FREEKey™ Slim System

The FREEkey Slim System is Exotac's take on the one everyday object almost everyone fights with: the key ring. A traditional split ring is a small, daily aggravation and an occasional broken fingernail, and it has been that way forever. The FREEkey replaces the prying with a squeeze. Press the ring between two fingers and the gap opens; slide the key on or off and release. It only opens under a deliberate squeeze, so your keys are just as secure as on any other ring.

The design won awards on its merits, and the execution is what makes it last. The ring is made from a mildly magnetic stainless steel that will not corrode, bead-blasted for a finish that wears well, and laser-marked with lettering that will not scratch off the way printed or stamped-and-inked marks do. It is designed in Sweden.

It ships with three smaller accessory rings. Use them to attach key fobs or keys with small holes that will not fit the main ring, or to group your keys by function so a set can come off together: boat keys, house keys, office keys. That grouping is also what makes the FREEkey work with Exotac's BMQR .380 magnetic quick release, which is sized to fit these rings and lets you drop a key set instantly.

At $8.50 the FREEkey is an inexpensive upgrade to something you handle every single day, and it is covered by Exotac's lifetime warranty. It sits alongside the BMQR .380 in the brand's small everyday-carry line, the non-fire products that share the same attention-to-detail approach. For a first-time buyer the FREEkey is often the introduction to Exotac: an inexpensive object, handled dozens of times a day, that quietly works better than the thing it replaced. That is the entire brand argument compressed into a key ring, and it is why the FREEkey has stayed in the line for years.