Getting a cheap bumpkey and learning how to use it on your own door can save you lots of trouble the next time you lock yourself out of your place. I hide one in the bushes.
Using a bumpkey repeatedly will actually result in you permanently locking yourself out of your place. Repeated use wears down the internals to the point where it will eventually no longer work.
This depends on the key materials being used etc, but generally speaking, you'd be better off stashing a key in a well hidden place instead.
If it's a combination padlock, many of them are shimmable or easily bypassable [1]. If you care, it's worth searching for your lock brand and model # on YouTube.
In a previous job, we had a server room with double doors protected by a keypad on the outside and a capacitive touch plate to open from the inside. There was at least a good quarter inch gap between the doors. I opened it with a coat hanger just to verify that it would work.
In a previous job, management was very unhappy on Monday morning after discovering I'd gone through the drop ceiling to reset a box in the "secure" server room.
You could also just hide a real key somewhere close to your place but not close enough to make it easy for someone to try it on doors until they find yours.
You could also put it in a lockbox in a somewhat hidden location on the property, such as underneath a deck (on a house). Though a lot of lockboxes aren't that secure; after doing a little research earlier this year, I found that the Kidde wheel ones aren't bad [1].
Yeah, this. If you're lucky enough to have family or a good friend nearby (someone who you could call at 11pm to get it, and who would understand). Just give them a copy of your key. Like insurance, you hope you never need it, but if you do, you'll be glad you did.
It can be done reasonably safely. Put it in an envelope, sign across the flap. Now you both know if they use it. You can still call them and ask them to open it, run over and turn off the stove or whatever, and sign another envelope when you get home.
I think this would make a lot of people uncomfortable. I'm relatively pragmatic and untrusting, but I would be offended if someone I knew did this to me. And if it were a neighbour I didn't really know, I would be a bit worried: now I have the responsibility of keeping their key secure, and if I lose it they will suspect me of stealing it, and all for the privilege of being asked to do a favour for a borderline stranger who doesn't even consider me trustworthy.
Its for both your peace of mind. You come home from vacation, something you misplaced makes you concerned its gone, but the key from next door is still in the envelope. So no suspicion there.
Maybe works better for business. I did this with the insurance agent next door when I was running an Engineering office.
I agree with GP (retsibsi). The envelope thing says, "I trust you enough to give you a key... but I don't really trust you, so I'm also giving it to you in this weird signed envelope thing." You either trust them or you don't, and you're asking them to do you a favor.
Plus, if they have a sealed envelope with the key, they can get enough information about the key (the key bitting) to make a copy. They don't need to open the envelope, they just need to press the envelope down enough to see the shape of the key.
I should add to my other replies: I don't mean to criticise you personally, or your actions in your own particular case. In the general case I think the envelope proposal would often cause offence, but as a compromise with someone initially reluctant, it sounds like it was a clever solution.
It does make sense, but I still don't think I could avoid that emotional reaction. It's the combination of asking for a favour while simultaneously signalling that you don't trust me. If we're in zero-trust stranger-to-stranger mode, why should I do this favour at all? It only has downsides for me, including the possibility that something goes wrong (envelope lost or damaged) and I come under suspicion.
Anyone thinking of going to this much effort: signatures are easily forged. Use glitter lipstick to seal the envelope and take a photo of the pattern - nobody will ever lay the same glitter pattern again.
Depends where you live and stuff, but in some areas possession of lock picking tools while committing a crime is an extra offense. You might be found to be committing a crime for a number of various reasons (legit or not), and have this charge tacked on for good luck.
A bump key is easily hidden among other keys on a keyring; it's just a key cut to the lowest depths in all positions, otherwise it looks just like any other key. It's a lot less obvious than a set of lock picks.
Bump keys, as others have posted, are very crude and rough on the internals of a lock so I'd say use them sparingly, and never without the lock owner's explicit permission of course. But they do have a place. (And require practice too!)
