Fire Safes

[JDgreen227]

Bird,

We have one of the Sentry safes as illustrated but ours is a 2 cubic foot model...purchased at Sears about 10 years ago. I'm with you about not wanting to visit the bank to use their safe deposit box, although we have copies of just about everything in both safe and SD box, it's convenient to have the papers here and not have to drive 12 miles whenever we need to refer to something.

Ours is screwed down to a concrete floor in our basement and surrounded by a cement board enclosure lined with gypsum board on the inside. The one problem with having a safe in the basement is that the papers tend to absorb moisture, so about once a month I open it and take the contents upstairs to dry out. I've read that most safes should be opened once in awhile for the same reason.

Bill

 

[dummy]

<font color="blue"> The one problem with having a safe in the basement is that the papers tend to absorb moisture, </font> That happens with mine also and my safe is on the second floor of the house. I put dessicant in and still have moisture problems. Suggestions?

 

[MadReferee]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Oh do not store valuables, $$$, gold, etc. in a fire safe if you are trying to protect it from burglary. Fire safes do not provide resistance to burglars. If a safe has a round door, it is a burglary rated safe and if it has a square or rectangle door it is a fire safe. To my knowledge they do not make a fire and burglary safe as one unit. )</font>

Gardall makes a 2 hour class 350 safe that they claim is both fire resistant and burglar proof. Here are a few of the features:
--U.L. Two hour fire label, including Drop and Explosion testing.
--Thick 4 1/4" door with recessed anti-pry design. Safe walls are 2 1/2" thick
--Five active bolts that lock in 3 directions, massive 1" diameter round bolts that extend deep into the safe's body
--Center bolt down hole with hardware included for easy installation
--Bolt detent, allowing all bolts to remain retracted until closed, preventing bolt scars on the body as well as damage to the boltwork (models 1812-3018)
--Plush carpeted quality interior to protect jewelry and valuables
--UL listed Group II high security mechanical lock.
--2-hour fire label, furnace-tested to 1,850 degrees, safe's interior temperature was less than 350 degrees
--Solid chrome-plated handle with shear point to prevent the safe from being forced open by handle attack
--Independent re-locker and hardplate to prevent drilling attack on locking mechanism

You can read all about it here.

Gardall safe

 

[MossRoad]

We keep our important papers in the bank and keep copies at home. We do the same with our photos on CDs.

Off site backups is the way to go. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[Bird]

Thanks to everyone who responded; gives me a lot more information to try to decide what I want to do.

 

[fishman]

While I haven't purchased on yet, most people I know use a goldenrod dehumidifier found here for their safe. It uses just a few watts of power and keeps your stuff dry.

 

[Soundguy]

I have a Sentry 1170 ( 1? cf ) Their literature seemed pretty good on it. it has hanging file racks. I keep the very same stuff you mentioned in it.

Soundguy

 

[Bird]

Chris, I find the model 1170 here and that might be the more sensible one for me to buy; cheaper and lighter, but rated for 1/2 hour. Today I've been looking at the S3110 here with 1 hour protection. As you can see, Sentry's own website has it at $204 while Wal-Mart has it for just under $129. Office Depot and Office Max both have the same model but $188 and $199.

 

[Cliff_Johns]

We have a few 1170's we bought before we got the lateral fire safe. They are nice little units, but I think if you're spending the time and the money, you ought to get something that will last a little longer in a fire.

On a side note, all the keys for the 1170 fire safes are interchangeable, just like tractors in that sense.

Cliff

 

[utah]

sorry if this is out-of-thread but I'n new and wasn't sure how to initiate a question to you...
If you are the member who posted a rave review of the Kubota BX2200 on 4-9-02... and if you still feel positive about the machine? We're looking at a used (150 hours) one and not sure what we would be getting into.