I want to hide some spare keys in a fake rock nearby my apartment… I’m kinda paranoid about the idea that, if I locked myself out right now, I’d be so completely screwed!
there are several places nearby where the odds of someone finding it are extremely low… and besides, they’d have no idea where the keys were for anyway.
I suppose the alternative would be just wrapping them up in a plastic bag and burying them or something… not sure. but a fake rock would be best.
an odd item, I know. any ideas where I might find one???
I’ve yet to live in a place where there’s not a great key hiding spot nearby. I wouldn’t buy a fake rock, that sounds like it might stand out and look suspicious.
Though I don’t store keys outside long-term. Would rather leave with a friend.
I sometimes hide the front door key when I’m going for a run or bike ride, got about 10 spots outside the house which I rotate through. Wife doesn’t like it. So i told her I’d stop. But I haven’t.
If you are locked out, you are not doomed. There are 24 hour keysmiths, and usually their phone numbers are pasted all over the neighborhood, especially your building’s door. Or try 7-11.
Stop in at your nearest locksmith to make spares, chat with them, and ask about their services in case you lose your keys. Get to know them. You’ll be easy to remember. Put their card in your wallet and their number in your cell phone. It’s only a couple hundred NT to have them open your lock later if needed. Much safer than a fake rock, and possibly cheaper.
well, I was planning to hide the fake rock in some bushes, and also put some dirt over it. really, I think the place I have in mind it would be HIGHLY unlikely anyone would bother it.
I don’t really have any friends nearby. . .
The other thing is, I don’t have ANYONE’S number memorized, so what happens if I lock myself out without my phone, or even any cash to go to a Internet cafe or something?
as for the locksmiths, I speak VERY little Mandarin… how could I convince them to just let me into a building? how could I even explain what I was talking about?
and also the most likely time for this to happen is coming home late from a club or something, so then would anything even be open to help me?
as for the SAFETY of this idea… like I said before, even if someone found the keys, how could they possibly even know which building to try? I’d be hiding this a good 100 meters from my place, maybe further, and there are tons of apartment buildings around…
no matter what, I will some way to hide these keys near my home… I guess maybe I will just put them in a ziplock back or something since it seems no one knows where to find this item…
I may also leave some spare keys with friends, but anyone I could do that with lives quite far away.
The other thing is just to leave it outside your apartment in a shoe or something. If you are ever locked out just do what others do and start buzzing every door until someone let’s you in the front.
However, if you really, really think hiding your keys within a fake rock is the way forward for you, try looking in a pet shop, a garden shop or somewhere that sells fish. Often, fish pond accessories include hollow rocks to put lights in, and pet shops carry them as parking spaces for iguanas.
I dunno how reliable a rock would be. I mean, back in the West, where we have gardens, then a rock in the front porch does not look out of place. In a gongwu or apartment building, it does. It will get thown out before you can say Gesundheit! Yes, they do not throw out the 20 year old sofa in middle of the stairs, but a rock? That does not belong there, out!
A potted plant-maybe- or inside a shoe -as stated- would look more “Taiwanese”. It won’t attract suspicions nor be thrown out. Remember, as a foreigner, you are always being watched -even whe you do not know it. So anything you do will be scrutinized and you may find yourself coming home to an empty apartment. “But, but, … they had the keys!”
Presume the OP is thinking of a patch of waste-land near his apartment, not just outside the door. Still, I’d go for shallow burial, rather than a fake object. Mark the spot with a few stones or something, and take some measurements from the edge of the land just in case the stones ever ‘disappear’. So long as the keys can’t be traced to the apt, that seems safe enough.
