Hi Guys! Robert here with Liberty Safe. Are
you interested in buying a new home or gun safe, but you’re not sure which features
you need? Today, we’re going to be taking a look at the top five questions you need
to ask yourself before finding that perfect safe for you. Wouldn’t it be nice if you had a safe place
to store your valuables and keep your medication out of the wrong hands? You’ve thought about
getting a safe. But how do you know which one is right for you? We’re here to help! We’ve compiled a list
of the top 5 questions you should ask before you purchase a safe. Number one: How much do you have to store?
If it’s just jewelry, medication, and a few documents, you don’t need to pay for
a huge safe.
Consider a compact vault or handgun vault. Even if you don’t own a gun, these
safes are a great way to store small items. If you need a little more room, look at a
mid-sized, or what’s sometimes called a home safe. These are about half as big as
a full-sized safe. That gives you plenty of room for jewelry and medication, plus collectibles,
passports, and a few larger items. If you have a lot of valuables to protect,
or if you have guns to store, you’ll need a full-sized safe.
These come in many different
sizes, so take stock of all the items you want to store before you pick a size. You
may even want to gather all your valuables together in one spot. That way you can visualize
how much space you need. Don’t forget things like photo albums, camera equipment, and external
hard drives. If you’re a gun owner, check to see how
many guns a safe holds. Most companies list this on their website. Keep in mind that the
gun count is usually based on the number of gun slots in the interior. If you have a large
gun like an AR-15, or scopes on your gun, you won’t be able to fit as many. And no matter what you’ll be storing, remember
that size really does matter. The most common complaint among safe owners is that they should’ve
bought a bigger size.
They fill theirs up faster than they think they will. The second question you need to ask is how
much fire protection you want from your safe. Most companies start with 30 minutes, and
some have safes that offer as much as 2 ½ hours of fire protection. So, what’s the best safe fire protection?
It’s a little tricky to decide how much you’ll need. There’s no real average for
how long it takes to put out a house fire, and there’s just too many factors that go
into an equation like that. If you live out in the country or far from a fire department,
you’ll definitely want a higher fire rating. Otherwise, you just need to make an educated
guess. If you’re storing expensive items, or you travel a lot and may or may not be
home when a fire breaks out, you’ll want more fire protection.
Of course, you get what you pay for. Typically,
the higher the fire rating, the more expensive the safe’s gonna be. We recommend at least
60 minutes of protection, but if you can afford more, this is definitely a good feature to
upgrade. One thing you should know is that there is
no regulation for fire protection claims. This means it’s a good idea for you to do
some of your own homework. Does the safe company actually test their safes in a furnace to
see how they hold up? Do their safes come with a fire seal that protects against heat
AND smoke? Fire ratings are based on the steel thickness and the number of fireboard layers
inside the safe, so look at those two things when you’re comparing models.
If you’re
looking at a safe in person, you can do a quick check. Place one hand inside the safe
and one hand outside on the ceiling and walls. How much space is there between your hands?
The thicker the walls, the better the fire protection. Now on to question number 3: Where is the
safe you’re researching manufactured? Many safes are imported from China or Mexico, and
if it’s important to you to have a product that’s made in the U.S.A., you’ll want
to pay attention to this. Imported safes are sometimes more affordable. But American-made
safes generally involve a greater level of control over the materials and manufacturing
processes used to make it.
That typically gives you a better chance of buying a quality
product. Question 4 relates to the safe company itself:
what is their customer service like? And do they offer a warranty on their safes? The
best safe companies offer a lifetime warranty for fire and theft. That means if someone
ever damages your safe trying to break into it, or if it’s involved in a fire, the company
will replace it. And how do you check up on their level of customer service? Well, you
find them on Facebook and see how often they respond to customer questions in the comments
section of their posts. Search the company name and “reviews” to see what you can
learn about them. And of course check their website for a customer service number, email,
or even an online chat capability. Question 5 is a biggie: What level of security
are you looking for? There’s no standard for security levels in the industry, but you
can figure it out for yourself.
Compare things like steel thickness and the number of locking
bolts or locking bars contained in the door. The more bolts or bars, the stronger the safe.
Does it have bolts or bars on all four sides of the door? And how is the safe constructed?
If the body is made from individual pieces of steel that are welded together, it won’t
be as strong as a safe that’s bent into shape from fewer pieces. Welds can be a weak
point in safes, so the fewer the better. The higher the security the level, the more expensive
the safe, so compare a few models and decide how much security you can afford.
Once you answer these five questions, you
can feel confident about being able to pick the right safe for you. We’ve actually made
easier for you to pick the perfect safe with our “Which Safe Is Right for You?” online
quiz..