Intro
This year I got 4 Apple AirTags for Christmas and now I have the duty to use them wisely. So I came up with a few ideas.
Luggage
Most of them are strait forward. In a car, luggage or the bicycle trailer there are many easy places to place an AirTag. On the bicycle it is a bit harder, but on Thingiverse you can find some good mounts.
I printed this molle holder for my luggage, as well as this universal one which I haven’t used jet.
For most items it should be best to hide the tag in a way that the following criteria are met.
- not seen
- easily reachable for battery change
- good rf connectivity
- safe and protected
Car
For the car it was super easy, I put a tag into a foam bag, attached a little sting for easy recovery and hid it under a panel near the windshield. All criteria are met here.
Bicycle
For bicycles there are cool holders available like this saddle mount or this one for the fork.
The saddle mount looks fantastic, but I wanted something more stealthy. The for one looks awesome as well, but I wasn’t convinced that it would hold reliable and that the rf performance is not decreased.
So I looked at my saddle if I could integrate it “naturally”.
The ORTLIEB bag would be the easiest way to hide the tag, but also easiest to find and remove. My saddle has a little cover on the front, which turned out to be mainly for aesthetic reasons.
Turns out it could be just large enough to house an AirTag if all material that is not compulsorily required is removed.
Now I had the ultimate reason to by myself a Dremel, for the first time ever. :D
After it arrived, I grinded and melted out as much material as possible while maintaining a minimal layer.
In order to clamp on the tag with reasonable pressure without damaging ist and to hold it in place tightly, I wrapt it in thin foam and taped it with water resistent electrician tape.
I placed the metal cap of the tag upwards against the metal struts of the saddle, hoping to achieve best results letting the antenna face down.
If inspected closely the black electric tape can be spotted, but this is no real hint on an AirTag. As a matter of fact, the first picture showing my saddle and bag is chronologically the last and already includes the tag.