If you are a homeowner or live in an apartment, there’s a pretty good chance that you own a handgun or maybe even a rifle. Nearly 2/3 of all Americans have handguns. That is not the only reason to own a safe but that’s a very good start. A safe, as you know, is meant to protect valuables such as cash, jewelry, documents, and firearms from theft in a home burglary.
Those are items that are high-value targets for burglars in a home burglary. Protecting them should be a top priority to improve your home security.
So if you’re one of those millions of Americans who may be considering getting a safe for your home or apartment, here are some things that you should consider-some good safe characteristics.
Look for door hinges that are difficult if not impossible to remove. If the door hinges are on the outside of the body of the safe, that is not what you’re looking for. You want hinges that are on the inside of the safe.
Look for exterior walls that are a minimum of 12 gauge thick steel for a single walled safe and.100 inches for safes with two walls.
There should be a minimum of three locking bolts that intrude from the door of the safe into the body of the safe-in other words, not exposed to the outdoors. Those bolts should be at least one half inch thick.
You should have a mechanical or electronic combination lock that has at least 10,000 possible combinations consisting of three numbers, letters or symbols. And the lock should be protected by a drill resistant steel plate.
If you’re trying to protect documents from fire, remember that paper combusts at 350 degrees so you need a safe that can protect those documents from an external fire of 1700 degrees or more for maybe an hour or two to prevent the internal temperature from reaching 350 degrees. Safes that are designed to withstand fire have ratings in half-hour increments. Obviously, the longer the rating the more expensive the safe.
Not everybody needs a safe. But if you own a handgun, rifle, jewelry or keep cash at your house, then a safe is absolutely the best way to protect valuables from home burglary.
As a bonus, if you own a safe your homeowner’s insurance rates will probably go down. Talk to your insurance agent about that possibility and see if he can guide you on what kind safe you need.
Those are some things that you should consider in getting a safe-some good safe characteristics.
We have 29 Home Security Safes to choose from. Take a look at them all.
This Digital Fire Safe has a two hour fire rating and a burglar resistant locking bar.
The Home Security Superstore is one of the oldest and largest independent distributors of high quality home security, surveillance, spy, self-defense, survival and safety products. We carry a wide range of self-defense products including tasers, stun guns, pepper sprays and other nonlethal weapons that can save your life in the event of an attack.