In this article we will be discussing the effectiveness of the personal keychain alarm with light. Covered will be the features, effectiveness, and what situations we believe it is suited for. Not all personal alarms are the same and some features may be better suited for you than others.

The Keychain alarm looks like a standard keyless entry fob on a regular keychain. It can be attached to a key ring or worn on a belt loop or inside of a pocket attached to a zipper pull for fast access.

This alarm, which is also a flashlight, has two separate ways to activate. Pull the pin attached to the keychain out of the alarm itself to activate it, or with a firm press of the button it emits an ear piercing 130 decibel alarm that stays on until you depress the button again to disarm it. With the pin pulled out it can only be silenced by replacing the same pin. This so it can’t be taken and turned off by an attacker. We found that 130 decibels is loud, very loud, and roughly equivalent to a jet plane taking off at 80 yards.

The flashlight feature works well to find the keyhole on your car door or entry door in the dark or to find a light switch in a darkened room.

Here are the results of some live tests with the help of a team of volunteer students:

To test the effectiveness of this little keychain alarm we went to several different locations, all were public areas like an outdoor market, a park, a shopping mall, a parking lot and a parking garage, two strip mall stores and a parking lot outside of a popular restaurant. And yes we did have some trouble with security personnel at more than one location.

At the outdoor market, the park and the shopping mall, most people did not approach but stood at a safe distance and watched what was going on. The upside is, people did take notice; about half of the passersby, and of those at least one person offered help at each location.

At the parking lot and parking garage, about a third of the people in the general area looked in our direction. At each location at least one concerned citizen asked if we needed help.

At the strip mall store and the restaurant most of the people turned to see what was going on, and we attracted much more attention. We believe this was so do to the idea that in a confined area people seem much more interested in how an unexpected event will affect their safety.

At every location people took notice, some asked if we needed help. Would they have engaged if one of us were under attack? Who can say but the attention was probably enough to end an attack. We did find that at the indoor locations the response was better than that of outdoor locations, probably due to the alarm being more audible indoors. Over all the Keychain alarm with light was effective at attracting the attention of those around us, and we consider it a successful personal security item.

 Parents might find this an effective alarm for kids (with proper training of course). Suppose at a mall or Public Park you lost sight of your child for an instant and someone tried to take them… With this alarm your child could push the panic button alerting you of their location and others around them possibly scaring off or stopping an abductor.

It is also handy for the elderly for the same reasons discussed above, but an added benefit is if they fall and need help getting to their feet it would most definitely attract attention.

The keychain alarm with light is small, light weight, easy to carry and an effective way to bring attention when you need it. In today's economy and social stresses the keychain alarm with light is an effective tool in a small size. Remember with shrinking city and police budgets you are more responsible for you own security than ever before, for that reason we can recommend this device.