Many excellent points. I'd like to emphasize a few of them.
1. Saltwater: is a concern. But I take my key on every dive. It's a Toyota with a chip embedded in the head of the key. I keep it on a brass gate clip, which gets attached to another clip that I installed inside my BCD pocket. Never had a problem in 8.5 years of diving. I just pull it out at the end of the dive and suck the salt off.
2. Containers: as already stated, if you opt for one then do get one that is depth rated. I've tried a variety of commercial container/"waterproof" bag solutions, and every single one of them failed sooner or later. Usually sooner. Usually immediately.
3. Hiding your keys: don't ever do this. In both CA and HI I've found there are thieves who observe surfers and divers and take note of where people stash their keys. I recently overheard a diver say that thieves took his keys while he was underwater -- he came back to find his whole truck gone!
Personally I find it best to minimize the valuables I take with me when I know I'm going to be in the water. I've never had a break-in but I always assume it's going to happen. My wallet has an ID holder that slips out. So I leave the wallet at home and just take this slim holder with one credit card, my DL, and a small amount of cash. It's much easier to hide this than a whole wallet. If it ever does get stolen I only have to contact one bank and replace the driver license. Annoying, but not the crisis of losing all your IDs, ATM and credit cards.
1. Saltwater: is a concern. But I take my key on every dive. It's a Toyota with a chip embedded in the head of the key. I keep it on a brass gate clip, which gets attached to another clip that I installed inside my BCD pocket. Never had a problem in 8.5 years of diving. I just pull it out at the end of the dive and suck the salt off.
2. Containers: as already stated, if you opt for one then do get one that is depth rated. I've tried a variety of commercial container/"waterproof" bag solutions, and every single one of them failed sooner or later. Usually sooner. Usually immediately.
3. Hiding your keys: don't ever do this. In both CA and HI I've found there are thieves who observe surfers and divers and take note of where people stash their keys. I recently overheard a diver say that thieves took his keys while he was underwater -- he came back to find his whole truck gone!
Personally I find it best to minimize the valuables I take with me when I know I'm going to be in the water. I've never had a break-in but I always assume it's going to happen. My wallet has an ID holder that slips out. So I leave the wallet at home and just take this slim holder with one credit card, my DL, and a small amount of cash. It's much easier to hide this than a whole wallet. If it ever does get stolen I only have to contact one bank and replace the driver license. Annoying, but not the crisis of losing all your IDs, ATM and credit cards.