Replacing a broken, lockable file cabinet

[Sojourner]

I've been using a very basic, lockable file cabinet for many years now to keep small valuables stored away and hidden when I travel. The cabinet is small (only two drawers) and cheap, definitely not meant to offer security approaching what even the cheapest home safe could provide, yet I've felt it was probably good enough to deter run-of-the mill "smash and grab" thieves. Luckily, my theory has never been put to test.

Now, however, after 25+ years, the lock on the cabinet has broken, and the whole thing has become essentially unusable (other than to store hanging file folders in a cumbersome manner). I'm thinking of ditching it and getting an actual home safe, and also scanning, digitizing, and discarding all the papers in the hanging file folders.

Would any bargain-basement home safe on Amazon be good enough for my use case? I'm not too concerned about fire or water, or about the safe's ability to resist a determined lockpicker. It just needs to be good enough to deter casual thieves/snoopers for long enough to frustrate them. Should I get the cheapest model that's big enough to store my valuables? Anything else I should be thinking about or looking for? Specific recommendations would be very much appreciated.

 

[OldShooter]

I have a general policy to resist buying junk tools with the concept of "tool" used broadly. So I would not go the cheap screw route, but that is just me. I would shop CraigsList via a stored query that notified me if something of interest showed up. I'd be looking for a small business document safe.

One big thing with safes is fire resistance. The cheap route is lining with sheet rock, where the heat of a fire boils the water out of the gypsum, creating an internal steam bath, until the water is boiled away. The key here is that a steam bath is not a good thing for guns or documents, so some level of fire can ruin the contents. Better protection is more expensive, of course.

In my limited experience, locksmiths seem to usually have used safes. That might be a good place to start, if for no other reason than to get a cheap education. For the filing cabinet route, I'd shop used office equipment stores. I've seen sturdy file cabinets with one drawer equipped with a combination lock. I've also seen them with an external locking bar designed to take a padlock. Years ago at megacorp I stored DoD classified documents in such a file.

 

[ocean view]

If you are looking to deter theft then any safe has to be installed so that it is not portable. That means heavy enough that it can’t be carried or secured to the floor or wall so that it can’t be carried away.

My impression of the small home safes is that they are intended more for fire/water protection and not theft.

 

[ncbill]

Best is at least two safes...e.g. the real one a floor safe installed in the slab of a slab-on-grade home plus a decoy "safe" in the master bedroom closet filled with whatever you can lose.

 

[Sojourner]

Thanks to all for the ideas and suggestions.

 

[Sunset]

Any safe has to be screwed down or it will simply be stolen, unless it's really heavy. Even then, 2 guys and a truck/car outside are all it takes to get most safes out.



To deter the casual thief, I use something like this:
https://www.harborfreight.com/071-cu-ft-electronic-digital-safe-62978.html


The key, is to use 4 inch screws with washers to screw it into the wall studs so it cannot be picked up and carried off.



Of course, putting it somewhere other than the master bedroom helps, as it seems people commonly store valuables (and guns) in the master bedroom.

 

[Major Tom]

Any safe has to be screwed down or it will simply be stolen, unless it's really heavy. Even then, 2 guys and a truck/car outside are all it takes to get most safes out.


To deter the casual thief, I use something like this:
https://www.harborfreight.com/071-cu-ft-electronic-digital-safe-62978.html


The key, is to use 4 inch screws with washers to screw it into the wall studs so it cannot be picked up and carried off.


Of course, putting it somewhere other than the master bedroom helps, as it seems people commonly store valuables (and guns) in the master bedroom.

I used the non-digital version of a safe like this, made by Sentry, and screwed to the floor of the closet of the bedroom of my apartment. When moving, the very last thing I planned to do, was to empty the safe, and unscrew it from the floor. Trouble was, in the chaos of packing, I had mislaid the safe key. Everything I owned was very neatly packed in boxes in the front room. I only had a few hours before the movers came, and wasn't about to unpack all those boxes in a frenzy.

So, late at night, I called an after-hours locksmith. He labored for several hours to open it. It cost me quite a lot, but I simply had to get the safe contents out. The moral of this story is - if your safe is opened with a key, don't lose the dang thing!

 

[splitwdw]

You really have to bolt any of the safes to the floor or wall. But the newer safes like Sentry, the steel exterior isn't that thick and you can cut through them with a saw with a metal cutting blade. There are YouTube videos showing the top of the safe being sawed off. Ours is 3' X 2.5' and bolted in a closet.
OP, Can you replace the broken lock on your filing cabinet. A friend of ours attached a hinged bar acrossed the front of a file cabinet. I think one end was welded to the cabinet and the other end had a padlock. Wonder if you could use a flexible cable lock threaded through the handle. The ones I use for my trail cameras are 6' long.

 

[pacergal]

I would invest in a safe.
We have one that is supposedly "portable" but it is very heavy, has a key and numbers dial, two shelves and floor storage. It is labeled fire safe also.
We got it at Office Depot about 25-30 years ago. Take two people to move it, so it could be stolen, but it would probably look obvious.