Originally Posted by
Fuel Fire Desire
I use Able Safe in Pinconning for all of my safes. I prefer Fort Knox, of which he is a dealer. He is also one of the only Dakota dealers in mi, of which I have one. Great guy, great service, and has always given me a discount being I’m from down state and continue to buy from him. I believe he has Libertys in stock as well.
While it takes more time to access, I prefer a dial lock. Mainly for the tactile “solid” feel of them over the cheaper feeling plastic electronic interface. No batteries to worry about either. I’m not one to worry about EMP’s, but that’s also a positive for mechanical. The mechanical locks I have (S&G’s I believe they are) aren’t like a pad lock or gym locker, there’s a few more steps involved. My wife still can’t figure them out even with knowing the digits, lol. That might be a negative.
I prefer wider safes. I don’t have to unload a stack of 12 guns to get to the one I want way in the back if they’re more spread out.
—-get the door organizer—
—-get a lighting package—- I didn’t get the expensive factory option, but rather a 12’ strip of LED’s with a motion sensor from amazon for $20. Works great.
Get a dry rod. I don’t have to worry about baking/ buying new desiccant packs, my dry rod keeps everything circulating.
Make sure your safe has a clutch on the handle. Some do, some don’t. Without a clutch someone can put a cheater bar on your handle and pull right through the lock. A clutch will slip to prevent over torquing of the locking pawl.
Bolt the safe down, but not to your basement floor. I was warned of this by three different dealers. If you go all the way through your pad (some are cheaply poured to just a couple inches) you’ll pop into the water table, and you’ll get water in your basement.
Having a pedestal makes getting into the safe easier, and keeps it off the floor in case of minor flooding, but completely defeats the purpose of bolting down. I made my own pedestals using multiple layers of 6x6’s. The 6x6’s are liquid nailed to the floor, to each other, lag bolted together, and the safe has 4 10” lag bolts running into them. Even if someone were to pop the base off the floor, the extra 400lbs and bulk of the wood makes it impossible to fit through any door or up any stairs.
If you don’t bolt down, bolt it to the wall. Safe doors are heavy, and heavier when loaded with a heavy organizer. Having a 1200lb steel box tip over on you would ruin your day.
Don’t worry too much about fire ratings, unless you plan on having it at a property with little chance of having a timely fire response (up north cabin). Many fire ratings are deceptive. Even if the heat doesn’t kill the contents of your safe, the 2 feet of water the fire department will put in your basement will.
No matter the safe, most under the 5 figure price tags are just fancier sheet metal lockers. A determined thief will still be able to cut into the sides where the safes are weakest. Stainless wall liners and hardened steel exterior panels help, but aren’t completely cut-proof.
Above all else.....find the size of safe you think you could never fill...and get the next size larger. The guy at Able Safe said that the vast majority of first time buyers are back within a year to buy another one because they stuffed their first one full. Me included.