For years I used Tom Bihn’s key straps to tether my keys to my bag. They’re designed to prevent losing small essentials, and in theory, they’re perfect. In practice, given how I grab my keys and use my bags, they created their own problems.
I’d consistently unhook the wrong end, leaving me dealing with a long dangling strap. Even worse, the keys would migrate to the bottom of my bag because even the shortest key straps were too long for my needs. Small frustrations, but daily ones.
My next attempt was an S-biner dual carabiner from the hardware store. Better, but I kept misplacing whichever clip end I needed in the moment.
Recently, when placing a new Tom Bihn order, I asked if they could swap my usual key strap for a utility strap instead. I already had too many key straps, and I thought the utility strap’s larger attachment point1 might offer more versatility than the key strap’s smaller version.
The utility strap is excellent, but it’s not holding my keys. Instead, it’s perfectly suited for my Yarn Stuff Sack with my current sock project, plus a few other items that benefit from the longer tether and the rectangular attachment point.
My keys, meanwhile, have found their perfect solution: a simple snap hook with o-ring. It’s small enough to blend with my key ring, keeps them accessible rather than buried at the bottom of my bag, and eliminates the wrong-end-unhooking problem entirely as the o-ring is on the keyring!
It feels almost embarrassingly obvious now.
Sometimes the best solution isn’t the most sophisticated one. After years of struggling, I found a solution that does exactly what I need: keeps them attached and accessible.
I’ll have more to say about how I’m using various accessories when I write up my thoughts on actually using the Small Café Bag—this time for real, not just a brief trial run.
I’m an advocate of kaizen (改善), or “change for better” and have written about it at beyond the start, the benefits of a small change.
- it’s a rectangle, not a ring. ↩︎
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