tell me about safes.

Jeremy

total tacoma points: 162
i am looking into buying a safe.
what do i want to look for?
what do i want to avoid?
i am looking for something fairly small? 2ft sq, maybe a little bigger.
what are my options to secure it?
why makes a decent affordable safe?
what else do i want to know about a safe?
 

Caleb

Well-Known Member
Location
Riverton
What are your intentions? Guns? Documents? etc. I have this one for my handguns. It's nice and does what it's supposed to do. Most safes that are light enough to move easily can be secured with lag bolts on the top, bottom, and/or back.
 

Tacoma

Et incurventur ante non
Location
far enough away
You want a fireproof one, that can be bolted to the floor.
You don't want one that isn't firefproof, or that can't be secured to the floor, or that leaks.

You can built it in to a room/closet, or bolt it to the floor, or just get a really big and heavy one that no one can move (but probably not in a small size like you are looking for... :D ).

There are a couple companies along the Wasatch front, but I can not think of the names right now.

Make sure you're pleased with the opening/latching mechanism if you're going to actually use it. My grandparents have a sweet old bank safe that's absolutely silky-smooth in every way, and lined with velvet. I would love to have one like that.
 

Jeremy

total tacoma points: 162
i am looking to store guns, documents, some other small valuables and ireplaceable items. wow i hadnt really thought about what all will go in there. i may need something bigger. i do not have any rifles or shotguns nor do i intend to. so i dont need anything huge.

hambones house was broke into last week and he was cleaned out. it really got me thinking about how secure my house was and what i can do to protect my valuables.
 

ID Bronco

Registered User
Location
Idaho Falls, ID
I use a gun safe that is for rifles and such, even if you aren't going to have those items, you may want one like that. Mine came with shelving for most of the safe if rifles weren't an issue. I wish mine was a little bigger.
 

TRNDRVR

IMA BUM
Location
North Ogden, UT
Most quality safes are all built the same. They're built to guidelines placed by the govt. and the insurance industry. Basically the ratings of safes are the minimums of how they are built. (door thickness, body thickness, group II locks, relockers, hard plate, etc.)

Take 2 safe companies that build safes that are comparable in features, you usually end up paying for the safe that catches your eye the most. If both safes area "rated" safes, they're built the same.

Do not buy a safe with an electronic key pad. They're prone to failure. Get a safe with the dial combination on it. It'll either be an S&G (Sargent & Greenleaf) or a LaGard lock.

Also, just because you buy a safe that has a fire rating on it doesn't mean everything you put in it will be protected. Fire ratings are in 'hours' and 'temperature'. Example, a 1 hour safe rated at 350 degrees is guaranteed not to exceed 350 degrees internal temperature exposed to a 1700 degree fire for 1 hour. (they say that home structure fires are usually out within an hour) If you are wanting to protect any type of media (tapes, disc, etc.), you'll need a 'media' safe designed to protect that type of stuff. Media safes are NOT cheap.

My .02

HTH

Dan.
(I use to own my own safe company. Really!)
 

jpest

Anti-Social Networking
Location
West Jordan Utah
i am looking into buying a safe.
what do i want to look for?
what do i want to avoid?
i am looking for something fairly small? 2ft sq, maybe a little bigger.
what are my options to secure it?
why makes a decent affordable safe?
what else do i want to know about a safe?

You want to buy a quality brand. Probably something that has a good fire rating and maybe a burglar rating as well. Look for an independent fire/burglary label Like Underwriters Laboratories for the safes ratings.

Avoid the big retail stores. Stores like walmart, cabellas ect may seem like the place to get a safe because they sell for cheap, but like everything else you get what you pay for, Allot of import junk

Avoid Sentry safes. They are a good fire box but most of them are not secure and the locks are crap.

You can bolt most safes down to the floor through the pre-drilled holes. The best, most secure place to bolt a safe down is a concrete basement or garage floor using concrete anchor bolts.

I recommend these

http://www.amsecusa.com/fire-safes-ul-impact.htm

http://www.amsecusa.com/safes-ul-burglary.htm

www.bobslockshop.com
 
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