My wife doesn't have alot of jewelry but she does have some sentimental pieces and I've been thinking about getting a safe. Any recommendations or advice?

Safe from people breaking in and taking it safe, or just safe say, from a fire/flood?

[www.nytimes.com]

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Edited 999 time(s). Last edit at 12:08PM by jdc.

I don't have any stats or data, but there's good reason to believe an item like this "clothes hanger diversion safe" works well. I mean, there's just no way a burglar will think to go through every piece of clothing hanging in your closet. Hang an old dingy sweatshirt on it. This one is $20.

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Don't buy one from a big box retailer. Avoid the ones on lists of best home safes. The majority of them might be ok for fire protection but not theft. Almost all of them can be opened faster without the key or code than with it (little bit of sarcasm but not far off). Safes like those in hotels have majority security shortcomings. They often have an admin code that overrides set pin codes. Or they have a removable plate to access a keyhole and can be picked quickly with a key jiggler.

The Sentry safes solid at HD and Lowes can be opened with nothing more than a rare earth magnet. No skill needed at all. Wish I knew about this when I had to open one for a relative that lost the combination. But, it only took a couple of minutes to open with a pry bar and hammer.

If you're going to buy a safe for protection against theft look at brands like Liberty, Cannon, etc. These have a sturdier exterior, more locking bars and locking mechanisms that require some level of skill to pick.

Our jewelry is well hidden without the benefit of a safe, but is protected by the security firm of Walther, Ruger, Smith & Wesson.

As noted, most home safes ain't worth squat.
You're better off w/ one of those fake mayonnaise jars.
Plus, we have insurance, which I highly recommend.
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d4
I don't have any stats or data, but there's good reason to believe an item like this "clothes hanger diversion safe" works well. I mean, there's just no way a burglar will think to go through every piece of clothing hanging in your closet.

I will now.

Paul

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....a good safe for the family jewels........is a chastity belt [ for man or woman ].......

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I reject your reality and substitute my own!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/13/2021 01:47PM by NewtonMP2100.

Our safe is purely for fire protection.

We still have the keys attached to the handle.

Typically if you are only looking for fire protection you can go with on of the consumer level ones.

If you are looking for theft protection then you should look at gun safes. You need something large and heavy enough that two people high on meth can't pickup and carry or drag. A good gun safe would be nearly impossible for an average thief to pick or break into. A pro obviously could, but they aren't interested in what you have.

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C(-)ris
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Throwback Thursday Signature:

I keep an empty safe at the bottom of the closet as a diversion. I don't actually have anything worth stealing!

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NewtonMP2100
....a good safe for the family jewels........is a chastity belt [ for man or woman ].......

Speaking of which... I was today years old when I learned about iOT chastity devices.

[www.techdirt.com]

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We have two safes. One is about 3' wide x 5' high by 30" deep. We had to take the framing off the closet door it's in for it to fit. Unless thieves had a pallet jack, they ain't stealing it. The other safe is even bigger. Took two guys from the local lock/safe company about a half hour to move it from our garage to my office, which is about 20 feet away. It's friggin' huge. It's a data safe that once belonged to disgraced (and now dead) boy-band mogul Lou Pearlman. It's fire-rated for up to two hours.

As a side note, we had neighbors who had a safe bolted to the floor of their bedroom closet. The husband was going through experimental cancer treatments where he would fly to Germany every other month or so to get treatment. He was in the hospital locally at the time, and his wife was with him. His parents left the house for 30 minutes to pick his sons up from school, and when they returned found that someone had broken in and pried the safe from the floor. His and his wife's passports, along with about $20K of cash were in the safe. Not a run-of-the-mill burglary. They didn't bother with the bottles of powerful opiates sitting in the kitchen, or the laptop computer sitting in the open in the living room.

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rz
His parents left the house for 30 minutes to pick his sons up from school, and when they returned found that someone had broken in and pried the safe from the floor.

As an uninformed observer I would say they didn't bolt it to the floor correctly. Major bummer. Seems like a three bolts through the bottom of a safe into joists would be super super hard to break loose. Perhaps it was only attached to the plywood underlayment.

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Buzz
Our jewelry is well hidden without the benefit of a safe, but is protected by the security firm of Walther, Ruger, Smith & Wesson.

How well does that quartet do when you’re not at home??

Just put it where it isn't obvious (the toilet tank is not a good choice). Inside a bag of french fries bag in the freezer type of place. Even in the pocket of a jacket in the closet.

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“No persons are more frequently wrong, than those who will not admit they are wrong.”
-- François de La Rochefoucauld

Growing older is mandatory. Growing up is optional.

> If you are looking for theft protection then you should look at gun safes. You need something large and heavy enough that two people high on meth can't pickup and carry or drag.

This.

I bought a huge gun safe to protect my antique guns that go back to my great grandfather. Impossible to replace. I also use it for my valuables and important documents. This thing weighs over 700lbs.

Not going to be carried off too easily.

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Mr. Lahey: A lot of people, don’t know how to drink. They drink against the grain of the liquor. And when you drink against the grain of the liquor? You lose.

Randy: What the @#$%& are you talking about?

We bought one of these a long time ago: [www.amazon.com]

I put it in the wall behind the bathroom door with a mirror on hidden hinges in front of it. It's findable but not at all obvious.

I understand that somebody with a reciprocating saw could take it out in 2 minutes. But, I also assume that thieves don't generally walk around with reciprocating saws (or rare earth magnets-who woulda' thunk that's a thing?). It's really designed to deter a thief who just chooses us at random and breaks in. I assume they wouldn't get this out in a first break in and if they find it would come back with that saw if they were interested. If we do ever get broken into I'll move the stuff to the bank safe (if the stuff is still there!). The items are scheduled and insured and the discount on the home insurance more than pays for the modest cost of the safe. And we get the discount every year.

Also, we are less likely to get broken into, I'd think. We live a half a mile in on a road with only one way in and out and doesn't have reasonable access through yards from other streets. We're one of very few people on the street who leave lights on when we leave the place and in a couple of places through the day. And they go on and off a couple random times during the day and evening. The other houses are dark as can be when they're not home.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/14/2021 02:31PM by Michael.

hmm, behind the mirror, yes, 1/2 mile in on road, only house with lights on, yes, tell me more.