Anyone else end up with way more keys than they actually use?

Counted mine last night and stopped at seven, and I only ever bought two on purpose. The rest arrived thru estate sales and club swaps, and once a key shows up in the shack it never seems to leave. There's some kind of gravity at work with these things. I rotate more than I admit. My daily driver for the last two winters has been an old Bencher BY-1 that a club member gave me when he downsized, but on Sundays I put a brass straight key my dad used on the air. My fist actually slows down and cleans up when I use it, so maybe there's something to the honest feel you described.

I did try going straight key only for a full month a couple summers back. Made about 90 contacts, mostly slow SKN-style chats, and my arm felt it by week three. Went back to the paddle without much guilt. What surprised me was how much I missed sending, not receiving. The paddles let me coast.

Funny thing about the bug rhythm you mentioned. I never got on with mine til an old-timer at a club meeting made me loosen the tension way down and stop fighting it. Rolling is exactly the right word. Now it's my favorite for just rambling on 40 meters when the band is quiet.

Funny how diferent shacks end up. I did the opposite of collecting: I owned four keys at one point, sold three of them, and kept a single homebrew brass paddle a friend milled for me out of scrap. Every time I tried rotating through different keys I found my fist would drift for a week until my hands relearned the spacing. Turns out muscle memory matters more to me than variety, so now one key does everything.

That said, I never went back to a straight key full time after learning on one. Tried it for a whole contest season about five years ago and my wrist paid for it. Paddles are just easier on the arm when you're running stations for hours.

The gravity thing the previous poster mentioned is real though. My rule now is that a key has to earn its shelf space. If it hasn't been plugged in for six months, it goes to a new operator at the club, usually some kid working on their code proficiency. Watching someone send their first QSO on a key that sat idle in my drawer beats owning it ever did.

I get that feeling when I open a box and see five different pieces of gear I coud use. It makes me wonder if the way a key feels in my hand changes how the transmission sounds on the other side of the radio. I've been using my paddles alot, but I heard that the small metal ones have a totally unique hum or sound when you are sending signals. Does the actual weight of the key or the material change how people listening perceive the signal?

I find myself considering whether the physical inertia of the mechanism actually influences the resultant signal in a way that is not purely subjective to the operator. When using a larger, heavier brass key, the momentum of the strike might introduce minute shifts in the signal's transients, even if only by milliseconds. This would be a far more technical concern than simple tactile preference, suggesting a relationship between the mass of the component and the resulting modulation purity. I am curious if anyone has performed any informal testing to see if there is a measurable difference in the envelope of the transmitted signal between a very light plastic key and a substantial, dense one.

The feel of a piece of gear like that is half the fun, really. I remember using my grandpa's old handkey, and the weight was substantial, almost like it had a personality of its own. Even if the difference in transmission quality is only in your head, that satisfying mechanical resistance when you press down is what keeps you coming back to the band. I used to think the sheer mass of a heavy brass key helped stabilize the signal, which I suspect was just wishful thinking from a guy who missed good old crystal rigs.