Finding a hiding place at home to store savings, jewelry, and important papers is not difficult. The problem is that it's not safe. Thieves know popular places. The most obvious solution, if the option of a deposit, safe deposit box and bank is not considered, is to buy a safe. We tell you how to choose it correctly.
Safes have many characteristics, the key ones being: durability, lock and installation method. Each of them is divided into several types.
1. Burglar-resistant safes
They are divided into classes. The higher it is, the more difficult it is to hack. For domestic purposes, classes I to III are used. To give you an idea, a class IV safe can weigh 300 kilograms, and a class VI safe can weigh 1.5–2 tons.
2. Fireproof safes
The degree of fire resistance indicates how long the safe can protect the contents from fire: 30 minutes, an hour, one and a half or two hours. Depending on this indicator, they are labeled 30B, 60B, and so on.
3. Fire-resistant
A universal option that has protection against both burglary and fire.
4. Built-in safe
They are mounted on the wall. These are the same safes that are hidden behind paintings and mirrors in films.
5. Furniture safe
It is installed in furniture, most often in a closet or desk, for example. This option is found in hotels.
6. Freestanding safe
Floor version of the cache. As a rule, such a safe is very heavy. Can be mounted to a wall or floor using special bolts.
7. Safe with key lock
It's simple, the main thing is not to lose the key itself or find a reliable storage place for it.
8. Safe with mechanical combination lock
Here you need to rotate the disk either left or right in relation to the graduated scale. Again, as in the movies, turn clockwise, then counterclockwise, click - and the door opens.
9. Safe with electronic lock
We are talking about a keyboard with numbers for entering a code or a fingerprint, the retina of the owner’s eye, if it is a biometric lock.
There is too much price range. There are options costing up to two thousand rubles, and there are offers for almost 2 million rubles.
In fact, the value of the things that are going to be put in it depends on the cost of the safe. Experts recommend choosing safes that cost 5-10% of the amount to store. For example, a safe for 5,875 rubles, Class I burglary resistance, has in its description a recommendation “for storing up to 50 thousand rubles.” The offer for 1,650 rubles indicates that this safe is suitable for storing minor valuables and documents.
Prices for fireproof safes range from 6.5 thousand rubles. The most expensive ones are universal - with fire and burglary protection. Here prices start from 9 thousand rubles.
In addition to reliability elements, the cost of a safe is greatly influenced by its external and internal appearance, for example, leather trim. Therefore, expensive safes are not necessarily the most reliable.
1. Choose protection
For family jewelry and important documents, it is best to rely on fire-resistant ones. If you plan to store only money in it, then preference is given to those that are resistant to hacking. But universal safes are the most reliable. It’s like with a car and a comprehensive insurance policy: you can only insure against damage or only against theft, but it’s better when the insurance covers both risks.
2. Determine the location
A built-in safe is inconspicuous and difficult to remove from the wall. But installation into it may be difficult. The easiest way to do this is at the stage of renovation of an apartment. It is also necessary to take into account the thickness of the wall, which should be 10 centimeters greater than the depth of the object mounted in it.
When it comes to floor safes, the heavier they are, the safer they are. But in any case, you need to pay attention to the possibility of attaching to the floor or wall.
It is especially important to hide a furniture safe well or not store large sums in it. So before buying it, it’s better to immediately think about whether it will fit in the closet so that you can actually cover it discreetly with clothes, for example.
3. Select the key
In terms of durability, it is, of course, better to choose a safe with a key lock. But in terms of convenience, the electronic one wins. If the buyer does not intend to save money in this matter, then it is safer to buy models with two locks at once, where you first need to enter a code and then turn the key.
4. We evaluate
We remember the rule: the safe should not be cheaper than 5–10% of the cost of the things that will be in it.
A safe is a burglary-resistant device designed to store valuables, documents and storage media. In this review, we will look at which safes are suitable for home use and how best to ensure the safety of personal property.
Based on the type of protection, safes are classified into burglar-resistant and fire-resistant. Burglar-resistant safes are designed to protect against unauthorized access to money, valuables and documents. In accordance with GOST R 50862-2005, there are 12 classes of burglary resistance of safes - the lower the class, the less time it takes to crack. Safes from class 1 and higher can be considered burglar-resistant. Safes of class H0 (“below zero”) and 0 (“zero”) are not inherently burglar-resistant.
The thickness of the steel from which burglar-resistant safes are made is from 3 mm. Often the body has a multi-layer structure, in which the space between the double steel walls is filled with concrete. In order to drill through such a case, a burglar cannot do without replacing the drill. Additional protection is provided by concrete reinforcement or a sandwich (multilayer) structure of the filler, when layers of different types of concrete alternate one after another. Resistance to burglary also depends on the class of locks used.
Fireproof safes are designed to protect money and documents from fire. The body also has a multilayer structure: outside and inside there are thin steel walls, between them there is a thick layer of heat insulator (foam concrete). The design of the body ensures maximum tightness - the door has a stepped profile and a seal in the area of the narthex, with a minimum of structural holes. This design ensures the safety of the contents in case of fire from 60 to 120 minutes, depending on the class. According to GOST, there are 12 fire resistance classes - the numbers indicate the time (in minutes) to protect the contents in case of fire.
Both types of safes have both strengths and weaknesses. For burglary-resistant ones, this means a lack of protection from fire; for fire-resistant ones, it means no protection from burglary. Therefore, you need to decide for yourself what exactly poses the greatest threat to your property - a thief or a fire. If you are going to store papers and personal documents in a safe, buy a fireproof safe; if the object of storage is a collection of coins, a burglar-resistant safe is more suitable.
Every fourth household in the US has a safe, in Italy - every third. By comparison, in developing India there is only one safe per hundred households. Russia is still inferior to developed foreign countries in this indicator, despite the growth in demand. It is noteworthy that in the West, fire-resistant models are the most popular in the home safe market, while in our country they are burglar-resistant. To some extent, this is due to the crime situation: according to statistics from the Ministry of Internal Affairs for 2013, a burglary occurs every 6 minutes in Russia.
The most popular home safes on the Russian market are inexpensive compact models with initial (H0) burglary resistance classes - “furniture” safes. In essence, these are not safes, but reinforced metal boxes. They got their name due to the ability to be installed in furniture - niches, cabinets, table drawers. This is a suitable solution for protecting documents and personal belongings from unauthorized persons - service personnel, children, guests, etc.
If we look at protecting against theft of valuables, then the best option for a home safe would be built-in models. Firstly, they are compact and will not take up extra space. Secondly, they provide discreet storage - safes built into a wall or floor can serve as hiding places. Thirdly, built-in safes are protected on five sides by a solid wall, and the massive front wall and door are well protected - this a priori provides burglary-resistant and, to some extent, fire-resistant qualities. One of the disadvantages of built-in safes is the complexity of their installation - in the absence of appropriate knowledge and experience, it will be quite difficult to do without a master installer.
Any safe can be hacked - it's only a matter of time. But a burglar usually has little time, so if the safe can be quickly taken out of the apartment, it is taken out so that it can be opened in a calm environment. Therefore, to ensure maximum protection, it is necessary, firstly, to reduce the thief’s “working time” by setting the apartment to an alarm system and connecting it to the security remote control. Secondly, prevent the safe from being removed from the apartment by securely attaching it to the wall or floor with anchor bolts. Read about the features of anchoring safes in the review
In our turbulent times, maintaining wages is often more difficult than directly earning this money. A secluded place in an office or home cannot be completely safe; attackers are very good at finding hiding places. But only real pros of the world of thieves can open a strong and reliable safe. However, as a rule, the safe’s task is to make life as difficult as possible for the burglar. If the opening takes hours, as a rule, the uninvited guest does not have that time. There are a huge number of different models of safes on sale. Therefore, you need to approach your choice very carefully. First of all, we select the safe category, there are quite a few of them.
Fireproof safes
Thieves are not always the main danger that worries a person. In some cases, a potential fire is much more dangerous. There is a category of safes whose purpose is to protect against fire, but such a unit is unlikely to be able to protect against burglary. As a rule, this type of device is installed either at home or in a private enterprise, such as a hotel or office. There are several classes of fire resistance, however, the average ratings will be quite enough so that the paper does not get damaged, even if the whole room is on fire.
Parameters of fireproof safes
Since, according to statistics, fire damages your property about 10 times more often than thieves, these models are very popular on the market, and therefore there are many varieties of them. How to navigate in such diversity? It is enough to carefully study the labeling. There will definitely be a number there, such as 60 or 120. This is the time that the contents of the safe can remain safe while the fire rages outside. The 2nd criterion is the type of things that can be stored in the safe. Among others, it is imperative that B (paper) or P be present when marking in Latin letters. And naturally, only safes from elite manufacturers in practice meet such criteria. Thus, some manufacturers conduct the following tests: they heat the device up to 1000 degrees, then drop it from a height of several meters and cool it sharply with water, because this is roughly what firefighters do during work.
Burglar-resistant safes
They protect against unauthorized entry. There are a huge number of different models that differ in wall thickness, size, type of locks used and other details. The cost of some safes can go through the roof; it is not always necessary to purchase the most expensive model. Some features may be completely unnecessary. It is worth remembering that the only purpose of such a model is to maximize the time that a thief will need to break into.
Fire and burglary resistant safes
A combination of the first two models. As a rule, they cost significantly more, as they provide more complete protection. Perfect for home use, because you never know in advance what might happen. Due to the high cost, many try to save money by purchasing cheap models. Not the best option, since real safety characteristics may differ significantly from the nominal ones.
Built-in safes
During installation, they are installed in the wall, or, less frequently, in the floor. Such models are in high demand. They are quite difficult to detect, and in addition, resistance to burglary is very high, since valuables are protected not only by the metal door, but also by the entire mass of the wall.
Furniture safes
As a rule, small. They are always attached to furniture or installed inside it. Very often such devices are made secret, and it is not very easy to detect a safe, say, built into a closet. Some options may have holes in the bottom or back wall, through which fixation occurs. It is very important to purchase a model that makes it possible to install it in furniture, even without having the necessary skills. This approach is the safest.
Hotel safes
Almost the same furniture ones, but differing in additional locks. They make it possible for service personnel and people living in the rooms to open the safe. Of course, the degree of protection of such safes is relatively low. You should not put particularly valuable things there.
Gun safes
According to the laws of the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Belarus at the time of publication of the article (September 5, 2012), sporting and hunting weapons must be kept in a special safe. Moreover, these rules should not be neglected, since storage conditions are periodically checked. It is best to purchase a model equipped with additional shelves for storing cartridges. You should not buy a gun safe that is too large; it will simply take up extra space.
Deposit safes
Such models work on the principle of a piggy bank. There is a hole at the top of the safe above the main lock. Therefore, in order to put another sum of money into the safe, there is no need to open it every time. Such safes are very popular in places where there is work with clients, each of whom leaves a small amount.
Locks
A very important factor, since according to statistics, thieves are much more likely to try to “outwit” a safe than to crack it with brute force. All locks can be divided into combination and key. Everything is clear with the key: we get two sets from the seller, we carry one with us, and we hide the other in case we lose the first set. However, burglary-resistant safes are much more often equipped with a code. All combination locks are divided into electronic and mechanical. The reliability of both is approximately the same. Sometimes it makes sense to put 2 locks of both types in the safe at once. will be significantly higher.
To make it easier to navigate all safe models, they are all divided into categories from 1 to 10 (however, in reality the first 5 categories are used). Models of the first category are recommended to be installed only in premises with security. Their protection is not great: a simple lock and a metal case, a couple of millimeters thick. However, one should not think that such models are not suitable. In some cases, more serious protection is not necessary, while a more “sophisticated” safe costs an order of magnitude more. Category 2-3 is distinguished by mandatory fastening to the floor, as well as more serious protection. Categories 4-5 are used for storing large sums of money, as well as unique items.
The thickness of the walls can reach several centimeters. Such safes are suitable for installation at home or in any unsecured premises. If you need a safe of a higher protection category, it is worth considering that they are made to order. There we are already talking about the highest levels of safety: the thickness of the walls can exceed 12 cm, and the weight of the device is measured in tons. In most cases, such safes are in demand only in large banks.
Additional questions
Before choosing any specific model, you need to clearly and clearly answer several questions, which will sharply narrow the range of options from which we will directly choose. How much volume will we need? It is advisable to take a safe about a third or even half larger if in the future more money or documents will be stored there, because replacement work is troublesome and expensive. Will the device be installed in a secure area? If yes, you can completely limit yourself to the 1st category of protection. However, if the room is sometimes left unguarded, it is best to take a safe that is attached to the floor or wall, otherwise it will take a couple of minutes to drag it away.
Price
How to roughly calculate the cost of a safe so that the level of security is sufficient, but not excessive? The manufacturers themselves recommend spending from a quarter to 1/5 of the funds that will be stored there at a time on security. It should be taken into account that over time, new hacking techniques appear, and the protection itself is improved. For this reason, you shouldn’t expect that the latest, ultra-secure lock will last you forever. It is better to invest in security little by little, every few years, than to spend a large amount at once.
Manufacturer selection
There are several serious manufacturers of safes in the world of approximately the same level. Among the leaders we can mention Germany (AIKO), Italy (Technomax), Finland (Kaso) and France (Fichet). However, recently some good safes of domestic models have appeared on the market. It's difficult to say which brand is the most reliable. The level of service is much more important for the client, because you expect something more from the manufacturer or seller than just the device itself.
Service
Serious companies offer several useful services, which may be the reason for choosing a safe of a particular brand. It is useful for the consumer to be able to open the safe if you have forgotten the code or lost the key. Over time, lock parts may wear out; it is better to immediately choose a model that can be repaired. Some companies offer the production of duplicates of any key. Sometimes it is even possible to do this on the lock itself if the key is lost. Well, such little things as the ability to recode the combination of numbers in the lock are provided by almost any manufacturer.
Additional nuances
Whatever type of equipment you buy, there are a few very important little things that can be the deciding factor at some point. So, when making your final choice, we take into account the following things: when choosing, you need to carefully inspect the safe yourself, evaluate the thickness of the walls and the reliability of the locks. Choosing a quality product over the Internet is not so easy; in addition, they may bring you a completely different model, because all the options look similar in the picture. The safe's handle should open upward. And this is not just a matter of convenience. If there is a fire in the room, something will definitely fall from above; if the handle opens down, such a fall can trigger the opening of the safe and all documents will immediately burn.
We evaluate quality
The quality of workmanship can be very well assessed by the back wall; just feel the place where it connects with the side surfaces. If a piece of metal from the side wall is simply bent and welded, this indicates austerity in production. This technology will not save you in case of fire, since the connection will simply burst due to temperature changes. This unit weakens the safe even under strong mechanical stress during burglary.
Avoid Asian products
China has not yet learned how to make good safes, but sometimes such safes are disguised as English instructions. Therefore, before purchasing, it is worth asking the seller and the local and factory instructions; the hieroglyphs that we see in any document directly indicate that such a unit should not be purchased. In addition, such products are often equipped with poor electronics. The “master key” directly speaks about this. In fact, there are no more than 8 different combinations for such a device.
Safes on stands or wheels
This is a direct reference to the cheapest safes designed for fire protection. The manufacturer’s logic is clear: such a device does not protect against thieves anyway, and therefore, would it not make it easier to transport and move from one room to another? But under no circumstances should such a safe be used as a burglar-resistant one. By definition, there should be nothing between the bottom surface and the floor that would prevent the safe from being secured to the floor.
Looking for a fake
As a rule, safes from elite manufacturers are not counterfeited. Everything is simpler: they make a handicraft metal cabinet, on which they hang a sign of an elite company. It’s easy to figure out such a trick: the specification or dimensions always slightly differ from those stated, which directly indicates a fake. The actual parameters of a particular model can be very easily found on the manufacturer’s website.
Quality of locks and doors
A good safe's door or lock should operate very smoothly, easily and without unnecessary effort. Any grinding or effort indicates poor quality. Such a safe will not only be unsafe, there is a high probability that the door, and even worse, the lock, will simply fail at the most inopportune moment and getting to your valuables will be very problematic even for the owner himself.
We wish you a good choice!
Residents of large cities sometimes fail to feel complete safety even in their own home. As disappointing statistics show, burglaries occur in cities on average every five to ten minutes. How to prevent the actions of intruders and preserve precious property? Currently, experts are increasingly offering such a common option as reliable protection, such as saving valuables in high-quality, reliable safes.
A burglar-resistant safe for the home is precisely the means for storing valuables that an increasing number of residents of megalopolises resort to purchasing from year to year. Today, there is a fairly wide variety of different models with varying levels of protection. Safes differ from each other primarily in the materials of manufacture, the security system, the level of reliability, the type of locking systems and the thickness of the metal walls.
The fundamental differences between individual safe options lie in the focus of their functionality on protection against specific risks. Modern models are usually divided into burglary-resistant, fire-resistant and combining both characteristics at the same time.
In reality, making a truly high-quality fire-burglar-resistant safe is not as simple as it might seem at first glance, due to the presence of some technological contradictions between the two characteristics of such a product. Such safes are presented on the market in minimal quantities, not only based on the above reasons, but also due to low demand due to their exceptional high cost.
To decide on a specific model and the necessary qualities of the device, you need to figure out exactly what risks it should protect against. Thus, according to most experts, a burglar-resistant safe can be the best choice if you need to securely store currency and jewelry.
If we talk about devices with fire-resistant properties, then experts put in the first place the possibility of preserving photo and video materials, documents, digital media and other things. A special role in this case is played by the preservation of data carriers in the event of fires, because often digital information turns out to be many times more valuable compared to the same paper banknotes.
Quite often, it turns out that it is more profitable for the consumer to purchase a fire-resistant model than to spend a really impressive amount buying class 1 burglary-resistant safes or truly expensive fire-burglar-resistant devices.
If you want to buy a good burglar-resistant safe to save valuable property, experts strongly advise paying special attention to a number of additional characteristics. In particular, these include the following parameters:
Design solutions that are used in the production of a safe must necessarily correspond to the purpose of purchasing the product and the basic needs of the consumer. If desired, a burglar-resistant safe can be securely installed on top of another model, fasten several products together, or attach the outer walls of the device to walls or floor coverings.
In some cases, it is advisable to equip safes with separate lockable compartments or equip their internal space with additional shelves and cells, which improves security and ease of use.
When you purchase Valberg burglar-resistant safes or any other modern models, the issue of secrecy remains important, concerning not only the dissemination of information about existing valuables, but also the existence of the very means for storing them. The best way out of the situation may be to install a built-in safe.
It can be mounted either into the wall or under the floor covering. The unique, secretive location of the safe will significantly reduce the likelihood of any attacks on valuable property, and will also not allow unauthorized persons to even guess the presence of the device itself to protect material wealth.
Even having thoroughly understood the classification of modern safes, it is quite difficult to make the right choice in favor of one model or another. On the one hand, the consumer always has a desire to provide property with the most reliable protection. On the other hand, you really want to protect valuables from fires, because fires often occur extremely suddenly and unexpectedly. Ultimately, it is a pity to spend a large amount on buying a metal box.
When deciding to purchase a burglar-resistant or fireproof safe and intending to protect your own property in this way, first consult with a specialist. This is the only way to choose a truly high-quality, highly reliable system that will exactly meet your personal needs and wishes. All the best!
Over the past decades, life in our country has changed dramatically, the USSR has disappeared, now it is not a shame to be richer than others. Material wealth implies not only expensive cars and housing, but also the presence of large sums of money, documents, and other valuables at home and at work, which require reliable safety not only from strangers. The style of doing business has changed, and there is a need to store significant amounts of money and documents in the workplace.
Recently I was faced with the need to purchase a safe for my office. I tried to get information from my friends, but nothing good came of it, so I decided to turn to the Internet.
I read many articles about how to choose the right safe. From everything I read, I realized that there are a great many safes, each of them has its own peculiarity, but the names themselves speak about their purpose:
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After studying articles on the Internet, I realized that I personally needed a fire-burglary safe, and chose GARANT EURO 133 EL with an electronic lock. I’ll explain why: my office, like the vast majority of offices, is located in a building where there are many other firms and organizations; this is a common practice in large cities. I won’t go into the details of the business, but we have to store significant amounts of money and valuable documents, and more often than not our own. The building is guarded, it is difficult for an outsider to get inside without prior approval and a pass, but unauthorized entry cannot be completely ruled out.
Why fire-burglary-resistant? It’s simple, I’m afraid of both fire and burglary. If there is a fire, I know that the documents and money will not be burned before the firefighters arrive, and if outsiders try to open it, they will not have time, the guards make their rounds at certain intervals.
Why a safe with an electronic lock is also no secret. Apart from me, two young ladies have access to the safe, and it is unreasonable to trust them with the keys - they may simply lose it or leave it, but I believe in their integrity and professionalism, so I can trust the lock code. I settled on the Kaba Mauer lock (Germany), which with a reliable, 3-sided 10-bolt reinforced locking system makes the GARANT EURO 133 EL quite reliable protection. Although, according to reviews on the Internet, safes with a mechanical lock that can be locked with a key are no less reliable.
The safe I chose weighs about 400 kilograms, which will not allow attackers to take it out just like that; in addition, as the manager told me, it can be anchored to the floor.
My next purchase will be a safe for my home, I will definitely go to the same store. I know that they will tell me how to choose a safe for the apartment, if necessary, they will come to the place and give the necessary recommendations. Delivery in Moscow is free, there is no need to scour the Internet looking for an answer to the question “how to choose a safe for an apartment”, the prices are reasonable - what else do you need?
