Recommendation for Safe?

[aragornsosMember]

Just curious, I’m looking to expand my ability to secure and store things in ye olde homestead, does anyone have any recommendation(s) (brand or model) for home security safes that pass the basic test for fire and waterproof storage (thinking this may be part of the stack plus some copies of key documents, backups of certain records, etc). 

I’m just looking to see if anyone has thoughts strongly for or against any particular brands, etc.  My preference is to stay AWAY from things that require electricity to unlock, so key / combo mechanism where it’s 100% mechanical (or I can use a 100% mechanical option) are one of the key concerns *I* have.

[AGXIIKMember]

Aragornsos   I do have recommendations based on my experience.  While we have never been robbed, I have a Sentry 200 safe that I am using for our 2 Self Directed IRAs  This safe is available from Costco at about $200-300 depending on sale or online price.  It is already heavy at 200 lbs but filled with silver you can easily put 3,000 oz (4 ammo cans worth)  That’s another 200 lbs so it is nearly impossible to move even if it’s not bolted to the floor, an option with this safe.  Ours is in a closet and positioned so that even if someone had a dolly the  shape and size of the closet would make it impossible to move the safe.  I have a large 600 lb gun and phyzz safe, also bought from Costco many years ago.  Both are 4 number combination locks and have 1,200 degree 1 hr fire ratings.  We have fire sprinklers so the fire rating aspect is moot. However, depending where you place the safe, the fire rating is a good idea.  The last option I used to building a secure room as part of a walk in closet.  We segmented the closet into a vault that is completely concealed so that represents a third stash safe.  I recommend putting phyzz in metal ammo cans.  While not fire proof, they will remain sealed against the potential loss of melted silver that could leak away in case of a severe fire. You might check Craiglist or similar ad medium to find a really superior safe, one of those half ton deals with massive walls that can hold 1-2 tons of stuff like phyzz guns and ammo. They can be really low priced if you get the right private seller.  That’s about all I can think of at the moment. Hope this helps

[XizangMember]

I have a good friend in the locksmith business.  In addition to locks and keys, a big part of his business is sales and servicing of safes.   I helped him in marketing for him and expanding his business a couple years ago, and I learned a lot.

The very best way to go is the most expensive.   If you can afford it, have a corner or niche in your basement formed, set with plenty of rebar, and poured in thick concrete to make a safe-room with a vault area.  This can be useful in case of tornadoes or hurricanes, or hostile home invasion – as a place for the family to escape to and be secure.

Second best is a very large, 2500-lb safe.  You can shop these from your local safe dealers.  The things weigh as much as a car, are fireproof, and safe-cracker resistant.   Almost nobody is going to load it up and haul it away, which is exactly what burglars will do with smaller safes.

For people of modest means, the best you can do is to find a really secure hiding spot for your valuables.  Thieves aren’t going to take if if they can’t find it.  And they aren’t even going to look for it if they don’t know you have it.  So keep your mouth shut and don’t go around boasting of what you have.  Even a close friend might slip and say something, which can end up being told to a thief.

[aragornsosMember]

Thanks! Good info from both of you. I already know the deal on OpSec, Loose Lips Sink Ships and all of that. Nobody knows what I have AT ALL, and all I am on most of these sites I frequent now is a random name. I suppose a truly dedicated hacker or something could start tracking back IPs and such, but your garden variety home break-in that you hear about are mostly small time smash ‘n grab deals – if they don’t see it right away, they don’t stick around looking for “hidden stuff”. And if it’s too big to carry, they don’t take it.

Longer term, securing my family and what we have likley entails getting even further “outta dodge” here, and up in to a much less populated and more “wild”, open area where there are a ton of lakes, large rural farms, and game available. I’m definitely looking more for the “nondescript” home style safe at this point, simply to have several options on storing phyzz in the house that hopefully won’t be terribly obvious, and/or easy to “cart off”. I’d much rather have ‘em grab the very visible flat screen TV and home theater system, and “el cheapo” jewelery we do have that’s pretty easy to see/fine, and leave ‘em guessing. If htey find my binder with a small number of coins (mostly sentimental value vs any actual numismatic value, tbh), oh well – I can go without that. I’d be pissed if I lost a few hundred ounces of my stack tho!

Definitley like the idea of partitioning off a closet. Gonna have to think on that one, if I can mod something we have in the house already or if that is an option if this drags out another year or two for a reno in the basement, say.   I’ve got the fiat now to get a decent safe, so I have no reservations about spending decent on that to get a good safe.  Used to lay the “you get what you pay for” line on guys waaaaaay back as a youngster working in a hardware store, trying to teach them the difference between the Estwing hammer and the $5 el cheapo special with the coarse wood handle (which ALWAYS broke after about 2 hrs of use).

[427Member]

aragornsos;

When it comes to safes no safe dose it all in one vary well. I did some research on safes, you have burglary or fier, the more money the more security for both clases. A bugler proof will be extremely heavy and have superior locks and bolts and a lot of bolts on all sides of the dore. Drill proof ball bearing plates around the locks. Fier safes have less security but will protect things like paper in side better and are rated on heat and how long. A fier safe can not go over 350 degres inside or your paper is burnt. I bought myself a 1915 Carry jewelers safe it’s 30″ wide by 46″ tall flore safe. It’s a safe with in a safe design with 4# combo locks it’s about 1000lbs empty. Now any safe can be broken into but how long will it take a common bergler? Cheap lite safes you can cary them away, sledge hammer the dore off or cut them open with a skill saw. Common burglars are not safe crackers and they do not want to be there long. So if they can’t move it around to force entry is a plus. If you got a good gun safe like the size of a refrigerator. You can get a vary good small document paper safe and put it inside. That will double your fier insurance. Look up Liberty Safes $2,000 will get you a killer safe. They are local to me in California, they test and stand by there safes. I would not buy a used safe that you can get new. Shipping is vary expensive in this weight class new safe include free shipping. Liberty safes will stand by there safe if anything happens to your things in a fier behind a locked dore. And of corse you should have insurance on your house and all thats in it. But some insurance companies will require a certain dollar amount to be held in a certain quality rated safe. A 100 grand in a $200 safe is the wrong approach and they will let you know this. My main worry is I have a ton of tools in my house that could assist a burglars. I got my antique safe locally for $600 and had a flatbed tow truck move it for a $100. I am getting ready to move and when I do I will have Liberty safe delivered then whats a burglar to do looking at two safes lol       

[DannoMember]

427… What’s a burgler to do sitting there looking at 2 safes?? Haha… After he’s done crying that he hit the jackpot but has no way to claim the prize he will drop his nutz on the floor trying to budge one…LMAO… I’m jus sayin…LoL

I’m deff in the OpSec camp… Loose lips theory… There are some decent reasonably priced safes out there… Just remember a safe should be considered a tool, a tool for securing and protecting your property… As with any tool how it’s used is likely the key to will it work well or fail the mission… And it’s only part of keeping your items safe… Think like a scared jittery thief that does not really want to spend much time in your place, where will they likely go first or at all and where is it most likely they won’t set foot… If it can’t be found it can’t be taken… So take the time to pick a good spot or spots for your secure storage…

We all could go on and on about this till Fred flinstone comes home, but it sounds like you have a good basic idea as to what you need to do…
Keep on stackin

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