That's where the burglary rating comes in Smitty, as well as the fire rating. And the locksmith does not get to assign these ratings, he can merely tell you what they are for a given safe. It's quite easy to Google the ratings and see what they mean.
I've done some extensive research too. As a result, I will save everybody thats interested some time. Check out Sturdysafe.com. Not as flashy as all the major brand names. But if you want the most steel for your money and 2300 degree fabric insulation and the option to add torch resistant stainless to the inside, theyre your guys. Standard 7 gauge steel used in all their stuff and S&G locks. If you google reviews you will find complaints about every major brand. Have not seen complaints about these guys. No dealer middle man, no advertising costs, no high dollar paint job. Just more steel for your money.
To extend that I'll say there are 'UL' ratings and there are 'industry' ratings. For instance, a locksmith can tell you a safe is B-rated, but that only means that it likely has 1/2" steel in the door and 1/4" on the sides. It doesn't mean it's been tested for a particular level of burglary resistance.
The ratings can be misleading. Most manufacturers do their own fire testing and theres alot of different measures by which they decide on how long a safe can hold up in a fire. Some tests are more telling than others. No material or amount of fire protection will be able to hold up if it is subjected to hours of heat with no cool down. It is best to use media containers/additional fire safes within a good safe for max protection. I dont want my slabs to melt or coins to turn colors from heat. Even the ratings these companies list allow for the interior of the safe to reach over 300 degrees within their rated times. A residential security container rating is not really that outstanding of a burglary rating. But anything considered should have this rating at a minimum. If anyones considering something that couldnt even obtain that rating, forget about it unless youre only goal is to keep the kids out.
I suppose a smart thief (usually not the case in simple home robberies to begin with) could break into any safe given enough time. Time is really what you have to limit. A simple alarm system will drastically limit their time to break into or remove a safe. Many, if not most home security systems are impervious to someone cutting the power or phone lines. If a burglar knows he has only two minutes before neighbors and police arrive, I doubt he'll be torching or sawing or loading a safe into a truck. Guy
They make motion sensors that when set, will call your cell phone if they detect heat and movement. I know somebody who uses them and they work. Then you can have a family member or the police immediately check the house if youre gone. The other thing like coleguy mentioned, some of this stuff takes alot of equipment to run. Youd have to haul in tanks, compressors, generators, etc. Most thiefs arent going to hang around that long. Nobodys going to have the tools to remove something thats internally bolted down and then move over 1000 lbs up stairs.
The thing i am most surprised about here is that all of you have 100k plus collections that even warrent safes and security gaurds lol. I must be an ant among elephants
International TL-30x6. The 30x6 is a rating system stating that each of the six (6) sides take at least 30 minutes to drill through. It is 4,000lbs empty, and is bolted to the concrete floor. My safe has a combination as well as digital keypad. So yes, I do think my valuables are safe in my home. If you have valuable items (coins or note) that you wish to keep at home, then it is a must to purchase a properly rated safe.
Yeah, its really lucky for us most thieves aren't very bright. There are bright ones out there, but they aren't very famous since they don't get caught. Btw, regarding Vess' comment about lugging it up the stairs. Its a good one. I actually, (not intentionally at first but it works), have a built in stair that cannot even handle such weight. When I move anything heavy I have to bring extra material in with me, and spend time rigging it, or else the heavy item would collapse the stair. In hindsight, its kind of a nice extra security measure. I bet it would be fairly simple to design one on purpose.
In Amsterdam, the doors are too thin so almost all the houses have riggs built into the roof and the houses are slanted forward. Ruben
Seriously, lets pretend somebody spends $1k a year on coins. For most, that number is probably much higher. But, at only a grand a year on a collection of anything, over 5, 10, 20, 30 years, it adds up for everybody. What do you do? SDBs are tiny, you have to pay good money for somebody else to have physical possession of your items, you have to travel to it, revolve around the bank's schedule, and most people that have them still have stuff at home anyway. Nobody is immune from being robbed. You may as well prepare for it. So what else can you do if you want to collect over a long period of time? A good safe almost becomes an automatic need for a collector of anything valuable. With the side benefit that you can use it for many other common valuables if it's big enough. What the collection becomes over time will dictate the safe you need. The couple in this article should have had a $10k, immovable safe IMO. Even if it meant selling off part of the collection. They either didn't do any research, were nieve or just wanted to go cheap. Whatever the case, they paid dearly for it. There's the lesson.
I always thought my nearly half ton safe that was bolted to the floor and had a alarm on it was safe, but I didn't plan for Hurricane Katrina putting it twelve feet under water. Now I keep my coins in a vault in a tall building. I have visitation on weekends now.
A big plus 1 there. I have actually gone as far as having a small " decoy" safe with some rocks in it. It is easy to spot. The real safe is very hidden and bolted to the floor. Mike
Most experienced burglars are well aware of decoy safes' and tricks like hiding valuables in fake shaving cream cans. In long run these only end up fooling one's family who may not find these if one was to pass away.
i can't see putting 200,000 dollrs worht of coins in the house without an alarmed, built into the wall (a contrete wall) safe There has got to be a better way