Does Your Safe Need Help?

Some safes may need a little help if they’re going to do their job!

So maybe you’ve purchased a safe because it was on sale and it seemed like the right decision to make at the time but now that you’ve done a little research, you realize that maybe that safe isn’t as secure as it could be and maybe you’re little concerned about its performance in a fire as well. Don’t worry. You’re not alone. Many people purchase safes based on the manufacturers’ clever marketing, the bells and whistles that are included with the safe, the lifetime warranty, and maybe even the brand name. Many common safe brands produced impressive safes 20 or 30 years ago, but since then they have cut a lot of corners, reduced the thickness of the steel in the door and the body, and generally don’t make the same safe that gained them the good reputation and brand awareness in the first place.

Now to be fair, there are still companies making quality safes that haven’t succumbed to this race to the bottom that seems to be the new norm in the safe industry. You just have to do a lot of research to find them. If you’re game to spend a little time researching, you can do it. My suggestion would be to contact local locksmiths in your area and ask them what safes they think are the best. Safe and vault installers are another source as they usually know what safes weigh the most which generally translates to which safes are better. Safe and vault stores can sometimes help as well but check out their customer reviews and testimonials as many simply want to sell the safe that they make the most money on. If you can afford another safe and have time to do the research then sure, you can sell your old one and buy a better one. On the other hand, if your budget doesn’t allow that and you plan to keep your original safe, then here are some things that you can do to help the safe you have hold its own against theft and fire.

• Move the safe to an area that’s out of sight -if it isn’t in such a place already. Remember the old saying, “Loose lips sink ships.” if your safe is out in the open and someone sees it, they may talk about it and if the wrong folks hear about it then we may have a problem. If, on the other hand, you’re safe is hidden from view, this would alleviate that problem. Consider building a closet or cabinet around your safe. If it’s in the garage and exposed to view every time you open the bay door, then consider draping a blanket or even a store-bought “safe cloak” over your safe.
• Anchor your safe. Many people think that the bad guys couldn’t snatch a 400 -800 pound gun safe, but I can assure you that with a dolly, they can take a safe out of a home in short order. If we anchor the safe to the concrete or lag it to your subfloor that provides an extra layer of protection.
• Consider an alarm system if you don’t have one already or at a minimum a fake camera to help secure your property.
• Secure your doors with additional locks or at least beef up and replace the screws that hold your latches and door catches in place.
• Establish rapport with your neighbors and let them know when you’re gonna be out of town so that they can keep an eye on things.
• Maintain the shrubs and landscaping around your home so that it doesn’t make it easy for someone to creep around at night.
• Install motion activated floodlights and have good exterior lighting readily available at the flip of a switch.
• As it relates to fire, keep smaller items like passports, birth certificates, old, family, heirlooms, etc. in a smaller fire-rated safe inside your larger safe.
• Keep your firearms in cases if possible. Generally speaking, if there is a fire and the safe doesn’t fail completely, safes in cases, or gun sleeves seem to fair a lot better than those that aren’t.
• If you do experience a fire, time is of the essence! Gain access to the safe as soon as possible after the fire and disassemble your weapons and clean them thoroughly with plenty of oil. The chemicals that are released from the interior of safe are extremely caustic and will significantly damage weapons if left in the safe for even a few days.

If you have the means, and you are considering building a cabinet around safe, consider adding layers of fire rated gypsum board around your safe to further insulate it from fire.

These are just a few things that come to mind that you can do to give your safe a bit of extra help. This list is by no means complete and is only my suggestion but hopefully it’ll help.