Keys. Locked out of the house or the car! Plan B?

I've locked myself out of both the house and the car recently. I found out really fast that I needed a new plan to avoid this. I thought it would be a good exercise for everyone to see just how uncomfortable these situations are.

Can you break into your house with a credit card?

Can you get your car door open with nothing but trash you find along the road?

Wouldn't it be so much easier if you had a spare key always on your person?

For emergency car entry, a hidden break-in device that was on the car is better than a big rock.

Over the years I've found myself with only my drivers license and Food Lion card, and couldn't open the house door with either. I had to drive to the nearest Subway and beg a card from them that was stiff enough to get the door open.

This weekend I had my hands full and got out of the car with my keys, and spare key in the car. I do this often enough that I knew what would work. Got a piece of cardboard for a wedge (pocket knife goes between layers of cardboard.) and a length of weed eater string. Promptly broke the door lock button off flush with the passenger door. At that point I gave up on unlocking the drivers door and just stretched a coat hanger out to nearly full length, hooked the keys off the seat and dragged them out through the gap in the door frame.

I always have a pouch of eyeglass cleaners, cash and a mini-Bic lighter in my pocket, even when I don't carry my wallet, so spare house and car keys are now in there. Just in case, I have stuffed some plastic box banding material under my wiper cowl with an end sticking out where I can grab it for opening car doors just in case.

House keys are another thing. What if someone in the house has fallen and is calling for help, but the door is locked and bolted? A hidden key outside somewhere that you could direct a rescuer to over the phone would be way better than having the door broken down. No, I'm not talking about a key under the mat or anywhere else that someone would be likely to find it. It could be tied to a piece of stainless steel safety wire and buried in a plastic film can next to the thirty seventh fence pole on the East side of the field in the valley. Or under the one of the center nests on the second floor of the martin house. As long as you know where it is, and can direct someone to it. You also want it to be somewhere you can wander and appear to be tying your shoe or something when you retrieve it. Because somebody may have seen you try to get in the door, and watch you retrieve the key, you never use that same spot again.

Give it a shot. Just put your keys in the wrong pocket and stand there at the locked door and think about your options.

It's an eye opener.

 

I carry spare keys in my wallet. My wallet goes in my front pocket so it never accidentally falls out or gets stolen.

I have opened car doors with a wire coat hanger, but they are now designed to prevent that. Slim Jims are fairly easy to find. I have done residential doors with a credit card, but that won't work on my doors. Sliding doors are usually pretty easy to defeat, however.

 

Always keep a few spare keys in both the wallet and strategically located where I can access them easy enough, while being super secure!

Out side of that, I have also hidden a couple of broken or dull saw-zall blades around that I can use to Jimmy a lock or three, even though those locks are tamper/pick resistant, As in too much effort to mess about with for most!

 

I have a area that i can get to and push a button that opens the power locks , all hidden , same as house .. plus have CC key for house and car.
Sloth

 

I have 2 of those electronic combination locks

 

Can't imagine being locked out of my house given none of the doors are ever locked.......

I used to install doors and windows. I could take out a window without damage in about 2 minutes in most cases. Went to several jobs where no one was home, simply removed a window from the outside, hopped in so I could caulk around the new one inside, let myself out a door and locked it behind me. I had to stop doing that as it freaked some people out when they found out how easy it is to break their illusion of security.

Was doing a whole house replacement once. Took a break for lunch and went to local burger joint. Came back to find the owner had also left, so I simply removed the next window, climbed in. Unfortunately, he had a motion detector alarm in the hall that tripped, and the bell when off LOUD for about 5 minutes. Not a single neighbor ever looked out or anything.

Guy returned, I told him about it (bell had quit) he said "OK....the alarm company ( Pony Express Alarm....no kidding !) will send somebody out". Guy was paying a monthly monitoring fee.

So the afternoon went on....I asked a couple times if they ever sent anybody (I hadn't seen them). Each time it was an increasingly level of "NO" accompanied by a sour look.....so I finally said "Well, maybe their pony died"....ahahhahaaaaaa

Lady down the street from us when we lived in town many years ago showed up at our door one early morning in her bathrobe, asking to call a locksmith.....door locked behind her as she went out to get the newspaper. (back when it was worth getting a newspaper). I told her don't bother, I'll go let you in. Picked up a few simple tools, and we went back to her house. I looked at the garage door (time when openers were rare), removed the two screws that hold the locked center handle so the whole LOCKED handle would rotate, raised the door and let her in. Fortunately they didn't lock the door from the garage into the kitchen.

So, year or so goes by, same thing happens. We go to the house, I approach the garage door again and she says "No....Chuck fixed that..he put two screw drivers in the track inside that have to be removed to raise the door". OK....I walked around the house looking for the next most easy place.....cheap aluminum sliding door. She says "No....see that broom stick....you have to take it out from the inside to open the door". I simply took my flat palms against the fixed panel, which I could see didn't have the retainer clip installed, bumped it toward the rolling panel, and let her in...."don't trip over the fool broom stick on the way in gal"

Been out and fixed several front/back doors that had a deadbolt installed, and a #12 boot (with a nice print !) on the door simply splintered out the whole jam, leaving the door open with the dead bolt sticking out. Lot of people don't reinforce the bolt hole in the jamb. Crude, but effective.

Most people live under the illusion their house is secure. Give me a few minutes around your house, and I can almost guarantee I'll cure that.

 

If a thief wants in they will break in.

 

I keep a spare house key in each one of my trucks ,, one of them will always be there . One of my trucks, 02 f150 , I've locked myself out of multiple times,, this truck has a radio antenna,, I've bent the end of it the way I need it,, just unscrew it from the fender , open the door, screw it back to the fender .

 

Locks only stop a honest person, 3 anti social, stranger hostile pit mixes on the other side of a unlocked door are far more effective than a lock.

 

Truck has a built-in combination lock on the driver's door should one lock their keys in. The challenge at this age is remembering the combination.

I locked my keys in my Jeep a few years back. I have two sets of doors, one with the full frame windows and one with the canvass / plastic windows, which were installed at the time. Simply lifted the flap on the canvass window, poked my index finger between the two zippers and opened the window.

House is always deadbolted so that would be a little more difficult unless you know how to remove a window like Andy. It's also a little harder to lock yourself out because it requires a key to lock.

I'm under no illusions that should anyone want in the house or to steal a vehicle, there's always a way to accomplish it.

 

got damn lucky years & years ago >>> Midway Airlines had uber cheap valet parking - your car would be waiting for you warmed/cooled outside luggage claim - one trip I checked my car in and walked away - kid came running up & caught me - "We locked the keys in your car" >>> lucky my car had an early version of the outside door keypad entry ...

thing I learned about personal car keys - traveling and using a rental car - safeguard your personal keys in your luggage back in the hotel room - no need to be carrying them around in your pocket/briefcase/camera case/ ect ect >> just make sure to reload your pockets on flight day and that includes keys to your airport parked car ....

 

When my buddies and I go on road trips whoever supplies the vehicle brings a spare set of keys and the "shotgun" spot gets them until we get back. Even when we bring separate vehicles if we are meeting up outside the city we bring spares to exchange. Saved our bacon more than once over the years. Have been doing this since HS and it's so automatic we don't even think about it. Didn't occur to me to mention it until I read your and @Yard Dart 's stories.

 

Keep a set of house keys hidden out back, Installed 4'' deck screws in place of the wimpy latch screws in the wood doors into some real ''meat''
Truck has a Hide-A-Key spare key inside the bumper.
You can't lock the truck doors without some weight on the seat sensor.
2 dogs as an early alarm system.
1 Green-eyed redheaded woman inside

 

Well, my house has so many windows and is set off from the road so if anyone gets onto the property they would have no problem getting into the house even the back door is all glass. It's a damn security sieve - so much so - that I have given up trying to secure it. When we depart, we put everything of value in the safe, like the wife's laptop, the guns that are tactically located, etc. We do have extra set of keys for the house located outside and they have proved to be damn useful at times - in fact - just a few days ago when I locked myself out.

As far as extra car/truck keys. I carry my set and the wife carries a set but we have no extras and maybe that is something I need to change now that it you brought it to my attention.

 

We keep a spare set of house keys somewhere on the property. I carry a spare key for whatever truck I'm using on my person.

 

I've got a redhead missus....don't need the dog.

 

There is a certain window that doesn't lock so if you drag the trash can over and grab the _____ just randomly laying there, it will assist in jimmying the window open. Getting locked out is something that happens often so we always have a plan and often the item to assist is laying in plain sight.

As for the car lock outs, usually we call a different family member to get a spare out of the safe. Though last year my kid lost his key and locked his spare in the car. It took two people but we were able to work a fly fishing rod through the passenger side window and the pole was sturdy enough so we could press the unlock button on the door.