residential safes

[JohnDoe]

I'm sure some folks here have safes in there homes - the kind that are bolted down. Looking for some feedback on which types/brands are best.

I mostly have documents and cash that would be stored in it - no guns.

What do people have and do you like what you have?

Thanks.

 

[donheff]

We have a heavy fireproof file box for deeds, titles, marriage certificate, wills etc. I just want the documents to survive if there is a fire. I don't keep it locked. I figure if I did a thief would either break it open or steal it. Unlocked they might just look at the junk in there and leave it be.

 

[Nords]

Looking for some feedback on which types/brands are best.
What do people have and do you like what you have?

CuteFuzzyBunny has done some in-depth "Consumer Reports"-style research on the subject, which he very generously shared with us in this thread.

I'm sure he'll be along in a bit with an update!

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I'm just pissed that I found the keys a few weeks later...

Since my experience with the sentry safe, I've taken to looking at any others I've come across. None seem to be substantially "safer" for anything except fire...except the gun safes and a whole line of units at the tractor supply company that started around 300-350lbs for the small one.

All the smaller safes appear to be as easily opened with a hand held saw as my sentry model was.

 

[tryan]

We've used a Sentry for critical documents (wills, life insurance papers, marrige/birth certificates ...); oh, and shotgun shells for old sparky . Did the combo type lock. DW would have a CFB experience if I got hit by a beer truck (she can never remember the combo). Seems to me a combo design with a key'd override would be ideal.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Mine had both...a combo AND a key. I found the combination, but we never found the key until we noticed that it was one of the ones I put on Gabes personal keychain to keep him busy... :

The door and front sure looked mighty impressive on mine, until i remembered that most safecrackers go through the back or the bottom...

 

[brewer12345]

Dad sells jewelry, so he has a big, old safe larger than my first apartment. A local business owner of his acquaintance swapped out his big safe for two small ones. A couple weeks ago, theives broke in and walked off with the small safes, netting 20k minimum. Unless you are willing to get a monster safe, get a safe deposit box.

 

[saluki9]

I have several but they're all gun safes. I guess i'm not much help in this case. The only thing I can add is that I love liberty safes.

 

[dmpi]

Look at some of the Defense Contractor like Boeing, Northrup, Lockheed, etc. Many of these companies have a surplus sales outlets where they sell old Molser safes that were used to store classifed information. This was a couple of years ago, but they were around $200-$300.

 

[JohnDoe]

Dad sells jewelry, so he has a big, old safe larger than my first apartment. A local business owner of his acquaintance swapped out his big safe for two small ones. A couple weeks ago, theives broke in and walked off with the small safes, netting 20k minimum. Unless you are willing to get a monster safe, get a safe deposit box.

Were the safes bolted to anything, like the floor?

I watch a lot of It Takes A Thief on Discovery Channel. Very interesting to get into the mind of a professional thief.

With the safe bolted down, I'm under the impression with the average 10-15 min ransack, that the safe would be bypassed. Plus it's tough to carry a 250 lb safe out of a residential house.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Our safe was about 90lbs, and my wife...soaking wet and with the big shoes on might tip the scales at 120.

She put it on a rug and dragged it out to the back of the car, then rolled it up into the back seat...

So 2 guys, 250lb safe...probably doable.

If you do get one and bolt it down, make sure you use pretty big bolts and big washers on top and the bottom of the floor. A big safe like that, prybar, its going to pull small unwashered bolts right out of the plywood.

 

[brewer12345]

Were the safes bolted to anything, like the floor?

I watch a lot of It Takes A Thief on Discovery Channel. Very interesting to get into the mind of a professional thief.

With the safe bolted down, I'm under the impression with the average 10-15 min ransack, that the safe would be bypassed. Plus it's tough to carry a 250 lb safe out of a residential house.

I doubt they were bolted down. The place is a restaurant and the job was done when nobody was around. Might well have been an inside job.

Dad's safe, OTOH, you'd need heavy equipment to move. Of course, first you'd have to get through the big-ass steel bars over the door and windows of the building it sits in. And he'd better not be around when you are doing all this and making a ton of noise, since I think he'd be inclined to shoot first and ask questions later...