The Ridge Keycase Review

Keys are easy to collect without even trying. House keys come as standard, and then you might have one for your work locker and another for a safe. Then there are special keys, like a friend’s spare, and one for your gym locker. That’s a lot of keys, and unless you fancy pretending to be a jail warden, carrying all of them can be a hassle. Fortunately, key cases are a thing, and we have tested a number of them.

In this review, we’ll be looking at the Ridge Keycase. Its design is similar to other key cases, stacking them together in a jackknife-style configuration for easy deployment. The key difference in Ridge’s approach? Build quality and materials. So, if that interests you, sit back, dive in, and see what the Ridge Keycase has to offer.

The Rundown

When you open the box, you’ll find that the package includes the Ridge Keycase, a disassembly tool, and two key rings. Starting with the Ridge Keycase, the main material here is aluminum, which gives the entire thing a very nice and sturdy feel without being too heavy for its size. At the time of writing, it’ll cost you around $75 if you go for this colorway and material type, but there are also carbon fiber and 24k gold options going for $95 and $150, respectively. If you ask us, it’s mostly down to aesthetic choice whether you go for one or another since they’ll all offer the same level of protection for everyday use. You probably won’t notice the weight difference unless you pick up all colorways.

The included keyrings come in different sizes: a smaller and a larger one. That may seem trivial, but someone at Ridge obviously tested their product because having two different-sized key rings accommodates all kinds of accessories. Maybe you only have one or two accessories you want to attach, and so you can simply use just the small key ring. Or, maybe you’re the type who has a ton of cute accessories, so you may want to use both the large and the small key rings to bring them all.

The tool to open the Ridge Keycase is a thick guitar-pick-like piece of aluminum, which you can leave attached to one of the key rings. It’s a relatively large tool (and you’ll see why in the following sections), but it is also very thin, so it shouldn’t pose an issue having it on you all the time. It’s basically a flathead screwdriver you use to unscrew the case’s main joint, thus allowing you to insert keys.

The Ridge Keycase itself has a clip on the back that lets you hang it on your belt or the lip of your pocket for convenience. Of course, many of us will simply hang it off a key ring or carabiner using the D-ring at the case’s apex. Other than that, the case doesn’t have many external features, so let’s check out how it opens.

Unscrewing the case takes some effort because of how long the screw’s thread is. Fortunately, you only have to use the tool for a bit before you can eventually unscrew the bit by hand. It’s a bit tedious, but not the most annoying part. Next, you must contend with a piece of inclined aluminum acting as a pre-tensioned spring that locks your keys in.

You have to thread your keys into the pole while pressing down on this spring to get them in. The tricky part is trying to add more keys while pressing down on this spring, then eventually closing the case and putting the screw back in place. We can do it with four keys (although three keys is the easiest), but filling the case to its six-key capacity really takes a lot of work and a steady hand.

Once everything is set, using the Keycase is fairly straightforward. It doesn’t have any fancy mechanism for actually deploying keys, though. Instead, there’s a small cutout at the edge of the case so you can easily pry your front-most key out. Needless to say, this means you’ll want to put your most often-used key nearest to the cutout for convenience.

Packability

In terms of packability, it really is as simple as hanging it off the lip of your pocket, belt, or even your pants using the built-in clip. This is a handy alternative if you don’t feel like attaching it using the D-ring and a carabiner.

Of course, the D-ring is still the easiest option, and it also feels more secure since the clip has the inherent risk of slipping off. Unfortunately, Ridge doesn’t provide a carabiner, just the key rings, so you’ll have to supply that part yourself. If either option isn’t available, storing the case in your pocket isn’t very cumbersome either. That said, the Keycase is a bit chunkier than some alternatives.

Quick Comparison

The Orbitkey Key Organizer Pro is one of our favorite key cases. It can carry three to nine keys and has a similar design to the Ridge Keycase. It’s primarily constructed of leather and uses a different locking mechanism. It features a ratcheting screw you can undo by hand; no special tools are necessary. Adding keys is also significantly easier since no spring tension is introduced until you ratchet the screw back in place. Lastly, it also has a nifty little attachment that adds a little nub at the head of one of your keys so you can deploy it more easily.

The best part? The Orbitkey Key Organizer Pro comes in at around $65 at the time of writing, which is $10 cheaper than the Ridge Keycase. The regular non-pro Orbitkey Key Organiser is also an option. Ranging from $25 to $45, it’s more affordable, though at the expense of the simpler screw mechanism—it requires a coin or a flathead to open.