Moore, OK Tornado took the house, left the gun safe!

[Hacker15E]

H&H is a local gun store/range in OKC.

At the end of the original blog post they say,

"H&H Shooting Sports, where the owners purchased the safe, and who delivered and bolted down their Liberty Safe, will be replacing their safe for an upgraded Liberty Safe model once construction on their new home has been completed. Their original safe is still in working order and will be installed into the H&H Safe Department so that everyone can see how the Franklin Series Liberty Safe stands up to an EF5 Tornado in person."

So, despite the nay-saying in this thread, I give it a high percent chance that it is an authentic story and photos.

It is likely that the debris in the area has been cleaned up, as well as the safe itself, before the photos were taken. If you look at the series of photos, it shows the safe completely empty, and the story says that, "The owners opened up the safe to find all of their valuables were still protected!" So obviously the safe has been cleaned out inside, so it was not photographed "as found" right after the 20 May tornado.

 

[rcmodel]

O.K, I may be a nay-sayer.

But I still contend the grass, trees, and bushes along the driveway on the left didn't grow back this nice in two weeks!

Maybe this home foundation was from the 2003 Moore tornado, and not the 2013 tornado in the same place??

rc

 

[a1abdj]

so that everyone can see how the Franklin Series Liberty Safe stands up to an EF5 Tornado in person."

Well seeing the paint isn't even scratched, I'm going to have to say it didn't hold up to anything more severe than a belt buckle rubbing up against it.

 

[Kuyong_Chuin]

I do not believe that this photo after examining it is Photoshopped. I do however believe it was staged. There are what looks like wheel marks on the concrete leading towards the safe and the only mark on the safe is in the lower left corner that I can see even blowing the photo up. It is just too clean to be hit with the the red bricks laying at the door of the safe. Take a red brick and throw it at a piece of steel I bet you will find a red mark on the steel where the brick hit even if there no harm to the steel the mark will be still there unless it was cleaned up. There are paints that resist being chipped. When I worked at an aluminum factory one of the things we made was aluminum siding that was painted with a special paint and then a clear coat painted over the color. It had a 50 year warranty on not being able to be chipped. Yes you could hit it with a sledge hammer and bend the tar out of the metal but the paint wouldn't chip.

P.S. Notice if this photo was taken after it was opened why is the bricks in front of the door and not pushed out of the way?

 

[JohnBT]

And not a drop of water stained the carpeted interior? Must have been one of those dry storms. No dust inside either. Okay, maybe the wind only blew on the back side.

One of my safes is like the one pictured and the door is not watertight. Or airtight. It has a fire seal, but it takes heat to make it expand.

 

[Kuyong_Chuin]

Just noticed something else. Since when do EF5's stack 5 gallon buckets together and neatly place a cinder block and bricks on top of it?

 

[a1abdj]

Just noticed something else. Since when do EF5's stack 5 gallon buckets together and neatly place a cinder block and bricks on top of it?

Soon, the bucket retailer is going to have those buckets on display in their showroom to show you how tornado proof their buckets are.

 

[Trent]

My bet, the bucket and rags were used to wipe it down before they took the pics.

The scrape marks on the side also look suspiciously like it was knocked over, and later set back up.

Notice the metal rod on the ground next to it?

They slide those under after getting it up a little, to get enough bite to a bigger lever under. Which would also explain the odd scrapes on the right side where it appears to have been rotated on the ground. Then the bricks, to get enough purchase for more leverage... then up it goes.

Yeah, I would bet a jelly donut that safe got knocked on it's side.

 

[JohnBT]

Here's a Liberty Lincoln 50 that survived a 2011 F5 in GA.

www.libertysafe.com/lincoln-50-survives-f5-tornado-lm-4-p-2041.html

 

[a1abdj]

But this is the problem.....the safes aren't really surviving anything other than some high wind. There's a plastic trash can right next to the safe that also "survived".

So it wouldn't matter if you had your guns in the safe, or in the plastic trash can. It's not nearly as impressive when you look at it from that standpoint.

 

[Trent]

But this is the problem.....the safes aren't really surviving anything other than some high wind. There's a plastic trash can right next to the safe that also "survived".

So it wouldn't matter if you had your guns in the safe, or in the plastic trash can. It's not nearly as impressive when you look at it from that standpoint.

Unless that plastic trash can came from 2 miles away, intact.

I'd rather have my guns somewhere CLOSE, and together, where I can find them quickly, than scattered over a 5 mile radius.

EDIT: The more impressive thing is whether the BOLTS remained anchored. The safe is going to survive, even if it gets thrown a half mile. The guns might be banged up, but otherwise OK. Scopes might get destroyed, but the firearms themselves would be salvageable. If the safe didn't move, or remained bolted, then the damage to what's INSIDE will be minimal. I could care less if the safe itself is destroyed in that event.

My Graffunder weighs 3600 lbs and is anchored to reinforced concrete in the basement. It would take something a hell of a lot more powerful than an EF5 to move it!

 

[4v50 Gary]

Anchoring your safe is worth the effort.

 

[heeler]

Yep anchoring is the key here also not to mention a great deterrent to hauling off the safe in a burglary.

I have serious doubts about the story of the Liberty Franklin here.
At least the other safes featured in the other posts have that rugged look of the fight they endured.
Not so much the sanitized Franklin.
And this is no Liberty bash as the Franklin is one of those budgets gun safes I have recommended to at least three different people over the last couple of years.

 

[Kuyong_Chuin]

My Graffunder weighs 3600 lbs and is anchored to reinforced concrete in the basement. It would take something a hell of a lot more powerful than an EF5 to move it!

Just so you know a freight train weighs a whole lot more than any gun safe and tornadoes have knocked them off tracks without being an EF5. Just saying tornadoes are unpredictable on what they do.

 

[rondog]

My Graffunder weighs 3600 lbs and is anchored to reinforced concrete in the basement. It would take something a hell of a lot more powerful than an EF5 to move it!

I wanna know how you got a 3600 lb. safe in the basement! What did you do...build the basement first, set the safe in with a crane, and then build the house up around it?

 

[medalguy]

Another point-- Look at the top of that safe, the angle of the top. Shooting a picture from 20-30 feet in front of the safe should show the top edge of the safe, and NOT the entire top surface of the safe. Yet the picture clearly shows the entire top surface angled up and away from the camera.

Something isn't right here. I call BS too.

 

[rcmodel]

The freeken trees, bushes, and grass behind the safe ain't been in no Moore OK F5 tornado lately, let alone two weeks before the photos were published, I keep say'n!!

That serene shot of the tornado damaged trees in the background of the safe should like the trees in the photo in post #34.

That is what trees actually look like two weeks later, after even a small F2 - F3 tornado.

rc

 

[Creature]

Anyone who contends that the photo is staged because they believe that a tornado will destroy everything nearby...is wrong. Tornadoes are strange. Wind speeds vary greatly foot by foot and yard by yard away from the main funnel of a tornado...even when dealing with EF5's. There have been many instances of homes being totally destroyed while neighboring homes mere yards away sustaining little to no damage.

Here is an example of the disparity of damage that tornadoes are capable of:

Notice the nicely manicured grass...and the little fir tree in the foreground and the fully-leafed deciduous trees in the background?

 

[JohnBT]

Is that pic from a 1.3- to 2.6-mile-wide tornado like the one in Moore?

 

[sota]

or in creature's picture, notice the totally obliterated house lying in ruin next to the the house that doesn't look like it has so much as a shingle out of place. (ok, I think 1 window might have plywood on it.) Tornadoes are strange animals.

 

[Creature]

Is that pic from a 1.3- to 2.6-mile-wide tornado like the one in Moore?

Neither here nor there...because the winds dramatically decrease as you travel feet and yards away from the actual funnel of even EF5 tornadoes. Also, tornadoes usually do not instantly touch down as an EF5. They grow. And they tend to move as they grow and become stronger.

This is an aerial photo of the 2013 Moore, OK tornado damage swath. Notice that the wind damage is confined to a very limited swath. This photo is likely near the germinal or terminal end of the tornado's damage path.



( http://foxnewsinsider.com/2013/05/2...hows-tornados-exact-path-through-neighborhood )

 

[Hacker15E]

My Graffunder weighs 3600 lbs and is anchored to reinforced concrete in the basement. It would take something a hell of a lot more powerful than an EF5 to move it!

Actually, no. An EF5 would do it...as would lesser tornadoes, depending on conditions.

Here's the video of the F3 tornado that went through Ft Worth in April 2012, picking up and tossing semi trailers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agLN1Z7ROmE

So, given the right conditions -- even with the anchoring and weight -- that safe could be tossed into the next neighborhood.

 

[Hacker15E]

Another point-- Look at the top of that safe, the angle of the top. Shooting a picture from 20-30 feet in front of the safe should show the top edge of the safe, and NOT the entire top surface of the safe. Yet the picture clearly shows the entire top surface angled up and away from the camera.

Something isn't right here. I call BS too.

There are other photos of the safe in place on the H&H blog -- it isn't a photoshop job.

http://hhshootingsports.com/WireShots/archives/5154

 

[a1abdj]

Fake, not fake, it doesn't matter. The safe was not subject to any serious abuse, so it's nothing to be impressed about. I have seen safes more scratched up by amateurs moving them.

 

[yzguy87]

Do safes come with tornado ratings now?