Lowes Review for June 2024 | Best Home Safe Stores (2024)

Nowadays most safes are made out of steel. The steel walls are usually a few centimeters thick and are sometimes double-layered to protect whatever is inside. Depending on the purpose of the safe, it could be surrounded by concrete or be made of different gauges of steel to protect the contents if exposed to pressure or extreme heat.

You can find a safe in nearly any size you need. If you're just using it for storing papers, jewelry, or a handgun, you could buy a small safe that fits on a shelf or in a drawer. For large items, you can buy a safe as big as 6.5 ft. tall or more that takes up more space. A big safe could not be carried away by burglars or easily moved by anyone else in the home. The best thing to do is take an inventory of everything you want to protect and purchase a safe big enough to hold all of those things with a little extra room left over.

If you're looking to keep your valuables safe from fire or water, make sure you buy a safe that is labeled specifically for these purposes. Pay close attention to the fire-resistance rating on any given safe you buy because this lets you know how long the safe can withstand the heat from flames. Some will begin to melt within an hour while others can last up to 4 hours being surrounded by fire. For water-resistance, it is best to keep valuables in a waterproof container within the safe and make sure the safe you buy was manufactured to protect against water damage.

Anything in your home that you consider valuable and worth protecting should be stored in a safe. For example, if you have a family heirloom that you want to keep in good condition, it would be smart to keep it in a safe where it is away from people and protected from the elements. For families with guns, safes are a great way to keep children and visitors away from the potential dangers of playing with firearms. Other items like jewelry, important legal documents or cash could also be kept in a safe in case there is an emergency with the home or a home invasion.

If you're worried about forgetting the code to your safe or losing the key, it is best to consult a professional locksmith rather than attempting to bust your safe open. For those concerned about their safe being compromised or taken by a home intruder, the good news is that it takes a lot of effort to crack a safe open. Without knowing the code to a safe, you would have to try to smash through the steel which could take a lot of time. The chances of someone coming at random to your home and being able to collect the valuables you have locked away, is highly unlikely. However, it is best not to advertise that you have a home safe, let alone disclose its location.

The cost of your safe depends entirely on what the safe is for, what it is made out of, the size, and the security measures required to get into it. For a small, light-weight safe that could be moved around and comes with a simple keypad lock, you could spend as little as $50. However, if you want a fireproof, waterproof, multi-security feature, steel safe that's 6 ft. tall, you'll easily spend over $1,000. The cost to protect your valuables is worth it in the long-run when you buy a heavy-duty safe for your home.

Most home safes come with either a digital number keypad, dial/combination, or lock and key feature for opening and closing it. Unless you have the key or know the code to the safe, essentially it cannot be opened. Some safes are disguised into walls, behind cabinets or paintings, and others are bolted to the ground. They are meant to be somewhat hidden and impossible to open unless you are the owner of the safe.

Safes are not so much bulletproof as they are bullet-resistant. If they are made of thick steel, they should be able to take a few rounds of bullets without causing any harm to the contents inside. Shooting at the combination or lock of a safe will not blast the door open like you see in movies. Shooting a gun at a home safe will cause damage, but it would take knowing the combination to successfully open the safe entirely.