Full Titanium Keychain (pic heavy)

[admin]

I’ve been working for quite a while at pulling together a well stocked minor emergency keychain that isn’t too bulky, not too heavy, as robust as possible and unique.

If money isn’t too much of an issue my material of choice is titanium; lighter than steel, close to being as strong per volume, much more corrosion resistant and even a pleasure to work with after you get the knack of it.

This is where i have got to:

All the gate clips (except the s-biner), the nano striker, the cash stash, the widgy bar, the valiant pen, the ruler, the pocket clip and the tritium vial holder are all made from titanium.

Some of the pieces are custom made:

Now i know what your thinking and yes they are very close to the Tec Accessories product line up but as to whether they are mere copies or not, well read on.

The pocket clip is a wider replacement for my original P7 which i felt was a little too narrow and that the clip tip flaired out a little too much, also it wasn’t made of lovely titanium.

The Tritium vial holder was made before the tec glow fob was first seen, it was inspired by a similar tritium light from a member of this forum but it had an overly large top end which made it far too bulky. My vial is positioned on the keychain so that it sits above the keys and tools in the void of the wire loop.

My first attepts at a tritium holder were less than impressive:

On a side note tritium lights are one of the few situations where the UK has fewer restrictions than the States on there purchase and use which makes a nice change.

The ruler was inspired by the tec inchworm but when i made my first prototype the metric version wasn’t around, although i only made it with 5mm divisions so when the centipede did come out i copied its finer division profile. My next attempt will hopefully get away with single millimeter divisions but iv’e been dragging my heels on that as the leathe conversion tables are a nightmare. The important difference is the flat milled along its length to allow it to be more stable for measuring against flat surfaces.

I am currently working on a pry-bar/bit-holder tool that will replace the screwpop and widgy bar, that will be made from 6mm titanium plate but i’m held up with retooling issues with the laser cutting people, i will post pictures when it all gets sorted.

The next stage is to replace the split rings with titanium versions but at the moment they are the wrong sizes and i suspect they will never make 10mm ones as the spring would deform while fitting to even the slimmest of items.

Any suggestions on improvements and ways to add even more of my favourite metal to my keychain welcome, if only there were titanium keys.

[Author]

Posts