Home safe recommendations

[1970 gold]

Need a home safe for normal stuff, papers and such. Who makes a great safe for fire protection? Also want it big enough cannot be easily carried off. Most of what I see are gun safes, which if fine but watching online there can be big difference in their construction.

Any advise?

 

[Jimmac]

liberty safes are supposed to be decent.
I've got a 36 inch, about 650 pounds empty. made in the USA. Only thing about buying a safe, if you think a 36 inch is big enough, get the next size up. jim

 

[biker]

Dont go cheap or small.

 

[Lowend]

The way I look at safes: No matter what you buy, if someone wants the contents bad enough, and has enough time, they will get in.
The big thing with safe breakers seems to be the ability to flip them on their back, than use a breaker bar to destroy the hinges. If they can't tip the safe, that doesn't really work. But someone comes in with a plasma cutter... the safe is done.

Get something with a fire rating of several hours, that you can put in an area that it won't be obvious to someone outside your household. If you can securely bolt a safe to the floor or wall, I'm not sure how important the actual weight is.

I remember hearing someone talk about buying a house that already had a giant safe in one of the front rooms. The house was getting broken into when people (workmen etc) saw it, assuming there was something worth stealing inside (there wasn't). Eventually they just started leaving the safe door open to show nothing was inside

 

[larrylarry]

Use long wood screws going into the studs in the wall & place it in the corner of a closet where access is limited. I have one of those cheap gun safes but I did go to the trouble of welding in scrap pieces of 1/8 in plate on the inside of the door and the other side that’s exposed. I should of welded on a strip to cover the door gap but didn’t do it. In hind sight if someone wanted to break into it they could find all the tools to do it in my garage.

 

[danbrennan]

I thought about buying a safe a few years ago, and the retailer pointed out that if the safe is surrounded by fire long enough, the paper and cardboard inside will turn to ashes even locked in the safe. So safes are fire resistant, but not fireproof. He also said if I have a basement, get a safe that is water fight. Even if the safe isn't located in the basement when the fire starts, that's probably where it will be when the fire is over. And the firefighters will have poured a bunch of water into the house.

 

[73Z L92]

I have a gun safe for my guns. It big enough that I have room inside for a small paperwork safe.
My gun safe is fastened to the floor. I used long 3/8" bolts that go thru the floor with nyloc nuts inside the safe.

 

[1970 gold]

I’m lucky I have a room with 12 in concrete walls with steel roof wit brinks on top of that. I also have the fire dept on the entrance of my subdivision.

 

[1970 gold]

I’m lucky I have a room with 12 in concrete walls with steel roof wit brinks on top of that. I also have the fire dept on the entrance of my subdivision.

With bricks not brinks.

 

[BLUE72CAMARO]

In my opinion safes are only good for keeping the smash and grab guys out. IF someone with intent to get in the safe and time breaks into my house that also means they have the capability to break into my shop where nearly any and every tool to get in that safe that they could want resides. Get one that has what ever level of fire protection you want and secure it in place well.