Can anyone swear by one that actually lasts? I've had key-chain type usb drives die on me within a year or two, every time.
I stopped carrying them because the ones in my desk drawer never die so I figure it has to be the mechanical stress of constant jostling and external wear.
Its rotating mechanism is already getting scratchy so I'm not sure about the physical quality, but I'm very comfortable having it in my wallet, not sure about my keychain.
I have ventoy on it, so it's a normal thumb drive with a few useful files, but can also boot linux isos, which I have a couple
I'm not giving it the most stressful life these days, it lives in a little zipper pouch with some pens and such, but my Samsung bar has been going strong since 2016. It used to live on my keychain, but I retooled my EDC a few years ago and went through plenty of misadventures for a few years before I got a desk job
It looks like they've changed the design slightly since I got mine, but looks like it's still a one piece metal shell so probably just as if not more rugged.
I have two cheap ass SanDisk pieces of crap that I've used regularly for over 20 years now. I got them sometime in high school, which I graduated in 2003. They're not particularly high capacity, though.
Sounds to me like you need an external ssd and not a usb drive. I recommend Asus TUF Gaming A1 nvme enclosure (~50€ where I live) and an ssd of your choice.
You said that the external disk wasn't going to work with your keys and I made a joke implying that it might be a driver issue with your keys and that by upgrading the keys it would solve your issue. Obviously you were referring to the size of the media and not a compatibility issue but there was enough vagueness in your comment to support an amusing misinterpretation.