Tag: Home security

Use Discretion When Buying a Gun Safe

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There is a gun store in our state that also sells gun safes.  When they sell a safe they put a “sold” sign on it which includes the buyer’s name, address and phone number.  But the safe along with the customer’s information remains on display until it is picked up or delivered.  Dozens of people every day could potentially write down the safe model and customer information with the intent to break into it after it is installed.  But consider this:  A thief might decide that since the buyer obviously has things in the house that need to be in a safe, it might be better to visit his house now, before the safe is delivered!

I related this to a customer who had visited that gun store.  He observed the same thing and said he would never buy a gun safe there because of the store’s complete lack of discretion.  But he stated “It’s even worse than that. I asked to see the interior of a sold safe, and the store employee wrote the combination for me on a paper so I could open it to look.  I could have gone to that guy’s house when he was away, opened the safe using the combination, and cleaned it out, without needing to take any tools.”

Be careful when investing in home security.  Protect yourself by being discrete, and buy from a place that also practices discretion.  Stores like the one above are one of the reasons I always say “Buy your guns from a gun store, but buy you gun safe from a safe store.”      

New Year’s Resolutions: Improve Home Security

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I’m not big on New Year’s Resolutions. One reason is that if I had any flaws I would have fixed them already. The other reason is that most resolutions are never fully met. If you resolve to lose 20 pounds and keep it off, you never really finish. If you resolve to “be a better person”, you never get to quit being good, or you blow your resolution commitment.

If, however, you want to do something meaningful and have an end point at which time you can say “I achieved my resolution” — then I have an idea. Do that home security upgrade that you have been thinking about. It could be installing security cameras, installing deadbolts, putting motion activated lights outside your house, locking up papers and jewelry in a fire/burglary safe, securing your guns in a gun safe, properly protecting your coin or stamp collection, etc.

Take some time to study what you need, spend enough money to buy quality products, and then arrange for installation. By the middle of January you can sit back with a cold beer and feel proud that you accomplished your resolution. No guilt for the rest of the year! Besides, if you try to be a better person than you really are, that’s likely to cause more stress, which might make you eat more, resulting in gain weight, then you feel bad so you start to drink more than you should, which causes . . .

Have a great 2016!

New Year’s Resolution: Home Security

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I’m not big on New Year’s Resolutions because if I had any flaws I would have fixed them already.  No, that’s not really it.  The real reason is that most resolutions are never fully met.  If you resolve to lose 20 pounds and keep it off, you never really finish.  If you resolve to “be a better person”, you never get to quit being good without blowing you resolution commitment.

If, however, you want to do something meaningful and have an endpoint at which time you can say “I achieved my resolution” — then I have an idea.  Do that security upgrade that you have been thinking about.  It could be installing security cameras in your home or putting motion-activated lights outside your house, installing deadbolts, locking up papers and jewelry in a fire/burglary safe, securing your guns in a gun safe, properly protecting your coin or stamp collection, etc.

Spend some time studying what you need, spend enough money to buy quality products, and then arrange for installation.  By the middle of January, you can sit back with a cold beer and feel proud that you accomplished your resolution.  No guilt for the rest of the year!  Besides, if you try to be a better person than you really are, that’s likely to cause more stress, which might make you gain weight, then you feel bad so you start to . . .

Have a great 2015!

In-Floor Safes Part 2, the Downsides

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In-floor safes provide terrific security from theft, but most customers decide against buying one when they learn about all the negatives.
1)  Difficult to install:  Floor safes are hard to install, especially if you need to cut a hole into an existing concrete floor.  Even when pouring a new floor it can be difficult to properly set the safe.
2)  Lack of space:  If all you are storing is gold or cash most floor safes will give you plenty of room.  But for bulkier items like silver or a coin collection or documents, you will run out of space quickly.
SQUARE & CYLINDER IN-FLOOR SAFES
3)  Inconvenient to use:  Getting down on hands and knees to unlock a floor safe is awkward.  Reaching down below floor level into the safe is worse.  Even if your knees and back allow you to do that now, will they still be OK in five or ten years?
4)  Water and moisture problems:  Most floor safes are not water-proof around the door, so a broken water heater, sewer backup, water from a fire hose or heavy rain can flood a floor safe and damage its contents.  A rising water table can flood the safe from below ground if there are cracks in the welds.  Floor safes tend to be damper than above ground units, so they are more likely to develop odors and mildew.
5)  Rust:  When safes are installed so that there is contact with damp sand, most can rust through in just a few years.  A plastic or fiberglass safe body can prevent this problem.
6)  Lock problems:  Since the lock is below floor level, it is easy for sand and dirt to get inside it.  That will cause problems for any kind of lock.
7)  You can’t take it with you:  When you sell your house you will almost certainly need to leave a floor safe behind and buy a new one.

All that being said, the high security provided by floor safes make them appropriate for some folks.

In-Floor Safes, Part 1

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In-floor safes offer several big security advantages compared to “above ground” units, but they also have limitations for most applications.

SQUARE & CYLINDER IN-FLOOR SAFES
SQUARE AND CYLINDER FLOOR SAFES

The first advantage is that they are out of sight – that is really important.  When properly installed they can be hidden by furniture or covered by a rug to become “invisible”.  Even if your floor safe is discovered, they are very difficult to open by anyone except a trained professional.  In fact, most of the safe technician’s usual opening techniques can’t be used on floor safes.     If properly installed in a concrete floor they are almost impossible to remove without big power tools.  In addition, a burglar cannot go through the side of a floor safe the way he might be able to on a standard type safe, and pounding on the door with a sledge hammer rarely works.

REMOVABLE SAFE HEADS
REMOVABLE SAFE HEADS

Some floor safes have removable “safe heads” that can easily be carried to a lock shop for a combo change.  This saves the cost of an expensive service call by the locksmith.  Businesses that need frequent combo changes appreciate the savings.

Next:  The downsides of in-floor safes.