Best Cheap Safe Options?

[EPS]

Most electronic locks come with a backup key.

Or a battery system

 

[jbett98]

The electronic safe locks work off of a 9v battery tucked up under the key pad.
If the battery fails, you can open the safe with the backup key, install a fresh battery and push the reset button located on the interior of the door and reprogram your combination.

 

[v0lcom13sn0w]

Call Wayne at Liberty safe of Oregon. He usually has used safes around his shop that you can buy. Ones that were traded in. Wayne is a great guy with exceptional customer service. If you want I can PM you his number.

thats where i bought my fatboy jr. good people, fair prices!

 

[Alexx1401]

I've had this Stack On for a year: Amazon.com: Stack-On SS-8-MG-C 8 Gun Fully Convertible Security Safe with Combination Lock, Matte Hunter Green: Home Improvement

Honestly, I wish I had bought something better -- the hinge is wearing out causing the door to lean in a little and it is getting progressively harder to open and close. One of these days, it will stop opening. So I'm going to be looking for something better, and the $250 I spent on it will just be wasted.

I tell people any time this comes up. If you can't afford a "nice one" now, get a cheap one. ANYTHING is better than nothing. I would not consider the money you spent a waste since it was something for now. It can stop the smash and grab doper sometimes. It can also protect you from bottom feeders if they are stolen, then used in a crime. You made a reasonable effort to secure them. Get a better one when you can. Consider the money for the first one renting something for the time being.

 

[11Charlie]

I tell people any time this comes up. If you can't afford a "nice one" now, get a cheap one. ANYTHING is better than nothing. I would not consider the money you spent a waste since it was something for now. It can stop the smash and grab doper sometimes. It can also protect you from bottom feeders if they are stolen, then used in a crime. You made a reasonable effort to secure them. Get a better one when you can. Consider the money for the first one renting something for the time being.

Agree to disagree my friend. I would eat rice for a month to buy a better safe. In fact I would sell a gun to buy a better safe. If you can't put your guns into something worth a dang to protect them when you don't have them on you then why buy the gun. All it takes is one bad guy and you not home to get everything.

JMHO

 

[Alexx1401]

Agree to disagree my friend. I would eat rice for a month to buy a better safe. In fact I would sell a gun to buy a better safe. If you can't put your guns into something worth a dang to protect them when you don't have them on you then why buy the gun. All it takes is one bad guy and you not home to get everything.

JMHO

+

NOTHING wrong with that. It's like guns though. How many people have nothing because "can't afford it". Now I would skip a meal to make sure I had one. Some are not willing to. For them I say get something cheap for now. Same with safes. Many, too many, still use nothing. I would not as I'm sure you would not. These are the ones I am telling buy something for now to lock them up.

 

[3MTA3]

The electronic safe locks work off of a 9v battery tucked up under the key pad.
If the battery fails, you can open the safe with the backup key, install a fresh battery and push the reset button located on the interior of the door and reprogram your combination.

So an electronic lock is essentially a key lock with a keypad option? I'm thinking I might prefer a mechanical lock.

 

[Alexx1401]

So an electronic lock is essentially a key lock with a keypad option? I'm thinking I might prefer a mechanical lock.

The digital is just faster and easier. That is the selling point. They are nice. Now how much more would I pay for one? That's a matter of what the price is on any day I am actually going to buy one. Some days when I am into the safe many times I think "should have got the damn digital". Of course I don't keep guns I may need in an emergency in the main safe. If that was the case I would want something faster than the dial S&G lock I have now. It's all a matter of what you want and what you want to pay for like so many things.

 

[B3dlam]

I just have a snap-on security cabinet lag bolted to the studs I would love to have a nice big fire rated safe however I have to transfer every roughly 4 years for work and am weight limited in that transfer making an 500+ lb safe less practical. I also figure if nothing else getting into that cabinet would be noisy enough that one of my nosey neighbors would likely call in a complaint or come to investigate themselves.

 

[Alexx1401]

I just have a snap-on security cabinet lag bolted to the studs I would love to have a nice big fire rated safe however I have to transfer every roughly 4 years for work and am weight limited in that transfer making an 500+ lb safe less practical. I also figure if nothing else getting into that cabinet would be noisy enough that one of my nosey neighbors would likely call in a complaint or come to investigate themselves.

As I often mention, not perfect or best but beats nothing. In you situation it's a double problem, the having to move so often. Another thing you can do it not keep the safe in the master bedroom. That is of course the first place thieves go. Most often if it's dopers they are in a hurry. They will head strait to the master bedroom to look for anything they can carry off. If the safe set up you have is in some out of the normal area they may never even find in. It's just this reason I don't have my safe in my master bed.

 

[B3dlam]

As I often mention, not perfect or best but beats nothing. In you situation it's a double problem, the having to move so often. Another thing you can do it not keep the safe in the master bedroom. That is of course the first place thieves go. Most often if it's dopers they are in a hurry. They will head strait to the master bedroom to look for anything they can carry off. If the safe set up you have is in some out of the normal area they may never even find in. It's just this reason I don't have my safe in my master bed.

Hiding it really isn't too much of an option due to space constraints. The other advantage is I live on a second story so only a single entry point that is quite visible. I have figured you likely have two types of breakins the pros who are more likely to bring the tools required to enter any safe and the amateur smash and grab who is far more likely to grab my computer/TV/etc rather than messing with trying to pry open the security cabinet.

 

[Alexx1401]

Hiding it really isn't too much of an option due to space constraints. The other advantage is I live on a second story so only a single entry point that is quite visible. I have figured you likely have two types of breakins the pros who are more likely to bring the tools required to enter any safe and the amateur smash and grab who is far more likely to grab my computer/TV/etc rather than messing with trying to pry open the security cabinet.

You don't really have to hide it as much as just don't put it in the master bedroom if possible. If there is a closet anywhere else that's great. If nothing else I would make a wood shell that just had doors on it. Put it on some wall like dinning area. Anywhere other than master bedroom as that is the first and often only place they will look if they are in a hurry.

 

[MilitantBEEMER]

I prefer or more robust safe like Ft Knox, however it is not inexpensive. Just remember that a safe should be only one part of your security. I would suggest a couple other:

- Home security system, SimpliSafe is a great product at a fair price and can be installed by you in 30 minutes or less. No contracts and professional monitoring is not required

-A couple of strategecally placed HD cameras. If someone does break in it will be helpful to have good quality video to share with authorities.

-Finally, keep mouth shut about what you own, what you have to protect what you own and that will go a LONG way. Many thefts are committed by people who know or know someone close to the victim.

Whatever you do, do something. Best of luck!

 

[jbett98]

A quality mechanical combination that has a lockable dial can be locked just 10 degrees away from opening for quick access during the day.

 

[etrain16]

Agree to disagree my friend. I would eat rice for a month to buy a better safe. In fact I would sell a gun to buy a better safe. If you can't put your guns into something worth a dang to protect them when you don't have them on you then why buy the gun. All it takes is one bad guy and you not home to get everything.

JMHO

Didn't skip any meals (probably should have ), but did skip on buying a new gun in order to invest in a good safe. I went from no safe to a good quality safe with a combo EMP lock and plenty of room. I know no safe is impenetrable, but I know this one would take considerable time to break into - and the amount of noise it would take would very likely draw the neighbors' attention, one of which is a retired LEO and keeps an eye out for suspicious stuff.

Looking back on it, I don't regret investing in a better safe. I feel my investments are so much more secure than they were in the closet years ago.

 

[Tony617]

A quality mechanical combination that has a lockable dial can be locked just 10 degrees away from opening for quick access during the day.


View attachment 363542

If you don't mind me asking what size is your Fort Knox safe? You do not have to answer if you don't want. I have narrowed my safe search down to either a Liberty or Fort Knox safe now. I do like the Fort Knox redundancy of having both an electronic and combination dial on it it costs some money for that but I believe it is a good investment if I go with a Fort Knox safe.

 

[jbett98]

That picture was taken off the net. I was just trying to illustrate what I was talking about.
A couple of years ago I picked up a custom made safe for only $700 from a rich guy in the Lake Oswego area who was downsizing to a smaller mansion.
He did have a Canon safe for the same price, buy after looking over both safes, I chose the better built custom one.

 

[Howard1955]

I got one at Costco awhile back, for $350. Bolts to the floor, has pockets & pouches on the inside of the door. Works fine for the few guns I keep.

 

[cigars]

I want to my next safe to be free, like all of those hikers and wanderers always seem to get. They're always making headlines about it too. "Hiker lost in gorge, found safe". " Child lost, found safe". "Grandpa of seven lost for three weeks, found safe".
Ya know? Why can't I get a free safe? Then what's up with all of those clumsy people who keep losing them?

 

[11Charlie]

Didn't skip any meals (probably should have ), but did skip on buying a new gun in order to invest in a good safe. I went from no safe to a good quality safe with a combo EMP lock and plenty of room. I know no safe is impenetrable, but I know this one would take considerable time to break into - and the amount of noise it would take would very likely draw the neighbors' attention, one of which is a retired LEO and keeps an eye out for suspicious stuff.

Looking back on it, I don't regret investing in a better safe. I feel my investments are so much more secure than they were in the closet years ago.

Part of my thought prossess around this is I started with a cheap Home Depot safe years and years ago. Your talking $200 dollars and a lot of grey hairs later I could have invested in something like a shot lock to secure the one fire arm I had. If I would have just saved my money for another month or cut back on beer back then I could have bought a really nice one which would have served me a lot better over the years.