Liquid Key Caddy review

It is not often that I get a chance to review a product before it is available to consumers for their purchase. But the other day I got a nice surprise from the postman and the folks at Liquid (an Australian group),with their new Key Caddy, a follow-up Kickstarter project to the Liquid Wallet that I reported about early this year. Now I am not a big key carrying person, but the Key Caddy does show promise for not only my keys, but some everyday carry items as well.

Note: Images can be clicked to view a larger size.

Being such a new product the packaging for the Key Caddy has not been finalized, but it did come in a nice box. Included with the Key Caddy that I was sent to review were:

• 1 top Plate
• 1 bottom plate
• 2 extension post
• 3 brass screw
• 3 black-coated screws
• 2 nylon spacers
• 6 nylon washers
• 1 split ring
• 1 Australian nickel
• 3 key blanks

My Key Caddy came assembled.

The front and back plates of the Key Caddy are made from 7075 Aluminum with a hard anodized coating. Measuring 3.149 (L) x 1.062 (W) x .393 (H) inches and weighing 8 ounces the Key Caddy is small enough and light enough to fit in that little coin pocket in your jeans. The outside of the front plate has the Liquid logo engraved into it along with a bump-out/ cut-out for a split ring or anything else you may want to attach to it. The front plate also has the holes that the screws go into to secure both plates together. The outside of the back plate has no markings or special features.

The inside of the front plate has two nylon washers permanently affixed to it. The inside of the back plate has the receiving post for the screw that hold the Key Caddy together and it also has two nylon washers permanently affixed. In the basic setup (no extension post added) the receiving post are designed to hold up to four standard keys.

To be honest here, I carry very few keys anymore, with cars not needing them and using my garage to enter and exit my house most of the time, I just don’t have a need for them. That does not mean I don’t appreciate and can’t put this product to good use, quite the opposite. I can see being able to have some EDC (Every Day Carry) type items on it as well as a spare key or two.

So, not having a lot of keys to tote around what do I need to carry that the Key Caddy would be perfect for? The Kickstarter page of the Key Caddy shows that other than keys you can carry a USB flash drive and a bottle opener. On my Key Caddy I have a Fish Bone, a spare key, my key chain shopping cards and ID’s. This is especially helpful to me with those little key chain cards that I can never keep track of or never have when I need them.

With the addition of the extension post, spacers and washers you could, in theory add as many keys as you want. The set-up I was sent had enough spacers, washers and extension post to add up to eight keys. This also is what is included in the basic Kickstarter package. I found the best way to get a good fit with whatever you want to use with the Key Caddy is to experiment with not only the placement of the items you want to use, but using different combinations of spacers and washers. As a note here, I did run into an issue with my Key Caddy and the extension post. One of my posts would not screw down completely into the receiving post. I contacted Peter at Liquid and he informed me that they had that issue with one other Key Caddy in the sample run of 200. Peter also informed me that checking for this issue is now part of their quality control procedure for the Key Caddy.

So, what’s my bottom line here? Versatility and practicality are two words that come to mind with the Key Caddy. Although I am not a big key toter, I see a few different ways that this product can be utilized. From a practical standpoint I am a fan of organization and the Key Caddy can not only organize my keys, but also things like key chain cards. As I stated in the beginning of this review, the Key Caddy is a Kickstarter project with many pledge points and accessories available. The basic Key Caddy comes in four colors; arctic white, gunmetal grey, liquid black and champagne gold (the color I was sent to review). With add-ons available such as: laser etching, a bottle opener, USB drive (up to 64 GB) and additional post customization of your Key Caddy is only limited to your imagination. A pledge of approximately $22.07 (27 AUD) you can get a Key Caddy in your choice of colors. This project is seeking funding until January 15, 2015 and if successful is scheduled to ship in the March 2015 time frame. If you are looking for a good way to organize your keys or even key chain EDC items the Key Caddy may be a good choice for you.

Source: The sample for this review was provided by Liquid. Some of the times in the the review and numbers of items received for the review may be different than what is being offered in the Key Caddy Kickstarter campaign.