Key safes for outdoor storage

Key safes and key lock boxes with a combination lock

Where is your spare key right now?

The flower pot. The doormat. The lamp. The meter box. The shed. The fake rock. Under the step. Or, at worst, the letterbox.

The problem with all of those is the same: they are hiding places, and whoever is looking knows where people look. That list is short precisely because everybody uses the same few spots. A locked box is not a hiding place. The key stays put even once somebody finds the box, because without the code they cannot reach it.

Every one of ours stays outside all year

Each model in this range is built for outdoor use. They handle rain, snow and sub-zero mornings without the lock seizing or the dials sticking, and they stay where you bolted them.

It is worth saying plainly, because it is often the only question that matters. A key safe that cannot take the weather is not a key safe. It is a box.

Dials or push buttons?

That is the first choice, and the difference shows up most clearly in the dark.

Combination dials are numbered wheels you turn into place, much like a bicycle lock. Simple, proven, and no batteries to run flat. But the code has to be read: the digits are small, and you cannot feel which one is facing you. On a dark evening with no light by the door, that is the hard part.

Push buttons are more tactile. The button can be felt under your finger and gives way when pressed, so you know it registered without seeing it. That works in the dark, and it works with gloves on.

That is why we brought in the push-button models. Dials are still excellent wherever there is light, and if you want dials anyway they come with illumination. If the safe has to go somewhere no lamp reaches, choose buttons.

Use the Lock Type filter to see one kind only. It also holds the models that open with an app and a battery-powered code lock.

When the safe has to do more than hide a key

If several people need access, and you need to see who has been there, a mechanical code is not enough. That calls for an electronic lock that can give different codes to different people and keep a log of when the box was opened.

It is common with holiday lets, with home care visits, and when a tradesman has to get in while nobody is home. The Key control filter shows which models manage it.

If you need it at a larger scale, with a key per person and traceability on each individual key, look at key cabinets instead.

How big does it need to be?

"Large" means two different things here, and they are worth keeping apart.

How much fits inside depends on internal depth more than on height. A shallow box takes keys but not a thick fob or a car key with a remote. If a car key or several keys on one ring have to go in, look at the depth.

How much wall it takes up is a separate question. If the safe has to sit discreetly beside a front door or under a porch roof, the external measurements decide. Outer Height (mm) and Outer Width (mm) take you there.

The Number of Key Slots filter says how many keys a model is built for. Allow for one more; it rarely costs much.