Looking for a good home safe

[rtroxel]

I'm looking for a safe to store important documents, plus some other things, at home. My local Walmart is selling a Pen+ Gear safe for about $100, but I would rather keep looking.

Does anyone here have any suggestions toward what a good home safe should be and cost? I recently saw some correspondence on Reddit that discouraged buying digital safes, but that was just one person's opinion.

Thanks in advance,

Roy

 

[braumeister]

What are you trying to avoid?
Theft, fire, flood?
There are many different types of home safe, and all have good and bad points.

 

[rtroxel]

Where I live, fire would be the first threat, with theft as second.

 

[Sunset]

If it's small a thief will just take it and run.
If you are home and they see the safe, they will beat you senseless until you open it.

One problem with some safes is moisture, and mold. I had a good sized safe and didn't open it for about a year, all my papers has mold on them. I stopped using the safe.

 

[Gallaher]

Maybe a gun safe?
Mine is big as a refrigerator. While I do store firearms in it, I have many more important documents stored there. Most important docs are in the cloud.
It seems fire burn hours (how long documents are safe if the house burns) and weight are biggest determining factors in cost.
Mine is a gear safe. People that are avoiding digital safes are concerned with EMP.
Mine cost a lot more than $100 when I bought it 15 years ago.
As more brands have entered the market costs have come down.

 

[Midpack]

This is the current version of the safe I bought over 20 years ago. It’s larger than we need, but I wanted it to be too heavy for a burglar to easily carry away. It has water, fire and theft protection, but I recognize that’s somewhat limited. It’s a combination safe (vs digital) with a key override. Ours is also designed to be lag bolted to the floor if you want. About $250.

It’s also wise to put your safe somewhere a burglar wouldn’t readily look or easily see.

If you’re trying to protect important documents and/or personal items, why go cheap/minimal? My sister had one of those tiny cheapo safes with keys only, easily carried off and broken into. Why bother? YMMV

SentrySafe Fireproof/Waterproof Safe with Combination and Key Lock, 1.23 cu. ft. (SFW123DEB) | Staples

Get SentrySafe Fireproof/Waterproof Safe with Combination and Key Lock, 1.23 cu. ft. (SFW123DEB) fast at Staples. Free next-day delivery when you spend $35+.

www.staples.com

 

[braumeister]

The fire protection factor is a bit complicated, and you should get familiar with it. How many hours can it withstand how many degrees of heat? There are different methods of calculating that, and the manufacturers don't really spell it out in a consistent way. You also need to consider what sort of fire it might be exposed to.

Another factor to consider is that YouTube is full of videos showing how to break into many home safes.

 

[Sunset]

If fire is the worry, then I think off site storage (scans encrypted and stored in the cloud) would be the way to go.
Too many wildfires that burned houses just burned everything including inside the safes.

A bank safe deposit box in a distant town would be a good option, unless a wild fire hits that town.

 

[Pointby2]

In our last home (after we got burglarized) I bought and installed an in ground floor safe in the laundry room and covered it with a carpet. Well hidden and can't just be carried away.

 

[rtroxel]

I should have added that the safe would be hidden in a "special" place, which I doubt a home invader could find - although I guess anything's possible. Also, I do have a bank safe.

The fire protection factor is a bit complicated, and you should get familiar with it. How many hours can it withstand how many degrees of heat? There are different methods of calculating that, and the manufacturers don't really spell it out in a consistent way. You also need to consider what sort of fire it might be exposed to.

Another factor to consider is that YouTube is full of videos showing how to break into many home safes.

Thanks. I'll check out YouTube.

 

[rtroxel]

In our last home (after we got burglarized) I bought and installed an in ground floor safe in the laundry room and covered it with a carpet. Well hidden and can't just be carried away.

View attachment 63428

There's a new idea! What is the brand and the price?

 

[Pointby2]

There's a new idea! What is the brand and the price?

I couldn't find an image on Amazon, so I just googled it and this came up.

 

[Slim11]

Saftey deposit boxes are another option at a local bank. Just depends on how local is local. They also make fire proof envelopes you can put your documents in and then in the safe. Add a mosture absorber in the safe, and check it.

 

[OldShooter]

The fire protection factor is a bit complicated, and you should get familiar with it. ...

This. Get copies of the UL standards for fire safes and understand the details. TLDR: Most safes, including my gun safe provide only a minimal level of fire protection.

Also, the risk of a bad guy carrying out a safe can be substantially reduced by bolting it to a concrete basement floor. The risk of him cutting the safe open with your cutting torch can be reduced by storing the torch in the safe.

Buy from a locksmith, not some teenager in a colored shirt at a mass market store. $1000 is probably closer to what you'll pay. Forget about $100 for a cheap tin box at Wargetdepot.

 

[pacergal]

This is the current version of the safe I bought over 20 years ago. It’s larger than we need, but I wanted it to be too heavy for a burglar to easily carry away. It has water, fire and theft protection, but I recognize that’s somewhat limited. It’s a combination safe (vs digital) with a key override. About $250.

It’s also wise to put your safe somewhere a burglar wouldn’t readily look or easily see.

If you’re trying to protect important documents and/or personal items, why go cheap/minimal? My sister had one of those tiny cheapo safes with keys only, easily carried off and broken into. Why bother? YMMV

SentrySafe Fireproof/Waterproof Safe with Combination and Key Lock, 1.23 cu. ft. (SFW123DEB) | Staples

Get SentrySafe Fireproof/Waterproof Safe with Combination and Key Lock, 1.23 cu. ft. (SFW123DEB) fast at Staples. Free next-day delivery when you spend $35+.

www.staples.com

similar to the one we have had, also for about 20 years. I have absorb gel bead packets for moisture control, just reactivate in the oven when they turn from orange to green.

 

[Koolau]

I wrote the combo on my document safe so that potential thieves would open it and see nothing but papers and leave it alone (and not steal the whole thing). It was for fireproofing the documents only.

Theft? Well, in most cases thieves want to be in and out in 20 minutes or less. Thief-proof to that level and you're likely okay. Otherwise, you need to buy a 2nd level safe which has to be "punched" or cut to enter without a combo. Some safes are "smart" and know if someone is using "known" entry methods. They then thwart those efforts. NO safe is theft proof. It's just that you can slow them down with an "expensive" safe (with the right back-ups built in). Up to you how much you want to spend.

If you want to get a "good" safe, go to a store that specializes in them and offers service on them. You'll pay more but you'll have something for what you pay. I'd avoid big box-store safes though they're likely adequate for fire proof (if they have the ratings for it).

 

[rtroxel]

This. Get copies of the UL standards for fire safes and understand the details. TLDR: Most safes, including my gun safe provide only a minimal level of fire protection.

Also, the risk of a bad guy carrying out a safe can be substantially reduced by bolting it to a concrete basement floor. The risk of him cutting the safe open with your cutting torch can be reduced by storing the torch in the safe.

Buy from a locksmith, not some teenager in a colored shirt at a mass market store. $1000 is probably closer to what you'll pay. Forget about $100 for a cheap tin box at Wargetdepot.

"some teenager in a colored shirt at a mass market store" - Ah, ha, ha! VERY observant!

 

[rtroxel]

Thanks, everyone for your advice. I should have mentioned that I live in the southwest desert, in the South Rockies, 7000 feet above sea level. The average humidity is 10 - 20%. Not an urban environment at all, but we do have some local thieves and gangs. Also, occasional forest fires.

 

[EastWest Gal]

Our safe is in a far corner in a closet in a room in a finished basement. Thieves want to get in and out. We keep important papers in the safe, but also in the safety deposit box. We have little to know valuable jewelry. I think they'd take our electronics first before they take our wills, POA documents and passports. A thief wouldn't get there. The basement is dry. We also have an alarm system and ring cameras and doorbell, with signs out front advertising that fact.

 

[rtroxel]

This video seems helpful:

 

[rtroxel]

Our safe is in a far corner in a closet in a room in a finished basement. Thieves want to get in and out. We keep important papers in the safe, but also in the safety deposit box. We have little to know valuable jewelry. I think they'd take our electronics first before they take our wills, POA documents and passports. A thief wouldn't get there. The basement is dry. We also have an alarm system and ring cameras and doorbell, with signs out front advertising that fact.

That's similar to my situation as well.
- Roy

 

[CautaServans]

When we bought our house, there as an old safe from the 1940s in it. It is still cemented in a closet in the garage. We don’t use it because everything is online, but it would be a back-breaker to remove. I bet you could find a good used one online or locally. You could get a locksmith to set up a new combination. All of the newer ones of the same size seem like they’re lightweight compared to this old one.

 

[OldShooter]

This video seems helpful:

Not to me. TLDR but I listened to the first one or two descriptions. The important point is that they are simply reading the manufacturer points off the boxes. Re "fireproof" there is no such thing. Back to the UL specs and you will see parameters like time and temperature. Not "fireproof." Caveat Emptor.

 

[Midpack]

Yep, I think all our (7) Apple devices and (4) TVs would disappear if a burglar went through our house. I doubt they'd bother with our somewhat heavy safe if they found it, that contains all our important documents and the warden's valuable jewelry.

 

[Koolau]

When we bought our house, there as an old safe from the 1940s in it. It is still cemented in a closet in the garage. We don’t use it because everything is online, but it would be a back-breaker to remove. I bet you could find a good used one online or locally. You could get a locksmith to set up a new combination. All of the newer ones of the same size seem like they’re lightweight compared to this old one.

My original safe is a relatively small unit that I buried in concrete in the basement. It's not coming out without a jack-hammer. But it's a real pain to get into using my old knees. Fireproof rating must be off the scale!