Master LockSet Your Own combination Wall Mount Lock Box, 5 Key capacity, Black 5401EC

Unbelievably, during my 19 years of homeownership, the way I've kept a spare key outside the house is by putting it inside a fake rock (from Brookstone) designed to hold a key. Not real safe, huh? My wife finally convinced me that we should get something a bit more secure than a plastic rock with a sliding cover underneath it to hold our spare key. After doing a bit of research and poking around on Amazon, I came across this Master Lock key storage box. It looked like exactly what we needed. (I had considered one other product on Amazon, made by GE, but was totally put off by the fact that even if someone didn't know your exact combination, they could still open the box. The device would open as long as someone entered the right numbers in your code, regardless of the order. Example: If your code was 4231, if someone entered 1234, the box would open. That seems wack.) The Master Lock box was simple to install. I just used the four screws that came with it to mount it to the side of my garage. It took about 5 minutes. Then I set my combination, put the spare key in the box, and locked it up. Voila! My wife and I now feel much safer about the location of our spare key. And it's nice to be able to change the combination anytime we want. Another truly great aspect of this product is the sliding protective cover that protects the number wheels (or whatever you call them). The cover keeps the numbers protected from the elements. Also, the box seems very strong and secure. I would highly recommened it to anyone. In fact, I'm going to buy another one for my brother-in-law to install at his cottage. A great product at a great price.

Bought this box after locking my keys in the car, and had to break into my own house to get the spare.Overall this is a very solid product due to the following features:Steel body constructionMounting screw holes are in back, so it can't be unscrewed unless the unit is openedScrews are quite long so they'll be firmly seated into the wallEven if someone did manage to break it off the wall with a sledgehammer or crow-bar, they'd still have a heck of a time getting it open without making one heck of a loud racket4-digit code gives you 10,000 possibilitiesThe plastic weather cover is nice to protect the numbers, especially here in rainy HawaiiIt's also large enough to fit several house keys, or up to maybe 4 of the big newer type car keysCONS:I only have 2 real cons:1. The unlocking lever can be a little stiff to move down unless all 4 numbers are well centered. Solve this by making sure all the numbers are in the centered position or, for us lazy types, spray a little oil into the mechanism2. There is no automatic reset of the numbers. If you don't rotate any of the number wheels after you close it, anyone can walk by and open it. Not a huge problem, but you have to remember to move the number wheels after it's closed to erase your code. It'd be nice if they had some sort of button you could push that would reset all the wheels to "0", but I'm not aware of any units with this feather. Moving them manually I can live with.In summary, after a night of research here on amazon, I felt this to be the best one for a house. After installing it, I have a warm-&-fuzzy feeling about my spare key.

Although I've grown up around those who hide their spare keys around their home, I've never really been one to do it myself. Call me a skeptic/cautious, but leaving a key around for someone else to find is just asking for trouble. While I don't mind doing it on a temporary basis (for a day or two), long term never really sat well with me.My wife on the other hand, is a big believer in leaving a spare key somewhere. I suppose the most recent event where she was out of town and I was supposed to be home later that day (but didn't arrive until after midnight because my flight was delayed) got her worried. You see, we have 2 dogs and in that incident, they were home alone, in a crate, in the dark for over 18 hours.I've ran through various scenarios and one of the solutions would be to give our neighbor a spare key. But with that, we don't know our neighbors very well (moved in just a few months ago). Plus having to rely on them to gain access to my home for whatever reason is just one additional obstacle. What if they aren't home or on vacation when we or someone else actually needs the key?My wife suggested to just hide it under a rock or doormat, but that was just a terrible idea. If one were to hide their key for emergency purposes, you wouldn't want to put it in a place that's obvious, but not so difficult where it would be hard to get. Let's be honest here, if a burglar really wants in your house, they'll break in. But if they so happen to just search for one and find it easily, that gives them easy entry. That's when I decided maybe I should invest in a lock box.Looking all over the web, most of the ones I found were the push button kind like this: GE AccessPoint 001015 KeySafe Original 5-Key Permanent, Pushbutton, Titanium Grayor real estate kind that hangs on your door like this: KeyGuard SL-500 Punch Button LockboxThe problem with the push button locks are that they are 1) expensive, 2) the reviews are hit & miss, and specific to the GE ones, 3) the "access code" is not order-specific, meaning if your code is 5231, someone could press any of those numbers in any order to open the box.The problem with the door hanging type is that it is 1) unsightly and 2) typically not as secure/strong as the wall mount kind unless you get a heavy duty lock (which is typically more expensive).That's when I found this Master Lock key storage box. With 226 reviews and a 4-star rating, it seemed perfect for what I wanted. This thing is heavy duty strong. Every aspect of the body is made of metal and if someone wanted to break into it, they would need more than a sledge hammer to break it open. It comes with 4 mounting screws about 1" in length so no additional hardware is needed (unless of course you want to mount it to a brick/stone wall). Also the instructions are in depth and easy to follow. By default the passcode is 0000 but it can be reprogrammed to 4 digit any combination on the fly.As for mounting it, I swapped out the 1" screws with 1.5" decking screws. The mounting holes are in a diamond pattern and I will say that if you use a power drill like I did, you won't be able to drill the screw into the bottom hole because the drill's bulk prevents you from getting the screw in straight unless you have a really long bit (or bit extender). I had to use a standard screwdriver and manually screw in the 4th screw. Once mounted this thing is going nowhere without a lot of trouble. As another reviewer said, a burglar would probably just give up and break in through the window if they really wanted to get in your house because attempting to get the box open or steal it is not worth the time/effort.I'm very happy with this product and I would highly recommend it to anyone. It seems safe, sturdy, and provides me and my wife with protection necessary in hiding our spare key.

Easy to mount and works great