What You Need To Know Before Buying A Gun Safe
If you are looking for a less expensive safe solution, simply look to a traditional locking mechanism. These safes can last you for generations, and do not have some of the difficulties other safe types have. The important thing to remember is to purchase the basics of the safe. Ensure that it has the necessary safeguards from tampering and intrusion, and you will be well on your way to safe ownership.
A biometric gun safe is another alternative to the traditional style of locking system. This type of system has increased in popularity the last couple of years due to great leaps in the cost of the technology. Certain biometric systems, primarily fingerprinting, has become quite commonplace in everyday households. What was once only found in high security facilities or the extremely wealthy, biometrics has made great leaps and strides.
Using a fingerprint gun safe for your firearms has some very distinct advantages as well as disadvantages. What attracts most gun owners to biometrics is the ability to gain quick access to the system. When used alongside a firearm used for home protection, the biometric gun safe allows the firearm to be stored within quick reach, and all the while protecting it from unauthorized users. For those concerned about their firearm coming into reach of their children, this can be a very advantageous system. They also make it less likely for your safe to be compromised due to misplaced keys or codes being cracked.
The primary disadvantage to most biometric or even electronic systems is that they tend to not last as long as the traditional combination gun safe. The combination safe requires no electronics, only hard mechanics. The electronic systems tend to break down over time. They also require frequent battery replacement and maintenance.
One of the most common types of biometric safes is a hand gun safe. The handgun safe allows you a quick and easy way to protect your family from your firearms. The reason many people own a pistol is for home defense, but the mere presence of the weapon can be hazardous when there are children in the house. A child’s curiosity can never be underestimated. Hand gun safes can also be used for transportation to and from the range, or for storage inside of a vehicle.
For many gun enthusiasts, it is no big deal to spend a couple thousand dollars on guns and accessories. Scopes, binoculars, sites, and many other additions can quickly add up to a quite hefty dollar amount. It is always shocking when these same individuals refuse to spend the money necessary to protect their investment from fire damage.
A fireproof gun safe is one of the best ways to protect your weapons from loss. Far more likely than you getting robbed is the likelihood that your will lose your guns to fire damage. If you consider the fire protection to be a form of prepaid fire insurance, it may go a long way to helping your justify the additional cost associated with proper fire protection. If you are going to spend the money purchasing firearms, you need to spend a little bit extra to protect them from the risks they may face. Let’s face it, nobody likes to buy insurance, but everyone can recognize the value of protecting your assets from risk.
When considering the purchase of a fireproof gun safe, it would be advantageous to review a couple of key points. Regardless of the lofty name, a fireproof safe is never actually fireproof. It is at best fire resistant to a degree. Fireproof safes are generally rated by the duration they are able to withstand a set temperature. The manufacturer of the safe determines the source of their rating information. This makes an apple to apple comparison between companies rather difficult.
Where you locate your safe can also have a lot to do with how fireproof it is. Placement should never be next to combustibles or other highly flammable substances. Location next to concrete or other heat tolerant materials will go a long way to protecting the safe contents in the case of a fire. Remember that you should never store gun powder inside of your safe. Gun powder only needs a cool, dry location. Storing gun powder inside of your safe runs the distinct risk of turning the safe into an explosive device.
Correspondingly, you should refrain from storing primers inside of your safe. Multiple primers inside of the safe can cause a chain reaction that you would be best to avoid.
And while we are on the subject of safe placement, there are a number of other things that you should do (or not do) to avoid making it easy for intrusion. As you shouldn’t store flammables near your safe, you should also not store your power tools nearby, particularly cutting instruments and torches. More than one theft has occurred because of the proximity of the correct tools to do the job. Many criminals are opportunists; don’t make their job easy on them.
If you are looking for a good reason to not use a safe that is not fire rated, may we suggest one possibility? Use it in conjunction with your fire proof safe. A cheap standard gun safe may be used as an excellent deterrent from your actual safe. If it well known that you have a gun collection, you may want to consider an obvious placement of a dummy safe. Load it up with a couple of cheap guns, and place it where it will be found during an intrusion. If it works as designed, the criminal will be disappointed with what they find, and discontinue and further searching for your gun collection. Granted this only works if you take the necessary precautions to hide your primary safe.
Another form of home gun safes is a wall gun safe. Though this type is less popular than traditional safes, it can have its usefulness as well. Wall gun safes can be a great place to store a single firearm that you intend to store with other valuables. Often this type of safe will be insufficiently large to house your larger rifles, but you should be able to store smaller weapons, as well as any handguns that you may own. This application is most useful for storing antique guns and other weapons not frequently accessed or those that do not need a quick way to retrieve.
If you find that purchasing a proper gun safe is simply out of your price range, you can consider looking for a gun safe for sale. Buying a used gun safe is a great way to save a little money and get more bang for your buck. Look for small businesses that are moving or other local advertisements for used safes. Many companies will give up the safe for the mere cost of removing it from their premises. Transporting a safe can be more trouble than it’s worth for these businesses.
An important thing to keep in mind when purchasing a gun safe is that the estimated gun capacity of the safe is never accurate. If you look at the advertised picture, you will see that they are stocked with small shotguns or 22” barreled rifles. There is rarely a scope, large stock, large barrel or other gun accessory attached to the firearm. If you need room to store 15 firearms, find a safe that has 20 – 30 gun capacity. The other thing to consider is that your gun collection is likely to grow over time. Have a little extra space for expansion in the future. If you never to end up using the space with more firearms, there are a number of other things that you can store in the safe.
Due to the popularity and necessity of a gun safe in the home, there are a number of different gun safe accessories available for purchase. Customizing the interior of your safe is one of the best ways to get the most out of your purchase. Consider placing storage drawers, additional shelves, or other add-ons to optimize the safe storage capacity. Custom gun safe interiors can be a great way to protect the guns from wear inside of the safe. You can customize the slots to fit your existing arsenal and ensure that you have a place for everything that you are trying to store.
The most important thing to remember is that if you own a firearm, you should own a gun safe. The protection it provides for your family and your investment in the firearms will more than pay for the price of the safe. Do not concern yourself over a couple of hundred dollars for a nicer safe, the additional money is insurance on your future.
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Is A Fireproof Safe Really Fireproof?
The quality of the safe will have a lot to do with the durability during a fire. A small fireproof safe, if not sufficiently protected, will have a much harder time protecting the contents of the safe than a larger, well protected variety. Fireproofing comes in many different forms, and all are not created equal. Most safe companies will specify how long they anticipate the safe to be able to resist fire damage. Ratings often range from a couple of minutes to a couple of hours.
The fire rating on the safe is not exactly an exact measurement, and is difficult to use to compare different safe manufacturers. Many safe companies use different measurement criteria and third-party sources to test their safes. This can lead to some incongruent test results between brands. These results can be a good way to compare safes inside of single company. There are common threads here, and as long as you recognize the source of the test results, you can make informed and wise decisions on what you can expect out of the safe.
When people think of a fireproof safe, many think that a fireproof safe is just for safeguarding documents. And while fireproof document safes are important for the protection of irreplaceable files and folders, they are not the only type of safe that can benefit from good fire defense.
One of American homeowner’s most common possessions that are kept in a safe is their assortment of firearms. Whether you have one firearm or an entire arsenal, the investment of time and money spent on the weapons should be protected. Not to mention the fact that if you have children in the house, it is prudent to safeguard them by preventing access.
Because of the value of the weapons often stored, most safe shops will recommend that the gun owner purchase a fireproof gun safe. These fireproof safes can protect your guns from damage due to a fire in the home. Unfortunately, home fires occur at an alarming frequency. And even though the fireproof safe is more money initially, think of it as a bit of paid up insurance on your property.
In the case of a fire, sometimes the most damage comes from water damage from trying to put the fire out. Some waterproofing techniques have been designed to protect against continuous water being shot at the safe from a firehouse for up to a set period of time. Similar to the fireproofing limits, the waterproofing has its set time limits as well. Some solutions, though they are far less common than fireproofing, have sealed the safe for up to 3 full days submerged under water. This type of protection is increasing in popularity since the disaster Hurricane Katrina left behind.
Damage from a fire can come in a number of different forms. Direct fire damage is not the only vulnerability that you must protect against in the event of a fire. Safes must be built with sufficient structural strength as to withstand the destruction bound to collapse upon the safe during a fire. It has been reported that fireproof home safe installations have failed because of debris falling onto the safe, jamming the door wide open.
Another increasingly common type of fireproof safe is the fireproof media safe. These safes are designed to provide protection to your media; meaning your files, documents, CDs, DVDs, flash drives, hard drives, and other digital information. These types of devices are particularly susceptible to fire damage and must be locked in the safest of environments. Media protection safes provide the data an enclosed and tightly sealed location. If your data is critical to maintain, perhaps consider two levels of fire protection for the documents. You can easily store small fireproof safes inside of larger document or gun safes.
A fireproof wall safe, although available, is not always the best way to protect your valuables. Understand that if you intend to protect your possessions from damage by placing them in a wall safe, the wall must be able to withstand fire as well as the safe does. It does little good to have a fireproof wall safe mounted to wood studs. As soon as the wood studs burn through, you can expect your safe to drop to the ground. This can be often mean that it will fall until something is stable enough to stop it. This is not to say that a wall safe cannot be fireproof, it just means that additional precautions must go into the proper installation of this type of safe.
Again, it is important to remember that your fireproof safe is really only fire-resistant to a degree. If you have anything of value that you are storing in your safe, it will be well worth the additional cost to add this protection. Fire damage is far too common, spend the little bit of extra money to have a little built-in, prepaid fire insurance in the form of fireproofing.
Read more: Is A Fireproof Safe Really Fireproof?
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Pistol Safe Variations You Should Look For Before Buying
Of equal or greater concern for many stems presence of small children in the home. The same quick access in the case of intrusion is also a serious safety concern for your kids. If you have small children in the house, a pistol gun safe is important. You don’t want your toddler or small child accidentally finding your loose firearm. Children are inherently curious, and more likely than not will eventually find your hiding spot.
There are a number of different types of handgun safes available on the market. Of increasing popularity is the biometric pistol safe. A biometric safe employs physiologic protections to the locking mechanism on the safe. Fingerprinting, retina scans, and facial recognition are among the more popular types of these devices. A biometric safe allows you to specify the individual(s) allowed access to the safe. Unless their physiological traits are input into the settings, they are not getting access to the safe. This allows protection from your children (or intruders) from finding the key or figuring out the combination. If you have a safe, your children will likely work on figuring out the combination.
Of all the biometric gun safe types for pistols, by far the most common is the fingerprint pistol safe. Fingerprinting technology has made huge leaps in recent years, opening up the technology to the general population like never before. Fingerprint readers are commonly found in all kinds of applications, including many newer laptop models. A good fingerprint safe can allow you quick access to your firearm, while at the same time protecting the contents from those other than yourself.
A biometric handgun safe is not your only option however. If you prefer the safe to have electronic controls, simply going with an electronic pistol safe may be a good solution. The electronic safe will generally have a digital keypad to enter your code. This also can help avoid your children accidently finding the key to your safe.
For many the quick access that electronic handgun safes provide is enough to persuade them to purchase. After all, if you have to lock up your firearm, you at least want quick access to it in the case of an emergency. If speed is not your primary concern however, the longest lasting safes are the traditional combination lock styles. With an electronic safe, there is a fair amount of yearly maintenance and risk of failure. The batteries should typically be changed every year to prevent locking mechanism failure.
Due to the size of the firearm, small pistol safes are the norm in the industry. You can often find suitable solutions to include your handguns into a full-size safe, though for many, the purpose of the pistol safe is quick access and safety. If quick access is not your priority, a drawer in your full size gun safe may be a good alternative.
Another feature of many pistol gun safes is their portability. It is not difficult to find a pistol safe that has a handle for safe transportation. This will not work for everyone situation, but can be a good way to transport your firearm, both by airplane (if done properly) or to and from the range. If you are looking for a more permanent fixture, many fixed safe variations are available. You can mount a safe in your drawer, nightstand, bed frame, desk, or any other fixed furniture piece. A drawer pistol safe is a great way to store your firearm in your office.
Some manufacturers have even created car pistol safes. These are often built into the floor or consol and are hidden by the interior of the vehicle. This can be an excellent way to keep a firearm protected inside of your vehicle.
A pistol safe is a good idea for those handgun owners looking to protect their families from harm. With the proper preparation and forethought, a system can be designed that allows both ease of access for you and strong safety for your family. Be sure to properly research the different varieties of pistol safe available on the market. Find the solution that fits YOUR needs.
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Biometric Safe Buyers Guide – When And How To Use A Biometric Safe
There a number of different types of biometric safe locks. The most common of which is the fingerprint scanner. This technology has greatly increased over the past couple of years. What used to be an item of high security is now an everyday home accessory. Many laptops are even coming equipped with built in fingerprint scanners these days. It is no wonder that the security and safe fields are implementing their use as well.
The other primary types of biometric scan are facial recognition, retina scan, and in more elaborate locking systems, DNA. The technologies for these types of scanning systems are certainly in existence, and have a high probability of success. The current problem with their implementation is that the technology is still too expensive for the masses. Most biometric safes designed for home and small office use will still only include fingerprint scanning.
For most people a biometric safe is a good solution for their security needs. It ensures that only those that you give access have access to your safe. Though it doesn’t protect against brute force tactics, it does provide you the protection of not worrying about a misplaced key or forgotten code. In order to open the safe, you must have the biometric safe signature that is required.
For the more paranoid types that actually have something to protect in their safe, a biometric scan may not be the best solution. Because it requires your physical presence to open the safe, it places you individually at greater risk. A motivated thief must get you to your safe in person. He cannot steal your code or key. This places your body at a higher level of risk than other safe types.
One of the more common biometric safe types is a gun safe. A biometric gun safe is a practical way to keep unwanted hands off of your firearms. For those with small children in the house, a biometric scan can provide an even greater degree of safety from curious minds. A key can be found and a combination lock can be guessed; a biometric scan requires you to be present. Even though simply storing your weapons in a safe is a good step to protecting from accidents, the biometric safe adds that much more safety.
A biometric safe does not necessarily have to be your traditional size of gun safe either. Many times a handgun in the bedroom is used for home protection. The challenge that many families have with this approach is that the more accessible the handgun is to protect yourself, the more exposed the weapon is to your children. A biometric pistol safe can be a good solution to these two problems. Keep a small, unobtrusive safe by your bedside in a nightstand or under the bed. It allows you to hide and protect your gun from your family, and have close and immediate access in the case of an emergency. Assuming your scanner is of high enough quality, you should have little difficulty opening the safe and retrieving the firearm quickly.
Most biometric safes allow you to put in multiple profiles of recognition into the system. This allows you to add additional people if necessary. What it also allows you to do is build in a failsafe if you happen to have problems with your scan. Be sure to add multiple profiles of yourself to ensure that you are always able to open your safe. Biometric experts will often recommend placing a profile of one finger per hand. This will allow you to maintain access if you happen to damage the finger that the scan is intended for.
Paper cuts, blisters, burns, and other common accidents could prevent you from opening your safe. Having multiple scans allows you a much greater likelihood of not running into problems. For some of the pickier biometric fingerprint safe locks, it may even benefit you to do multiple profiles of the same finger, slightly adjusting the position of the finger during the read. If you need quick access to your safe in the case of an emergency, this added probability of opening when you scan your finger can be a great help.
As we have indicated, a biometric safe can come in a variety of different implementations. Aside from a standalone gun safe or a bedside pistol safe, you shouldn’t have any difficulty finding a biometric wall safe. These types of safes are quite popular for safeguarding documents. Adding the biometrics allows you to ensure that your property remains under your protection. A biometric safe may be a very good solution for the protection of your property. Be sure that you find a solution that works for your individual needs.
Read more: Biometric Safe Buyers Guide – When And How To Use A Biometric Safe
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Floor Safes Offer Excellent Fire And Burglary Protection
Under floor safes come in a variety of different shapes and sizes. The most important thing in determining the shape of the floor safe that you need is going to simply be based on your individual needs. Many find that a traditional square or rectangle shaped safe is sufficient. Whereas some circumstances may warrant a cylinder shaped style. Pick the safe that best meets the needs of what you are storing in it.
In floor safes are some of the safest ways to store your valuables. An in-floor safe that is properly installed in or on the concrete can be one of the most difficult types of safes to penetrate. Not only is the safe surrounded on all but one side by concrete, but the effort and tools necessary to forcibly open the safe is often enough to deter most break-in attempts. One of the features of a secure safe is noise factor. Most forceful entry attempts will create a large amount of noise; a risk that most criminals are unwilling to take.
Another advantage of home floor safes is their added protection of being hidden inside the floor. Few places offer the same sort of ability to hide as does this floor variety. Once you complete the floor safe installation, you have a number of different options to successful hide the safe. Many will choose to cover the safe with a protective layer of wood, concrete, metal, or other solid material to smooth out the location. Carpeting, rugs, and other ground cover are then used to conceal the location.
Although the decision with how you hide the safe in the ground is up to you, be sure you carefully consider the materials that you use. If you intend to access the safe frequently, you may want to cover the hole with a material that is easy to move. Obstructions are also often used to finish off the concealment. A carefully positioned couch or table can really cap off the protection. Despite the obvious advantage of hiding the location of the safe, having to move furniture, fake floors, and carpeting can again provide the protection of noise.
A common feature of floor safes is their inherent fireproofing. Again, being surrounded by concrete on most sides provides the safe with less exposure to fire damage. Add a specially designed fireproof floor safe and you will have a quite secure solution from fire and burglary loss.
Floor safes can be designed to be more accessible than they seem. Chutes and slots can be installed so that direct access to the combination floor safe is not necessary. Be sure that you have these safe accessories properly installed to minimize your risk to damage.
One concern that many have with floor safes has to do with their susceptibility to water damage. If you are installing your safe in a location that may be exposed to water damage risk, you may want to consider looking into a waterproof floor safe. If the proper precautions are taken you can safely protect your property form water damage.
Properly implemented floor safes can provide you an excellent degree of protection to your home or office. The surrounding concrete provides a natural deterrent to loss from fire and burglary. This style of safe allows you to conceal your valuable property and allows you the peace of mind you are looking for in a safe.
Read more: Floor Safes Offer Excellent Fire And Burglary Protection
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