How much safe is enough?

Stealth;

A couple of things you might wish to think about when looking at a prospective house buy, one that you're serious about: Ask your insurance agent what the insurance company uses for typical response times for the fire and police departments. And, what's the crime level that they're basing the rates on? That information, and the value to you of the contents, should give you a good idea of what you're going to need in the security container field.

900F

Keep in mind the size and weight in relation to moving it. If you are in your "final home", not a big deal assuming you can place it in your home.

I made the decision if we ever move, I will leave the safe in the house and buy a new one. Cost of moving a safe is steep, especially if your safe is over 800 lbs...


Take Care,

Buzz

Think Bank vault. Not as crazy as it might sound. Decades ago, Banks stopped installing the huge fancy vaults with doors big enough you could park a small suv inside. As supermarket and shopping center branches got popular they went to what in the industry became known as a refrigerator vault. They weighed 1000lbs or more [some were bigger than others] and new cost upwards to $10k. Over time many of those branches closed and the bank had to remove all the bank's equipment and restore the space to what they call a "white box". The cost to move and store one of these vaults exceeded the value of the thing even just a few years after installation. As the person responsible for building out the new ones and closing the existing ones, these things were expensive and hard to get moved. The last one I did was under the gun to vacate the store and I ended up "giving it" to the contractor who did a lot of our builds just to get it moved.

These safes are XXX safer than any gun safe and would be easy to retro fit. If you know anyone responsible for operations at a bank ask them. You might get lucky!!

Stealthfixr said:

No one with experience on a Hollon safe?

Click to expand...

Price wise things get strange, as I have seen it online for as little as $2.2k and as high as $3.1k.

Click to expand...

No experience, but I did notice that the more expensive listing has a 8GA body and the less expensive one says 1/8" body which is 11GA.

The RG-45 might be different than the Republic 45? Different dimensions too.

Walkalong said:

An 800 pound safe is fairly easy to move.

Click to expand...

All I need is a wrecking bar and some pieces of PVC to move a safe that weight by myself. Bolting it down, hopefully to both the floor and wall, is a necessity.

Buy a safe w/ the thickest steel and options you want. Emphasis on thickest steel. Fire rating for me wasn't an issue as I'm in town and the fire station is two minutes away. The last safe I bought was a Cabela's Woodsman. It had the thickest steel, and a mechanical lock, at it's price point. I don't expect it to do what the TL safes I own do. But I didn't need that level of protection.

Fella's;

I agree, 800 lbs. is not especially heavy or hard for one person to move. I used to be a professional at that kind of thing & have moved substantially heavier safes by myself. No fun, but it got done. Unless you have something well over, and preferably in a multiple of, a thousand pounds, it can be moved rather easily if it isn't bolted down.

And don't DO NOT store ammo in your security container. If the thermal protective ability is exceeded, the stuff will almost certainly go off. If one goes, they all go, and fill the box with a cloud of incandescent gas. Goodbye contents, not much is left. I've personally seen this happen and it isn't pretty.

900F

My biggest is a Summit Denali 60, and weighs 1800lbs empty. When I moved 30 miles out of town, the dealer came to my old house and picked it up, stored it for several days until I was ready, then delivered and installed it for $350 total. They even bolted down the smaller safe I'd had the movers bring. If I move again, I'll move the safes again.

orpington said:

Post #12, above: Where does one get a used security safe?

Click to expand...

I think it partly depends on your area and just the dumb luck of timing, but Craigslist moving sales can be golden IMO. As I'd prefer not to die if not necessary, my personal preference is to pay an expert for the move on the larger security safes.

So if I had some random luck finding a used security safe in a moving sale, I'd then contact my local guy who provides the same services that the several safe experts that have posted in this thread do, get a general price estimate, have him handle the move and inspect the locking mechanism.

Then I'd go to town on painting it. I'm not the world's best painter, so I'm OK if my end result is a bit ghetto. I've got one paint job that's so bland I've considered either spray painting it lime green or covering it in the same wallpaper that the room is, as this would make it invisible. The woman doesn't seem to feel that it's a very good use of spare wallpaper, but I digress.