Find Your Keys, Remotes and Cell Phone Fast

I am constantly losing my keys. Either they get buried under a pile of gloves on our front table, or my two-year-old decides that they would be much safer wedged between the sofa cushions. And, it's always when I'm about to run out the door that I realize they have gone AWOL.

However lost keys, cell phones, wallets, TV remotes or whatever can be found quickly when you have a locator tag attached to them.

Item locators are two-piece systems: There’s the small tag you attach to the thing you want to track, and the receiver that tracks them. Before using the tags, you register them with the receiver. Some systems come with pre-paired tags, others let you input the name of the tagged item into the locator.

When an item is lost, the locator will search for the item’s unique tag and give you auditory and/or visual directional signals to point you in the right direction.

Click ‘n Dig! Key Finder
For a basic model, check out the Click ‘n Dig! Key Finder ($37). The system comes with two key-fob tags and two thin receiver tags that you can affix to items with double-sided tape. To find an item up to 60 feet away, you just press the colored button the matches your item’s tag and the tag will beep.

Loc8tor Plus
On the high end, there’s the Loc8tor Plus ($170), which has a listed maximum range of 600 feet It comes with four tags, but is capable of tracking up to 24 items. When you select the tag you want to find on the receiver’s display you’ll see the direction and range of the tag as well as hear it. There’s also an Alert Mode, which will trigger an alarm as a tag moves outside a pre-set range.

Of course the -maximum ranges for item locators reflect- ideal circumstances. If your keys are prone to being buried in the sofa cushions, like mine are, you can expect the range to be about half the listed distance. And if my two-year-old discovers the flushing down the toilet trick, all bets are off!
 

Phones and Mobile, Home Safety & Security, Time Savers