Question What brand of safe do you like and what do you look for?

[GeeQ87]

It can't be said enough, keep firearm stickers off your vehicle. Any stickers for that matter, you don't want anyone knowing what you do and what hobbies you have fancy equipment for in your house. Dogs, firearms, motorcycles, mountain bikes etc. Tweakers smell that from a mile away.

Exactly. We have multiple layers of security including 3 huge shepherds. Cars have no stickers. Yes, when you come into my home you’ll see a blown up picture of a newborn baby shoot with my kids and rifle lol. Outside of the home, nothing.

 

[Librarian]

- assess your personal situation. How fast is your LEO response? Security cameras? Effective dogs? Multiple layers of security before the safe? Rough neighborhood? Do you travel for extended periods frequently? Likelihood of fire threat?

I think this is the critical assessment; in a low threat condition, you can easily get away with a Costco chinesium safe; I bought one for my then-infant grandson, so his parents would properly keep their guns out of little hands. I don't think he knows it's supposed to be his, but now he has some of his own put away. (They need an additional safe ...)

For myself, I am persuaded that arming the underworld is Bad JuJu, and I have had two successive AMSEC 'real' (UL-rated TL-15, then TL-30x6) safes. My expected burglary threat is probably some small number of our local tweaker population, and I don't have power tools that would allow a visitor to crack my safe. I'm a little paranoid, and fortunately I can mostly afford to be.

But any safe can be cracked, eventually, with enough effort; all one hopes is to make the time so long that the burglars are interrupted or give up.

 

[2azone]

Get the biggest one you can, like a stealth safe ul50 (we carry those) or a cannon or format. These are all made in California too! Format is by or upland shop. I store away more than guns in mine, pink slips, kids lost teeth, anything I would miss in a fire. Mi my e also had power, network, and USB. I backup to a nas inside it

 

[H. Bowman]

A buddy of mine's house burned down a few years ago and his fireproof safe melted into a large disc along with his dads antique firearms. Looking at fire ratings even the best ones are rated for like 15 minutes of fire exposure if I'm reading it correctly. I just use a cheap one, I don't have kids or anything running around. I also don't have firearms that I can't just replace. Hell, I need to replace them anyway...

None of them are rated for sitting under a smoldering house for half a day. A lot of folks say you should base the time rating you buy for the typical fire department response time to your location. Ie., If they're going to be there and putting water on it in 15 minutes, then get a 45 minute safe.

For me, that's an hour at least, so fire rating probably doesn't matter as much as secure against intrusion.

 

[DrJonesUSA]

Not endorsing this, never tried / seen one, but the concept is way too cool to not share:

The Slide Bundle Our Removable and Portable Storage OptionBlack / Leatherette

The Headrest Slide. Do you want a removable safe to take with you? This is the model for you. The interior safe slides in and out of the headrest housing. It locks in place while in the housing. When you need it with you, just unlock the safe, slide out and go. A symmetrical design so you can...

www.theheadrestsafe.com

Gun safe for your car headrest.
Heck; when your car is unattended, use it to stash knives, med gear, etc.

 

[SomeOne]

It can't be said enough, keep firearm stickers off your vehicle. Any stickers for that matter, you don't want anyone knowing what you do and what hobbies you have fancy equipment for in your house. Dogs, firearms, motorcycles, mountain bikes etc. Tweakers smell that from a mile

True, but you still expose your gun hobby each time you go to a range. It's still an easy target

 

[joefrank64k]

I've been happy with Sun Welding in Simi Valley:

Handcrafted Safes & Vault Doors - Sun Welding Safe Company

Family owned, all built here in SoCal.

 

[DrJonesUSA]

True, but you still expose your gun hobby each time you go to a range. It's still an easy target

I mean... not really the same thing.

One is you are constantly broadcasting the fact that you own guns to everyone who sees your car.
The other is only people who are paying any attention to anything other than themselves, who might happen to notice you at the range, and then want to stalk / follow you around...

 

[Tank Mechanic]

You need to pay attention to anyone following you and have a car fast enough to lose them. Or drive to the police station. Was an incident in Livermore. Shooter was followed from range. Car broken into when stopped somewhere.

True, but you still expose your gun hobby each time you go to a range. It's still an easy target

I mean... not really the same thing.

One is you are constantly broadcasting the fact that you own guns to everyone who sees your car.
The other is only people who are paying any attention to anything other than themselves, who might happen to notice you at the range, and then want to stalk / follow you around...

 

[Tank Mechanic]

Also load and unload range bag and gun cases inside garage.

 

[Malibu]

My go-to is anything made by Sun Welding in Simi Valley Ca. Usually I contract with them to built to suit, although they have a nice range of models. I prefer heavy with a good fire rating. For RSC’s that hold mainly rifles, I use Rifle Rods as a way to maximize capacity, especially for reference collection elements that don’t come out very often.
Of critical importance to us is that humidity is controlled. There are several ways to go about this depending on the location. And of course, BOLT THE SAFE DOWN, AND HIDE IT WELL.

 

[Malibu]

Rifle Rods come extremely highly recommended:

Rifle Rods Gun Rack System

Organize your gun safe with the Rifle Rods gun rack system to store more guns.

www.storemoreguns.com

I bought a set, just haven't made the time to install them.

Why?
Because I'm going to have to rip EVERYTHING out of my safe - guns, shelves & all, TOTALLY rearrange it, in order to install them.
So; learn from my mistakes, kids.

Rifle Rods are one of the best accessories ever developed. I converted to that system a few years ago and have never looked back.
As to your needing to remove everything from your safe(s), YES, do that!…..I actually “discovered” a few weapons I had either forgotten about, or wasn’t sure exactly where they had been placed.
Pro Tip: on the INSIDE of the safe door, post an inventory sheet of what’s inside, and where it is in relation to everything else. This helps to save time when extracting what you are looking for.
Pro Tip #2: store slings separately from weapons. A full-sized walk-in closet works great for slings, cases, etc. Ladies have proper closets for all their tons of clothes, shoes, coats, shoes, hats, dresses, boots, shoes, etc. Men should have something similar in size for slings and cases.

 

[Hunterb]

TL-30 rated safes are great if you can afford them and if you’re on a concrete slab foundation on the first floor. Can be too heavy on raised foundation older homes without reinforcement.

Sturdy safe is great. Had some group buys which get a small discount on them through the years.

Amsec, the higher end ones are pretty good too.

 

[Librarian]

TL-30 rated safes are great if you can afford them and if you’re on a concrete slab foundation on the first floor. Can be too heavy on raised foundation older homes without reinforcement.

Truth. At not quite 5000 lb empty, mine would need that garage slab, where it is, or 'special preparation'.

But even those should be bolted down; after all, it was positioned with a pallet jack, and it could be removed the same way. Wouldn't be fast, mind you.

 

[46knuck]

I have one safe in the house and one in the shop. Not so much worried about fire but when I leave town for more that a day or two I hide my cut torch and plasma tips. Just seems like a good idea.

 

[Wolkenflieger]

Truth. At not quite 5000 lb empty, mine would need that garage slab, where it is, or 'special preparation'.

But even those should be bolted down; after all, it was positioned with a pallet jack, and it could be removed the same way. Wouldn't be fast, mind you.

How does bolting a safe work? Bolting to what? I know people bolt to the floor, but can any spot in a garage work for this?

Also, how does one control humidity and heat in a garage and is this anything to worry about vs. an in-home safe location?

 

[Warpspeed]

How does bolting a safe work? Bolting to what? I know people bolt to the floor, but can any spot in a garage work for this?

Also, how does one control humidity and heat in a garage and is this anything to worry about vs. an in-home safe location?

Depending on the location , bolted to the floor an/or wall.

I don't worry about heat but do run a Golden Rod dehumidifier rod to keep the humidity at bay.

 

[Wolkenflieger]

Depending on the location , bolted to the floor an/or wall.

I don't worry about heat but do run a Golden Rod dehumidifier rod to keep the humidity at bay.

Thanks! I'll check with some local safe companies to see what's what. I like the idea of a dehumidifier rod, which explains why some safes offer cable access.

 

[Librarian]

How does bolting a safe work? Bolting to what? I know people bolt to the floor, but can any spot in a garage work for this?

Also, how does one control humidity and heat in a garage and is this anything to worry about vs. an in-home safe location?

Floor; there is sometimes a concern with pre-stressed concrete, as there are cables it would be Very Good To Avoid! As my walls are standard 2x4 and sheetrock, nothing strong enough to bolt to there, and no holes in the sides of the safe for bolts anyway.

And yes, a Golden rod for humidity; there is one hole in the back for a cord, and the power goes to the string lights and Golden rod.

 

[Wolkenflieger]

Floor; there is sometimes a concern with pre-stressed concrete, as there are cables it would be Very Good To Avoid! As my walls are standard 2x4 and sheetrock, nothing strong enough to bolt to there, and no holes in the sides of the safe for bolts anyway.

And yes, a Golden rod for humidity; there is one hole in the back for a cord, and the power goes to the string lights and Golden rod.

Thank you!

Yeah for some reason I'm not picturing how a bolt can be held in concrete foundation. I'm just picturing it cracking, but I don't know much about it. I'll ask the safe company when I call 'em. Good to know about that humidity-reduction rod.