Thousand dollar safe opened in under 2 minutes. VIDEO

[TDDude]

....I suggest putting all your ammo, lead, and reloading supplies inside as well..

Not ammo!! In a fire, ammo can turn your RSC or Safe into a bomb.

[5thGenTexan]

I have a mid grade Liberty with a decent fire rating. The purpose for it was to buy time in the event of a fire or break in. I know a pro could get into it with some time and it's not going to keep everything pristine if the house burns to the ground. In conjunction with the alarm system and PD and fire response time I feel confident that I am safe in the event of 98%+ of residential burgleries.

[chabouk]

....I suggest putting all your ammo, lead, and reloading supplies inside as well..

Not ammo!! In a fire, ammo can turn your RSC or Safe into a bomb.

Nope.

Okay, I'll give you "can", in the hypothetical sense. As a practical matter, no.

[jimlongley]

....I suggest putting all your ammo, lead, and reloading supplies inside as well..

Not ammo!! In a fire, ammo can turn your RSC or Safe into a bomb.

Doubtful.

[MechAg94]

I don't understand the line of reasoning of "let's put this collection of guns worth thousands or even tens of thousands of $$ in the cheapest "safe" we can buy".

That is what motivated me to buy a safe finally. I got to where I had several pistols and rifles that cost 2 or 3 times what a half way decent safe would cost so I decided to get one. The one I have is better than the average cheap ones at Academy, but certainly not the best.

[jlangton]

I work in a high-tech job, and often have to deal with security issues, such as people hacking passwords, reading encrypted data, etc.

As a general rule, security is all about having a REASONABLE amount of security, in relation to the value of what you're trying to protect. An example I use all the time when talking to product managers is to say that you're not going to buy a $100 lawnmower, put it in a shed in your background, and then install a $20,000 security system with motion sensors and biometric entry devices. You're going to buy a $10 padlock and call it good. If someone cuts the lock off and steals your lawn-mower, you accept that as a reasonable risk and in that event you're willing to file an insurance claim or just buy a new lawnmower.

On the same token, if you're in charge of security at a museum, you don't rely on the same $10 padlock to protect a priceless one-of-a-kind work of art.

It's really up to you, as an individual, to decide how much your valuables are worth to you, and decide how much you're willing to spend to protect them. If your gun collection consists of a couple of stock off-the-shelf Glocks, a hunting shotgun, and a deer rifle....you might be comfortable with one of the cheaper safes because you can easily replace your entire collection for under $1500. If you have a LOT of expensive, rare, and/or collectible firearms...then a higher-end safe might be justified.

I agree with 92f-fan...it's not necessarily a black-and-white issue. One of the cheap safes from Cabelas will still keep your kids (or your kids' friends) from playing with your guns when you're not home, and it's better than nothing. I think the key is to know what you're getting, and make sure you're making an informed decision on the level of protection you desire and the level of protection you're actually acquiring.

MojoTexas

Well stated and realistic.
JL

[KD5NRH]

While I agree you should buy a decent and well built safe, I call shenanigans on the video and think they doctored the safe to be able to get into it easier.

The whole situation was doctored: first, safes are placed against walls, so they wouldn't have been able to push it over and get the extra leverage; second, most people don't have their safe in a large empty room. Look at how much space they needed to work on the safe.

The most obvious is that Charlie Crackhead and his buddies aren't that organized and dedicated; those guys had a lot more in the way of tooling than the typical burglar, and a lot more cooperation.

IMO, the best setup I've seen was a safe behind a false wall in an under-the-stairs closet. It was set in such a way that the closet walls were right up against the safe, and the closet itself had a separate alarm circuit.

Personally, I'm just in the process of hardening a closet bit by bit. Already have the electronic combination deadbolt on the door, (the backup key is locked up elsewhere, so not available for my daughter to find, and no keys to look for when something is needed) planning to reinforce the door, then sheath the walls with 3/4" plywood. Not sledgehammer proof, but it can't be carried off either. Since the door opens out, strengthening it against a kick-in is simpler, and captive-pin or other anti-tamper hinges are on the list.

[Mike from Texas]

While I agree you should buy a decent and well built safe, I call shenanigans on the video and think they doctored the safe to be able to get into it easier.

The whole situation was doctored: first, safes are placed against walls, so they wouldn't have been able to push it over and get the extra leverage; second, most people don't have their safe in a large empty room. Look at how much space they needed to work on the safe.

The most obvious is that Charlie Crackhead and his buddies aren't that organized and dedicated; those guys had a lot more in the way of tooling than the typical burglar, and a lot more cooperation.

IMO, the best setup I've seen was a safe behind a false wall in an under-the-stairs closet. It was set in such a way that the closet walls were right up against the safe, and the closet itself had a separate alarm circuit.

Personally, I'm just in the process of hardening a closet bit by bit. Already have the electronic combination deadbolt on the door, (the backup key is locked up elsewhere, so not available for my daughter to find, and no keys to look for when something is needed) planning to reinforce the door, then sheath the walls with 3/4" plywood. Not sledgehammer proof, but it can't be carried off either. Since the door opens out, strengthening it against a kick-in is simpler, and captive-pin or other anti-tamper hinges are on the list.

When I build my new house in a couple of years, I am building a dedicated gun safe room. It won't have a vault door on it but I am going to beef it up considerably and build it completely surrounded with 2 layers of 5/8" type X fire rated sheetrock. I will have a couple of hidden cameras as well as motion switches and door tamper switches connected as a silent alarm zone as well. As to the door, I'm thinking of going with either a solid core wood door with reinforced framing around the jam and one of the electronic locks as well. I have even considered putting one of the corrugated roll up doors behind it. I have a LOT of money invested in guns and where I will be living neither fire nor police will be close by.

[Kevinf2349]

The problem I see with the vidoe is that most people's safes aren't free standing, out in open space and not bolted to the floor. So knocking it over and being able pry open the door isn't going to be as easy as the video leads you to believe if the safe is correctly installed.

Or am I missing too optimistic? Oh and they would have to get past the alarm, the dog and the flying lead. :)

[Deltaboy]

Nothing like a fear tactic video. Plenty of what is wrong with this Video has already been stated. Buy something in line with your collection. I have less than 1500 tied up in mine since most were gifts growing up and I love to buy Used.

[Mike from Texas]

Nothing like a fear tactic video. Plenty of what is wrong with this Video has already been stated. Buy something in line with your collection. I have less than 1500 tied up in mine since most were gifts growing up and I love to buy Used.

For items that were gifts or have been in the family for a long time, I tend to place a higher value on them because to me some of those are irreplaceable.

[lawrnk]

I have a $1000 or so safe. That one is not a $1000 safe IMO. Looking at the edges of the door, it looks like the metal is pretty thin. Also, it only has a few and rather small locking lugs that didn't appear to stick out from the door very far. Mine appears much more robust by comparison.

Regarding fire ratings, you are going to have to determine what you are worried about most. Theft or Fire or both? IMO, you should figure what minimum theft deterrence you want/need and then look at those models are better for fire ratings.

Its the fat boy jr, about an 1100.00 safe.

[KD5NRH]

thats why you bolt them into the floor

If you can catch them to bolt them to the floor, I can think of a lot more practical things to do to them.


Oh, you meant the safes...

[glbedd53]

I have a Pony Express that was about $1000 15 yrs ago when I bought it. It was highly rated at the time but I know there are a lot better ones out there. It's probably good relative to the value of my guns. The security system on my house is a better one and I always thought thieves are gonna not spend much time trying to get into my safe with all the decibles going on around them.