Looking for a good gun/knife safe

hoxhunbe

hoxhunbe

Joined
Feb 6, 2012
Messages
417
(Apologies if this isn't in the appropriate forum, although I couldn't find one that made more sense :D)

I am looking for a moderately-priced and reasonably feature-rich gun/knife/general valuables safe. I don't want to spend more than $800-$1200, and I'd like the thing to have interior lights and a power outlet. I live a kind of spartan lifestyle and don't have many things to store, but I'd like to safely store ALL of what I do have. Let's say 20-30 knives, three to five pistols and long guns, a few cases of ammo, a couple of iPads, various documents, a few watches, and various little trinkets here and there.

Made in USA is a priority. Fire resistance is nice, but anything with more than 30-45 minute rating is probably not of much concern for my needs. 500-700 lbs is the absolute maximum. Any more and I won't be able to move it myself whenever relocating. Plus, I currently live in a friend's double wide on a river (thus it's built on concrete risers), and I don't want the thing crashing through the floorboards.

The Franklin from Liberty is pretty boss, but it's just too expensive. The step down (Colonial) is doable in a pinch, but still costs a lot. Are there better brands for the money out there? If so, I'd love to have some suggestions. A nice balance between price and features is what I'm after. Value is king for this purchase.

Thanks for all!
 
hoxhunbe said:
The step down (Colonial) is doable in a pinch, but still costs a lot. Are there better brands for the money out there?
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No.

Made in America and Quality cost. How much is the loss of your stuff worth to you? You really want to stay with Liberty if at all possible. The quality safes from other major brands are most likely built by Liberty too.

Stay away from the imported stuff unless you are looking to stop "smash and grab" teenage kids.
 
Hey All,

Yep Liberty Safe without a doubt, Its what we use in the shop and I haven't regretted its purchase at all.


regards,

Lisa
 
Hey guys, thanks for the feedback. I know Liberty is good stuff. Apparently, Fort Knox is, too.

My main use for safe security/protection is actually not from theives first and foremost but from children, guests, and other undesirables (:D). I like to know my things are out of reach for everyone but myself and the missus.

Sufler, I very much appreciate the video link, watched it all. Very compelling (and this dude's in Florida, just like me). Providence? CESafes' new USA Rhino line is extremely interesting, and at this point is a potential favorite for my particular needs. Of course, I will continue to research this.

Thanks again, all! I knew I could count on Bladeforums :thumbup:
 
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They're all pretty much designed for fire, so the subtle differences are aesthetics, electronics (manual, push button, finger print combination). I got a redhead from bass pro a few years ago for about $900. As far as lights, ive seen people make their own using LED strips that activate when the door is opened. They all should have a hole in the bottom to feed wiring for dehumidifyers, etc. Theres also company that make the lighting kits if you just want to pay. Pretty much any large 500 lbs safe is gonna be a chore for a theif. If I had kids though I probably would have invested in a much more expensive one because if you have little ones hanging and jerking on the door latch, that could cause some damage to the internal mechanisms.

I took mine apart. Theres not much to them. You're basically just paying for a large hunk of granite.
 
hoxhunbe said:
Sufler, I very much appreciate the video link, watched it all. Very compelling (and this dude's in Florida, just like me). Providence? CESafes' new USA Rhino line is extremely interesting, and at this point is a potential favorite for my particular needs. Of course, I will continue to research this.

Thanks again, all! I knew I could count on Bladeforums :thumbup:
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If you're close enough, might as well stop by his place. After all... almost 20 years of industry knowledge. And, you'd get the chance to support a community business.

:thumbup::)
 
rickdarris2004 said:
That's some good info! Thanks for sharing. I have been looking closer into some safes as I just had a kid. This will be one of my next purchases.
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Congrats on the baby! And no prob. on the link. It's a popular topic on firearm forums and this video is often recommended.

:thumbup:
 
The custom Rhino safe that CESafes touts in the linked video is probably choice A so far. The comparable Liberty safe, pricewise, is the Colonial. However, that one is available locally and is priced with free delivery and setup (first storey only). It's going to be a tough call, and I might end up paying a couple grand for a custom Fort Knox, since they let you spec out all options and construction choices.
 
I question bringing electricity into a fire-resistant container. Electricity is a major cause of house fires. Letting it into a fire-resistant container seems to me to be like letting the fox into the hen house.
 
Its worth to check out Pro Steel safes also, they make the Browning safes which are nice. I happen to have a Browning safe, overall a nice quality, but I believe they are a bit more expensive than the Liberty and the Fort Knox.
I also suggest the Silica bags for keeping out the moisture.
Good luck in your search.
 
Gollnick said:
I question bringing electricity into a fire-resistant container. Electricity is a major cause of house fires. Letting it into a fire-resistant container seems to me to be like letting the fox into the hen house.
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You can always tap that light.

tap-lights.jpg


I'm sure the newer LED ones would be better buys.
 
Browning pro steel, liberty and national security are all made in provo , Utah. I own a national security 16 gun safe that weight about 700lb. The fire liner in safes is no more than a layer of 5/8" drywall. If you want the most bang for your buck I suggest buying a safe that weighs in the 600-700lb range so it's not easily moved or stolen or broken in to. Buy the simplest one and add the drywall inside yourself. Cover it with cloth yourself and cut up some plywood to make your own shelving and paint it black yourself. Now you have a one of that fits your needs. PS the top hole in safes are where the eye is installed to move and paint them while in production. They removed the eye and tell you it's a hole for a cord for a humidifire. I ran a bolt through the hole from the inside to seal it in case a pissed off thief wanted to pour something harmful into my safe. I'ved moved my safe 3 times into 3 different mobile homes with no problem. I also own a refer dolly and move it my self.
 
I just finished building this:
[video=youtube;iHqWz85Lz2U]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHqWz85Lz2U[/video]
 
Matthewd said:
I just finished building this:
[video=youtube;iHqWz85Lz2U]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHqWz85Lz2U[/video]
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I just saw your video in your other thread and was going to post this as a suggestion for OP. That is very cool and inconspicuous!
 
Gollnick said:
I question bringing electricity into a fire-resistant container. Electricity is a major cause of house fires. Letting it into a fire-resistant container seems to me to be like letting the fox into the hen house.
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I've run golden rod dehumidifiers for ~15 years without an issue. Low Voltage lights and dehumidifiers shouldn't be a problem unless you are using home made or worn out cords, connectors, and appliances. The only extension cords I have seen with a problem were cut and spliced together by someone who had no clue about electricity. Buy shrink wrapped factory fresh electrical items and don't worry about it.

Electrical fires in homes are typically caused by unlicensed people making unlicensed changes to household wiring or, they are using an older home with a worn out electrical system and appliances (furnaces, space heaters, light fixtures, pot lights covered with insulation, ....).

User/owner negligence is the most common thing associated with house fires. This fall we will probably see 5 or 6 homes burned down due to space heaters covered by a blanket or something similar. Add a few more where rats chewed into the wiring to a furnace and a few carbon monoxide deaths and .... you get the idea. And an oldie but goodie, Turkey Fryer fires in carports for Thanksgiving!!! :)
 
Keep in mind that most "gun safes" are not UL listed as "security containers." They are UL listed as "fire-resistant containers." With proper tools, most "gun safes" can be broken into in a matter of minutes. But, most residential burglars don't carry heavy tools and wouldn't know how to use them if they did. So, the safe provides some degree of security... just not a degree that UL will rate. For fire-resistance, the safe will generally have a rating such as 30 Minutes at 1500F. What that means is that in av oven at 1500F, the interior of the safe stayed below 350F for 30 minutes. 350F is the standard because it's 100F below the temperature at which paper ignites which is, as we all know, precisely Fahrenheit 451... well, it actually depends on the type of paper, but most are somewhere around 450F. For knives, the lowest heat-treat temperature used are generally around 350F and most are higher.

You can help your fire-resistant container out by where you put it. The worst case is a full-blown house fire in which the structure is fully engulfed and burns down while the fire department struggle to keep the fire from spreading. Obviously, the hottest spot and the spot that will stay hot the longest will be in the middle. So don't put your container in the middle of the interior of the house. Put a safe against an outside wall. As an added bonus, you can ask the fire fighters to try to direct extra water to the safe to keep it cool. But this means that the safe should be against an outside wall that faces the street so that it will be accessible for the firemen to cool.

While manufacturers like to show videos of their safes being dropped from multi-story heights, it's best not to test this. A safe is best installed on the ground floor, preferably on a slab, in a multi-story house so that it won't fall through the floor if the floor is compromised.
 
Excellent advice, Gollnick! Everyone else, too, for that matter.

Matthewd, I saw your post yesterday on that book case rig you built. Awesome stuff. I'm partially after (small arms) ballistics protection for my safe, though, so that particular solution is not quite right for me. Plus, I don't have any books -- I'm all digital! An empty bookcase with an iPad on one shelf wouldn't look too snazzy :D
 
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