10 Adorable And Useful Tools You Can Fit On Your Keychain

Loads of people carry a smartphone with them wherever they go, but there's at least one other thing that's just as — if not more — important: Keys. Unless or until we start unlocking all vehicles and buildings with our phones, anyway.

While a set of keys may not be as versatile as a pocket computer, there's a countless number of tools of various sizes and for various purposes that can clip onto them. So technically, with the right assortment of add-ons, our keys can be even more useful than a smartphone. As long as it doesn't require an internet connection.

Much like our phones, our keys can become a form of self-expression as we accessorize them over time. Rather than key covers, though, we're going to talk about tools. Lots and lots of tools can fit onto a keyring (for better or worse) and may just make your life a little easier in certain situations. Hence the list below, organized from least to most expensive.

Pretty much anybody who's had to carry keys — be it for home or for work — has had to use them to awkwardly tear away at packing tape at least once or twice. We don't always have a box cutter or a pair of scissors on hand, after all.

The problem is, keys aren't exactly ideal for cutting through tape at the best of times, but it's generally not a good idea to keep something sharp like a blade on a keyring that'll be jangling around in your pocket. Hence KeySmart's Safe Box Cutter.

It's a very simple and unassuming little thing. Almost like a pre-carved key template, except made of PA46 nylon instead of metal and shaped in such a way as to be able to cut through tape without risking any accidental blood draws. And due to its shape and size, it'll fit (and blend) right in with your other keys.

Many modern smartphones utilize SIM cards, which we might occasionally want to pop out — whether due to an upgrade to a new model or even attempting to transfer from Android to an iPhone. But opening a SIM card slot requires a special tool — or a really small wire.

Having something like a SIM Card Eject Pin from Eaglewireless on your keyring means you won't have to go digging through product boxes or desk drawers the next time you want to remove or install a SIM card. But it's even more useful than that.

Beyond its intended function, pins like this are great for resetting many modern electronic devices. Video game controllers, security cameras, and a slew of other hardware often require users to press and hold a really small button — which is typically recessed to prevent accidental presses — for a proper reset. Having one of these tools on your keyring means no more repurposing paper clips or borrowing earrings.

You might not think it, but being able to immediately produce a tape measure can be super-handy quite often. It's actually kind of weird just how often. From double-checking dimensions when buying furniture to verifying available shelf space, it's never a bad idea to have one around.

And it doesn't get much more "around" (or diminutively cute) than a roughly two-inch keychain accessory that can measure up to 10 feet. Milwaukee's 10 ft. Keychain Tape Measure offers exactly that: a compact, clip-on measuring tool for both Imperial and Metric units.

It has a few other useful built-in perks as well, like a magnetic back you can use to mount it on certain surfaces (you know, if there's nobody else around to hold the other end) and a 10-lumen LED at the front to make it easier to read measurements no matter how dark it is. It's one of Milwaukee's most underrated tools for a reason.

What's interesting about multitools as a sort of hardware genre is that there can be so many different interpretations of them. Loads of small bits and bobs can be useful in the right circumstances, and each one will have slightly different options and priorities.

This one is a spork.

GSI Outdoors' Spork Multi-Tool takes an eye-catching angle by basically just being a multipurpose eating utensil with a tiny bit of extra shaping around the end to add a few more handy functions. So it can be used to eat stabbin' food (fork) or slurpin' food (spoon), open a can of said stabbin' or slurpin' food, and has a built-in clip for affixing to keys, belt loops, backpacks, and so on.

But really, it's all about being able to carry a stainless steel spork conveniently around with your keys. That's the kind of thing that makes an impression.

Another thing multitools can do is cater to different kinds of themes, including recognizable pop culture icons like superheroes and sci-fi starships.

This entry was originally going to feature a Batarang Multitool from Ukonic — one of five underrated tools you can find at Target — but since it's currently unavailable, we're going to make do with the company's Millennium Falcon 8-in-1 Multitool Kit instead.

Sure, it's basically a flat piece of metal, but it's full of little divots and ridges shaped just right to work as eight different tools. Specifically, a bottle opener, butterfly wrench, flathead screwdriver, multiple sizes of hex wrench, Phillips screwdriver, protractor, scraper, and wire cutter. Except it can fit in your pocket or wallet, or attach to a keyring, and it looks like the galaxy's most beloved hunk of junk. Just don't expect it to be of much help when making the Kessel Run.

It may not look like a famous fictional flying machine, but Screwpop's Toolkey II does an awful lot with a single, flat, vaguely key-shaped chunk of metal. Other single-piece multitools claim seven or eight functions, but this thing advertises far more than that.

Crammed inside a single solid piece that's only slightly larger than a regular house key are a total of 17 functions. There are expected tools like a bottle opener, can opener, protractor, ruler (Imperial and Metric), wire stripper, coarse filing edge, fine filing edge, and a combination Phillips and flathead magnetic screwdriver.

But on top of all that, it also has a serrated cutting edge, valve wrench, bike spoke key, hex bit driver, wire bender, rod bender, box scoring edge, ferrous tester (i.e., the magnet), and can snip off those little plastic bits that attach tags to clothing. Some of these tools also pull double (or triple) duty for tasks like scratching off lotto tickets, prying things open, or simply picking up small metal objects.

Never underestimate the usefulness of a proper flashlight. Sure, it's commonplace these days for someone to have a smartphone on them and simply use that as a flashlight, but a smartphone's light typically maxes out at around 50 lumens at most. Bright enough for indoor use, but still limited.

That light won't be quite as useful in large open areas or outdoors, which is why something like the Frog 2.0 Keychain Flashlight is worth keeping around. It only does one thing — be a light — but it does it well enough to be one of SlashGears' picks for the best and brightest keychain flashlights.

This tiny cylinder is a little under two inches long but outputs up to 600 lumens (roughly six times the brightness of your average smartphone) at its highest setting. The light can reach as far as 135 meters (approximately 440 feet), it's durable, carries an IPX-8 waterproof rating, and you can recharge it via USB-C.

With how often the word "multitool" has appeared up to this point, it's kind of impressive we're only just now getting to something that probably looks a bit more like what immediately comes to mind. Not just a flat piece of metal with a lot of shapes carved into it, but a "proper" block of metal with loads of unfolding.

The Leatherman Micra, which is highly rated by most of its users (including in SlashGear's own review), is exactly that: a collapsible jack-of-all-trades multitool featuring a knife, scissors, flat and Phillips screwdrivers, ruler, nail cleaner, tweezers, bottle opener, nail file, medium-sized flathead screwdriver, and extra-small flathead screwdriver.

But really, the reason it's being featured here over other similarly constructed tools is because it's just so dang small and cute. It's a good size for a keychain accessory — about 2.5 inches long when folded up and weighs just under 2 oz. It also comes in several colors, including stainless steel, arctic blue, pink, and cherry.

Functionally, Leatherman's Raptor Rescue is fairly similar to the Micra since it's a pocket-sized tool you unfold in order to access a variety of built-in tools. However, it has a different selection of tools, with an emphasis on cutting.

It might be a little bit bigger than a lot of the other tools on this list, but it's certainly not the largest, and many of the color options, like yellow/blue, are a lot of fun. This is essentially a pair of portable scissors — about 5 inches long when folded and weighing close to 6 oz. — that you can attach to your keys (or carry with the included belt clip) for snipping a surprising variety of things.

In addition to the regular shears, it also offers a strap cutter, ring cutter, metric ruler, glass breaker, and an oxygen tank wrench. All are designed and intended to work quickly in the event of a multitude of emergencies, though they can also be handy in the kitchen, a garden, or other places where stuff needs to get sheared.

Swiss Army knives, while perhaps not as popular now as they were 30 to 40 years ago, are still around and still being made by companies like Victorinox. They come in a plethora of sizes and configurations, too.

What sets the Swiss Champ XXL apart from its brethren (and the rest of this list) is how well it embodies the "XXL" in its name. This thing is a beast among "pocket-sized" tools — both physically and monetarily — weighing 12.5 oz. It's only 3.6 inches at its longest side; however, its other dimension is 2.4 inches, so it's not so much a simple sliver as a chunky brick.

It also boasts a somewhat absurd 73 functions — everything from a bottle opener and pliers to a fish scaler, toothpick, and ballpoint pen. It might not be the easiest thing to carry around all the time, but there's a good chance that if you ever need a tool that isn't powered, it's in there somewhere. And it has a loop you could hook onto a keyring, so it still counts!