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chabouk wrote:The first "FAIL" in that video was when they knocked the safe over on its back. they had to do that, because there was no way they could get enough leverage to pry the door open without using gravity in their favor.

That was my thought as well. That and what TexasGal said about putting the safe in a location that makes prying very difficult should make your safe much more difficult to get into.

This video's primary purpose is to gin up a bunch of fear. There's no way I'm going to sleep through somebody tipping a safe over, even assuming the burglars manage to get in past the alarm system and dogs.

No Problem. I'll just put a "sorry, try again" note in the safe while the real valuables are hidden elsewhere.

I have a safe. It's way smaller than that one but It's bolted down in a nook in the back of the closet.
I figure they won't want to spend too much time trying to get into it while the alarm is blaring in their ears.

I have 4 sirens hooked up. One in the closet with the safe.

lkd wrote:Looks like a crappy safe to me in that video. Caveat emptor.

One thing to consider though -- no safe is theftproof. Battery-powered cutting saws (about $500) and class 4 cutting lasers (about $1500) can easily do the job on the "higher end" safes.

I believe most residential breakins are of the "smash and grab" variety. I own a breaker bar and it weights about 40lbs.
Not something most crooks are willing to tote around. I think the point of a RSC is to harden the target. Just like a deadbolt with door jamb reinforcement. Doesn't make your door inpenetrable, but it just may be enough to slow or discourage a BG to move on to other pickin's. Same with a RSC. I'm sure there are more sophisticated BG's, somewhere, carrying core drills, laser cutting equipment, C4 etc. for safe cracking........ but......

SQLGeek wrote: This video's primary purpose is to gin up a bunch of fear.

Ahh, they have produced a video aimed at scaring gun owners. That makes these guys TERRORISTS!!

Keith B wrote:Something doesn't look right to me. When they get the door open, look at the back of it. It looks like a panel has been removed from the back of the door and the door is basically flexing. This would allow them to more easily pry the door out.

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.

That is a Liberty safe. Probably one of their lower end units, but not a cheap safe none the less.

RSC's are for the most part very poorly constructed and surprisingly easy to defeat at the hands of someone that knows what they are doing.

We are going through the process of buying our first house and right now I am trying to decide what I want to do on safes. I have one as is and it's a good size but I'm starting to outgrow it. However with buying the house and getting married in late May I just can't afford one of those $3500+ units right now. What I'm thinking about doing is purchasing a cheaper one at Academy and keeping everything in two different safes.

I agree on placing the safe in an area where a pry bar could not be used and then anchor it to the floor. If someone really wants in they will get in. Get a good home alarm and try to get a good reputation with the local cops so they'll know to come running if an alarm call drops at your house. Past that if the crew from Ocean's 13 breaks in you're going to lose your stuff anyhow. I doubt my fiance would try to stop any of those guys anyhow though....

They are Selling Grafunders and other safes of the same type.
Id love to have a Grafunder - but its more than 2x the cost of the safe I have and nothing I own is that valuable.

Everyones purpose and use for a safe is different. In my case the primary reason to get off my butt and buy one was to have a secure place to store weapons when people came in the house. In that scenario I'm not worried about a guest prying open the steel box. If/when I have people come in to help clean the house I dont have to worry about them hurting themselves with a weapon. I can now leave the house and feel comfortable that my guns and valuables are both " safer " than before.

Since Ill ALSO use it to store guns and valuables when I leave the house Ive bolted it to the floor in a room where there is no angle to pry it.
Its NOT supposed to be impenetrable. As was said before, its supposed to slow and discourage people. Just like the alarm and the locks on the doors.

It would make the Guy in the video happy to know that I bought my Safe from a Safe vendor not a big box store.
Seems there is a tendency to deal in absolutes here on the forum. As if everything is either black or white, and everyone does everything for the same reasons.

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

Mike from Texas wrote:

chabouk wrote:This is also a good time to point out that focusing on the fire rating, rather than the metal specs, is foolish. If two safes weigh the same and one has a higher fire rating, that means they've replaced steel with sheetrock.

So you are advocating not having a fire rated safe?

I didn't say that at all.

USA1 wrote:I have a safe. It's way smaller than that one but It's bolted down in a nook in the back of the closet.

Me too!

USA1 wrote:I figure they won't want to spend too much time trying to get into it while the alarm is blaring in their ears.

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.

MechAg94 wrote: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.

Almost all RSC's have 12 gauge or 10 gauge metal at best. Also 1" locking bolts are standard.

You have to step up considerably in price to get thicker metal and larger/more locking bolts.

The fact is most people would not have a safe at all if the less expensive ones were not available. They would still be leaving the guns in closets and such. I never expected to buy a safe that cannot be busted into if the criminal wants to bad enough. What I expect is that it is good enough to stop the average criminal looking to get in and out quick. The cheaper safes are to give some protection from fire, keep kids away from the guns and stop punks looking for an easy score. Most of us don't have a budget for a safe worth several thousand dollars or we are just not willing spend that kind of money on something we may never need.

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".

Mike from Texas wrote: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".

My guns cost less than my car. They cost less than my home electronics and computers. I got a Stack-On locker on sale less than $150 at Academy.