Waterbuoy Key Ring Inflates When Wet

The "Waterbuoy" is a compact keychain that, upon submersion in water, coughs up a plastic orange balloon capable of keeping up to 1 kilogram at the surface for up to a day. An LED flasher makes the Waterbuoy visible even at night.

It's £15 on Firebox UK. I hope I'm not the only one who thinks clipping a couple dozen of these to my clothing and jumping in the ocean would be really awesome, at least until the displacement of the balloons made it impossible for me to raise my head out of the water.

Catalog Page [Firebox.com via Coolest-Gadgets]

[#1 posted by Abbey , March 7, 2008 6:53 AM]

This seems so much more useful than the little "life preserver" type keychains you see now. The Waterbuoy looks much smaller than the floating keychains I've seen before.

I think this is going in my dad's next birthday present.

[#2 posted by mikeyboy , March 7, 2008 7:26 AM]

1. put keys in pocket.
2. spill glass of water in lap.
3. impress the ladies with your bulges.

[#3 posted by Bugs , March 7, 2008 8:06 AM]

Ooh, this is tempting. I wonder how splashproof it is though? I dive from a RIB so this would be great for me if it can deal with all the spray that gets kicked up when we're underway.

[#4 posted by sonny p fontaine , March 7, 2008 8:42 AM]

these might come in handy for when I'm smuggling whiskey in the east river. though I'd be concerned that they would be a glaring anachronism.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Stm0mUkl-dM

[#5 posted by michaelportent , March 7, 2008 11:33 AM]

Nice idea, Joel. Sadly though (if my math is right), it would take roughly 80 waterbuoys to keep me afloat. A couple dozen won't cut it for a human flotation device. =P

[#6 posted by Lambro , March 7, 2008 12:18 PM]

This is an interesting idea, but you'd have to have some seriously large keys to merit spending $30 on this thing. Foam floater keychain attachments cost about $2, are the same size, and work forever (looks like this is single-use). There's not a whole lot of things on a boat that weigh less than 2 lbs and would survive submersion that you'd want to attach this thing to. Camera? Ipod? If they go overboard you're screwed anyway. And if you've got 2 lbs of keys on your keyring, it's definitely time to get rid of some keys.

[#7 posted by wingbatwu , March 8, 2008 3:03 PM]

It would be useful on my Kite Aerial Photorgaphy rig...

[#8 posted by Anonymous , March 10, 2008 4:13 AM]

I wouldn't have thought you would need that many to act as a human floation device. People tend to float as it is, and just need a bit of help to float in a way that isn't going to kill you. So a couple of these attached to you front would probably do it.

[#9 posted by Anonymous , March 10, 2008 6:42 AM]

If you're worried the Waterbuoy might inflate when some clumsy landlubber spills their pint on it, worry not. This smart rescue unit is splashproof and its patented internal triggering system only activates when totally submerged. Brilliant!

so it seems to be a combination of pressure and water trigger

[#10 posted by dersk , March 10, 2008 8:20 AM]

I wonder if this is the product from Dragon's Den? If you don't know the show, it's a BBC reality game in which entrepeneurs make a pitch to a bunch of VCs in order to get real investments. This product (or one very much like it) got funding about a year ago, as I recall.

[#11 posted by robward , March 10, 2008 2:27 PM]

It is, in fact, the product from Dragon's Den.

[#12 posted by Archivist , March 11, 2008 1:51 PM]

Not really a new idea. Davis Instruments came out with the Key Buoy about two years ago. This one looks a bit sleeker. Per a previous post on this, I do know of someone who had a drink dumped in his lap and the Key Buoy did actually inflate in his pocket. Funny stuff

http://sailingworld.com/sailing-gear/clothing-and-accessories/the-key-buoy-by-davis-instruments-43959.html