1 Big Safe or 2 Med?

Tim

Tim

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I think I’ve decided that I’m not gonna mess with moving my current safe. At the new place, I’m trying to decide between 1 great big box or 2 smaller/med size.

My thought processs involves 1 box to hold stuff that rarely gets used and another for the frequent flyers. It’s always such a PIA to move stuff around and bang against each other with an overstuffed safe.
 
They will both get overstuffed, so only a minor difference there.
One big one will be heavier and harder to cart off.
For the same money, one big one will be bigger than 2 smaller ones, and you can't have too much space.
Two smaller ones are much more flexible for placement, if you want to put them in different places or smaller spots like inside closets.
Two is possibly more secure if one is obvious and one is concealed.

For context, I have more than one, for some of the reasons above, and because adding another was easier than replacing.
 
Tim said:
My thought processs involves 1 box to hold stuff that rarely gets used and another for the frequent flyers. It’s always such a PIA to move stuff around and bang against each other with an overstuffed safe.
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Two, but not split that way.

Split the “rarely gets used” stuff in half and put it in the back half of both. The “frequent flyers” can fill the front half of both.
 
Off the cuff flippant comment: Yes; get all three.


I like @JimP42 's idea: 1 safe full of less special stuff in an "obvious" place, then 2nd safe as concealed as possible. IF theft ever becomes an issue, good chance thieves will focus on "decoy" safe. If fire or flood (God forbid) becomes an issue, then 2 safes in different locations increases chances of protecting more stuff.

If both safes will be side by side, none of the above matters much. Only advantage of 2 would be ease of moving, and how often are you going to do that?
 
bigfelipe said:
I had 3 in my last house, all bolted together. Easy to move, and it's three times the security...
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I really like that idea.

How did you end up bolting them together? Drilling through and using bolts? Did you worry about the sheetrock or whatever is in the safe walls or just go right through it? I guess if they're all touching then the fire won't be as intense where those holes are in the fireblock?
 
Jayne said:
I really like that idea.

How did you end up bolting them together? Drilling through and using bolts? Did you worry about the sheetrock or whatever is in the safe walls or just go right through it? I guess if they're all touching then the fire won't be as intense where those holes are in the fireblock?
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Yes. I just drilled right through and used fender washers to cover any minor damages. It was pretty simple. A handful of grade 8 bolts and the safe walls will fail before the hardware will. No fire concern more than the grommets for plugs and golden rods I imagine, probably less. I mean, I drilled holes for wall and floor anchors too. Doubt that creates a fire risk either.


Another consideration is safe placement. In a closet is better than the corner of a room or against a random wall. If you find the safe it's harder to get to it to work on breaking in. You see videos of people prying on safes or cutting them open easily and it's always in the open area of a room. If you can't get to the sides to cut or get levers on the doors because it's back in a tight closet it's substantially more secure.

I know this from experience both ways...
 
bigfelipe said:
I mean, I drilled holes for wall and floor anchors too. Doubt that creates a fire risk either.
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I only asked because mine, I mean, in theory mine, if I had a safe, which I don't, because guns? ick, no one needs those. anyway, mine came with plugs that came out of the fireproofing material to give you access to the bolt down holes and then you just put the plugs back in after the bolts are set. a hole saw could do the same for the side fireproofing material if you're adding new holes.


I know this from experience both ways...
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hmm....
 
I’m probably going to end up with 2 mediums just because that’s what comes from buying too small. If I was starting over I’d go big and maybe partition in a way that segregates stuff your regularly accessed stuff. Even in mine the older Marlin lever guns fit nicely into one side while the AR’s are piled against each other.

I might end up with a big Drake and a medium now that I think about it.
 
FIRST...all knowledge doesn't flow from this fountain....I have 2 medium. I used 6 tubes of liquid nails to secure the two sides together, the two backs to the back wall, 1 side to the side wall and both bottoms to the floor. I have a 40 watt LED bulb in each.
My cousin Jerry had his safe moved this week from the farm to the river. It cost him $1,200. His safe weighs over 5,000 pounds and is big enough for me and RS to get in.
If I was staring from scratch I would get a safe like he has. It was $3,500 installed. @kcult can tell you the name of the man in Chesterfield that sells and installs them. Not many folks can move a 5,000 pound safe.
 
I’ve been thinking about this since I saw the post last night. My choice would be driven by where I could put it. If the space was big enough I’d get Greg drake to build me a monster. If not I’d get him to build me two that would equal the monster sized one.


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BatteryOaksBilly said:
FIRST...all knowledge doesn't flow from this fountain....I have 2 medium. I used 6 tubes of liquid nails to secure the two sides together, the two backs to the back wall, 1 side to the side wall and both bottoms to the floor. I have a 40 watt LED bulb in each.
My cousin Jerry had his safe moved this week from the farm to the river. It cost him $1,200. His safe weighs over 5,000 pounds and is big enough for me and RS to get in.
If I was staring from scratch I would get a safe like he has. It was $3,500 installed. @kcult can tell you the name of the man in Chesterfield that sells and installs them. Not many folks can move a 5,000 pound safe.
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https://www.griffinsafes.com/
 
Zbizzle911 said:
If the space was big enough I’d get Greg drake to build me a monster. If not I’d get him to build me two that would equal the monster sized one.
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Where would he find that much orange paint??????? :confused:
 
I absolutely hate safes. I have 2 and it’s like playing Tetris whenever I want to fondle or use a gun(s).

not sure how many rooms and layout of new house, but I would go with a gun room if possible.

I have mine planned out at next house. Given the layout will only be -$1200-1500 in fortification. Less than even (what I would consider) a medium safe and far less than a large. I’ll keep the two existing safes using 1 for EDC/HD weapons on bedroom floor and the other for rental space when one of you guys getting divorced and Need to offload your guns for few months to protect them from greedy hands.
 
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GreatGazoo said:
Build a safe room addition onto/into the house?
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This is a private residence/range out in Arizona. The owner has a massive antique Winchester rifle collection and he built a cinderblock "room/safe/vault" inside of his shop/house with separate venting, Heat/AC, and power/internet. He used a bank vault door and door frame from a company that builds bank vaults.. The inside of the room is finished in aspen wood and the room size is aprox 15' wide x 25' deep with a 10' ceiling. One way in, One way out... I'll try to get some inside pics this summer when I'm out that way and post them up here.
 
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Just FYI drake builds safe doors for gun rooms too. When I picked my safe up he had a huge green on ready for someone.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I was always fond of this space:

32de7fee88dd19fede79da6c4030c13a.jpg
 
well, i have two mediums.
one vertical upright and one horizontal "chest" type.
the vertical is for long guns and everything else in the other one.
although, sometimes i wonder if i should reverse that.
 
Jeppo said:
@Sigequinox220 Waddya have in mind for the door?
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if you have a basement room, I have nothing but good to say about this entry level vault door from snapsafe

Vault-Door_1.1.jpg


However I will not have a basement in new house but a bonus room, so I’m not comfortable with a door weighing 500lbs.

the plan for bonus room is to fortify the very small exposure from outside stairwell (<<1 panel) behind the dry wall with 2 layers of metal wire sheets (forget what they are called).

for the door, going with an L.I.F. Fire rated steel security door (6 panel door style to match surroundings) with a 3-point fox/police style lock and regular digital deadbolt lock. The latter is for common use (not carrying my keys around with me all day). If going to be away, that’s when the fox lock gets engaged.

Will also throw some hinge security pins on hinge side to serve as dog bolts or w/e those called.

gray-l-i-f-industries-commercial-doors-uksp3280r-64_1000.jpg

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Jayne said:
I only asked because mine, I mean, in theory mine, if I had a safe, which I don't, because guns? ick, no one needs those. anyway, mine came with plugs that came out of the fireproofing material to give you access to the bolt down holes and then you just put the plugs back in after the bolts are set. a hole saw could do the same for the side fireproofing material if you're adding new holes.




hmm....
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If you want you can put sheetrock mud or fire foam over the bolts...

As to the other, I have had two break ins in my life. First one my safe was bolted to the floor along a wall. They broke it loose and stole the whole thing. Second one, my safes were in a closet bolted together. One was damaged but neither was breached.
 
Right now I have one big safe, but my next house will probably have several small safes hidden throughout the house. Out of sight, out of mind.
 
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