Home Security Safe

Can you guys recommend a brand? Is there a particular brand that stands out in the home security safe world (like the way Surefire stand out in the flashlight world)?

I'm currently using a small Sentry safe that was purchased at Walmart/Costco/Target. I purchased it because it was fireproof. I use it mainly to store my important documents, along with a tiny bit of jewelry and some emergency cash.

But I would like to upgrade to one that has a digital keypad. Please let me know if there's a particular brand I should look at. I guess I want something with a Surefire/Fenix reputation, not something with Deal Extreme reputation.

Re: Home Securty Safe

Check the specs on "fireproofness" if that's a deciding factor for you. I was shocked and disappointed when I researched this a few years ago. My original, naive interpretation of that is that if my house burned down, I'd be able to recover my documents from the rubble that i stored inside of my "similar" safe. The actual spec is like x# of minutes before it incarcerates with the house.

Sorry that's not an answer to you question, I'll watch the thread for one too. Just sharing my reality crash with you.

There's no such thing as fireproof, just degrees of resistance. If fire resistance is your top priority, FireKing seems to be a pretty respected brand. If your documents also include media such as CD, hard drives or other sensitive items, you'll want to look for a media safe. A regular fire safe for documents is rated to keep the interior somewhere below 400 degrees, normally by increasing the humidity inside. By that point most sensitive items would already be destroyed. A media safe on the other hand has much more insulation and is normally rated to keep the interior below 125 or so. Of course if you want Surefire reputation, you're gonna have to pay the Surefire price. I haven't kept up with prices, but a Fireking equivalent to your sentry (which looks <1.0 cubic feet) would probably run about $500, and the same size media version starts at about $2000 and weighs about 300 lbs.

By the way, whatever you choose make sure you bolt it down. No point in putting all your valuables in a box for a thief to walk out with.

Like everything, you need to assess your intended use. Small amounts of emergency cash and important documents are usually replaceable. A typical fire safe will keep them safe in a small fire that is quickly controlled, but there are few safes that will economically protect them from a fire that burns down the house.

I would suggest that you get copies of the documents and store them somewhere else. A safe deposit box, the in-laws, at work. Any time you use two locations the chances of total loss go way down.

If you use a fire safe you need to account for the water that they put in the liner. It will make the contents damp. If you put the documents in a plastic bag, you need to take steps so that the melted bag does not destroy the documents.

I have a desiccant in my safe to control the humidity and the documents are in a tyvex envelope in a giant ziploc bag.

The Sentry and Fireking are equally useful as a home safe. Both will slow down a thief. Neither will stop one for very long. The ratings for safes are the number of minutes that it would take a thief to break it without specialized tools. Your garage and mine have specialized tools.

If you want security, a good dodge is to hide the safe that has your jewelry and leave a small obvious safe with a few bucks in it. The digital safe is no more secure than a mechanical lock. The digital controls will not survive even a small fire and the resulting fire hoses. The one advantage that a digital lock MIGHT have is a timer so that X invalid attempts disable it for a few minutes. A mechanical safe is vulnerable to someone just sitting there spinning the dial for a week. There are devices that literally do that to unlock a safe.

Dan

I've read that the encapsulated water (or whatever it is) that protects your papers from fire in a Sentry box tends to dry out after a few years in a dry climate.

The best solution I have found after years of research, is to keep all my important papers in a safe deposit box, some banks will even give you there basic box for free. (Mine does for having several accounts with them) Then get a safe for at home for the rest of the things you want to keep secure.

A safe deposit box wouldn't work for me. The closest bank with a safe deposit is about 50+ miles away from my house. The local banks here don't have safe deposit boxes.

A little more detail of what I'll be keeping in the safe:
Important documents (car titles, diplomas, passport, etc).
A bit of jewelry and watches (maybe $300 worth at most).
Spare keys
Check books
Emergency cash in case I need to run in a hurry (maybe $1,000) from a zombie apocalypse.

I really don't need a lot of "protection". I'm not keeping gold bricks or diamonds in there. It's just there so that I feel better when I go to work.
- If someone breaks in, the safe will slow down the thief until the police gets there. (Maybe 15 minutes to respond to the silent alarm)
- If there's a fire, the documents won't burn up the first minute, before the sprinklers kick in.

Sounds like the safe you have is perfectly suited for the task, why not just get the same safe with a digital lock? The stuff you're keeping in there isn't irreplaceable so it really doesn't require a whole lot of protection. If you wanted a top of the line safe with a surefire reputation, it's going to cost multiple times more than the value of what you're storing in it, a high end digital lock like a Kaba Mas can run into the thousands, just for the lock itself.

If you have an alarm and a quick response time from the fire department, then even a budget safe should work fine. A typical thief isn't going to have the time to break into even a cheap safe, but if it's not bolted down they're just going to take it with them. For fire protection you can increase the odds in your favor by not surrounding it with flammable items, and mounting it far away from any heat sources, like in the exterior corner of a stucco house.

Gardall H2 is the best deal for a small secure safe I've found.
I've seen them for $330. to $380. online, including delivery. It weighs 70 lbs. so UPS will deliver it right to your door.
4 holes in the bottom to bolt it down. You could even bolt it into your car trunk..

InTheDark said:

Sounds like the safe you have is perfectly suited for the task, why not just get the same safe with a digital lock?

Click to expand...

The safe I have is a shared safe. I won't have it any longer. That's why I'm looking for a new one. I don't want the same one with a digital lock because I want something more secure. I guess a safe isn't like a flashlight. Buy a safe, keep it forever....where as with my flashlights, I keep upgrading.......

TedTheLed said:

Gardall H2 is the best deal for a small secure safe I've found.

Click to expand...

I've been looking at Gardall's "microwave" safes. I may just go with that. I have a few recommendations for Gardall. They say it's 100x better than what you can get at Xmart.

Half the problem with a safe is its vulnerability, either because people can see it or it is exposed to fire / other hazards.

A floor safe, if set into concrete on the ground floor, is invisible when covered by a rug or carpet, and it is also pretty much fireproof, as heat will rise and usually leave it unaffected.

I would also suggest bolting it to the floor/wall. I was amazed how easy it was to open a smaller safe like that. Saw someone on one of those shows where they buy abandoned storage units just drop/throw the safe onto the floor so it hit on a corner. It just popped right open. Not much effort at all and just took a few seconds.

Bruceter

of course bolt it down, to the concrete floor if possible.
otherwise it's just a "robber's lunch box" !
I've seen some designs where the door and safe come seperately, so they each can be lifted by two people,
but once the door is fitted (easy to do) you have a 400 lb. safe..neat idea.
now if the safe came in 6 70lb. pieces deliverable by ups...