or go into another room for them.

Having a car nicked is bad but not as bad as having your keys hidden in the kitchen when its on fire

left in back of door tbh. If there is a smoke filled house I don’t want to be trying to look for them.

…and car is a Berlingo – not sure any self respecting burglar would want to be seen in it 🙂

Door keys in doors car keys hanging on hook. Never give it a moments thought or worry.

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if you deadlock your door leave your keys in the inside of the lock so you can get out if the house is on fire and visibility is poor

of course it doesn’t have to be the same bunch that has the car keys on

Keys upstairs for us now.

We were unlucky enough to be targeted for our cars a couple of years ago. Our front door was forced, my wife’s handbag (which was downstairs) with both sets of keys was taken, and then they made a quick get away in the cars. I was woken by the alarm on one of the cars and almost caught them, but couldn’t run fast enough. At the time the area was being targeted for certain cars. The police’s advice was keys out of sight, and it would have been very unlikely they would have come upstairs. These were only after the cars rather than opportunist burglars.

Ever since I had my first impreza 9 years ago it was always keys upstairs. Still in my bedside draw. With mini crowbar under the bed.

Door lock has a shield meaning you can’t operate the lock when there’s a key the other side. so door key in door, car keys in kitchen cupboard or at this time of year in my bodywarmer on back of bedroom door.

So long as they can’t pick up the car keys with a fishing rod / magnet on a stick poked though the letter box you’ve probably taken enough precautions.

A big D-Cell Maglite is a useful and legitmate thing to have handy…

A big D-Cell Maglite is a useful and legitmate thing to have handy…

I have one of the 6D ones next to the bed. It has it’s own gravity field it’s that heavy. Not had to use it in anger yet.

If someone wants to steal my car they really need to set their sights a little higher.

Door keys in door, car is a berlingo so I don’t worry about it (unless there’s a bike in the back…)

parkesie – Member
If someone wants to steal my car they really need to set their sights a little higher.

This. Although, Skodas don’t carry the social stigma they once did. Still, mine’s mostly the colour of a ploughed field, just the top resembling the crop that might grow from it…
And my car key sits by the side of the bed, where I can find it. Once I start leaving it in a pocket, I’m stuffed; so many jackets and pockets it could be in, it’d take half an hour to find it.
Bitter experience tells me this. House key is on a separate carabiner in my trouser pocket.

we have a wall in our garden upon which is hung over 2000 sets of very similar car keys, one set works and all the others trigger an explosion under the drivers seat (after 10 minutes of occupancy). I just wish I could remember which was which.

I have one of the 6D ones next to the bed. It has it’s own gravity field it’s that heavy. Not had to use it in anger yet.

as a torch?

Our neighbour leaves theirs in the lock on the outside of their front door
I swallow ours every night before bed and shit them out again in the morning

Our insurance specifies that keys should not be left in the lock. Not sure how they’d know but I don’t want to give them an excuse.

…and car is a Berlingo – not sure any self respecting burglar would want to be seen in it

I thought that about my Corolla, my burglar’s obviously weren’t self respecting enough 🙂

If anyone wants a 10 year old Toyota or a goosed Touran, then I doubt they would have the brains to find our wee spot where all the phones, keys and wallets live.

Quite surprised at the number of people with weapons at their bedside. I’d be interested to know how many people have been burgled and what percentage of those the burglar has approached the home owner.

I suppose it offers a little peace of mind when going to sleep at night.

For me, it is doors locked, key in lock (on the inside). My car key is downstairs in a the same place every night.

We leave one set in the kitchen with another set of keys in the door in case we have to get out quickly. I’d rather take the risk of someone getting away with my car, and avoid getting a beating to get the keys, than being burned to a crisp in a house I couldn’t get out of…

Generally property is insured so if someone has got as far as breaking in the they are going to get something. Cars can be replaced.

I swallow ours every night before bed and shit them out again in the morning

spitting tea! Very funny.

I melt mine down every night and re cast them to near net shape in the morning, then final shaping of the key from memory using a hammer and chisel…

By the bed?

Err no I wouldnt want a 3yr old running aroundwith them.

By my bed/under it is Dirt etc mags. I’d roll one up Jason Bourne style 8)

As my mate living in joburg said.

Keys and wallet down stairs. If they come into my house they can have what ever they want from downstairs as long as they dont come upstairs where the wife and kids are.

As above I take no precaution and dont sleep witha Glock or sharpened mango under my bed. I.have caught some burglars in the act before. I wandered up the garden path in full lycra get up. Bloke poked his head out the door and asked if I had any money. Odd I thought but then the girlfriends house mate was idd and I thought this must be a friend of his and we’d run out of tea bags or something. It was only when I got in the door and saw that they had the stereo out of the cupboard and were loading cd’s into a rucksack that I realised what was going on. Both of them seemed to want to leave so I edged away from the door and off they went empty handed. I got a it cocky then and told them to not **** come back. So one tried to hit me missed and punched the door frame.. Later police caught one via finger prints and he got his 240 000 conviction for burglary.

jam bo – where do your in laws live?
Don’t have the upstairs option, so just leave in a kitchen draw. Due to a spate of garage thefts locally we have now started being much more careful about locking and alarming the shed etc. Going to fit more lights for the cats to set off soon.

In the boonies.

House keys left in both locks to aid escape should it be needed and also shut down the external side of the lock barrel. Car and bike keys hung up in kitchen cupboard. House is then perimeter alarmed and Dog set to stun. They are welcome to whatever they can get.

If you leave your keys in the door lock aren’t you vulnerable to crims accessing them via the letterbox if you have one in the door ?

Front door key has a snowboard leash clipping it to the back of the door handle. Given the crapness of euro cylinders and the easy with which they can be bumped, i’d far rather take my chances. Plus I have no wish to go scrabbling for the key/lock in the event of a fire.

Clipped to my dogs collar.

Quite surprised at the number of people with weapons at their bedside. I’d be interested to know how many people have been burgled and what percentage of those the burglar has approached the home owner.

Not really for being approached in bed I’d imagine, more for if you hear something in another area of the house. I used to work with a an older fella who heard someone coming in through the kitchen window. He crept down and waited in the shadow for the guy coming in before dispatching him with a wee 2lb club hammer. Then went and woke his son, who was 12 at the time, as he needed help to carry him outside. They dumped him over the farm wall across the road, and the boy was told not to tell his mother anything as if the police came asking “she’d tell them everything she knew’. 😯

I believe she still doesn’t know to this day, and it was the sons 40th a wee while back. Incidentally, Dougie had a look over the wall the next day, and the guy was gone.

Now I know where you keep your keys and what ‘security’ measures you take, I’m gonna find you on strava and rob your bikes

We were burgled 3 years ago. Keys were downstairs in a bowl. Car was loaded and taken but dumped a few streets away. We were then locked in. keys strewn along drive but they didn’t find the garage keys amongst them.We always take them upstairs now.