If you have some small, yet meaningful belongings, then you might have considered using a personal security safe. However, you might not be sure how to pick a safe that is right for you. To help you out, here are some criteria that you should keep in mind when shopping for safes (from an outlet such as Arapahoe County Security Center Inc):
What threats are you worried about?
Certain safes are more suited to handling specific threats.
- Some safes are particularly hard to open if you don't have a key or code, which makes them good at resisting efforts to open up the safe inside your house. If you have a safe that is anchored to a wall or the floor, then you don't need to worry about it being stolen. Instead, you want to focus all of your anti-burglary efforts on getting a complex, strong locking mechanism.
- Other safes might be particularly durable and have no points of easy entry whatsoever, which makes them very good choices if you are worried about someone stealing your safe and breaking it open with brute force elsewhere. If you want to get a small portable safe, then you want to be sure that it cannot be forced open if it does get stolen.
- You might even want a safe that is fireproof, which can be an appealing prospect if you live in an area that gets a lot of wildfires or if you are renting your residence and aren't particularly comfortable with the safety of your building.
Consider Insurance Costs
If you want to have insurance for the safe and its contents, then you should weigh your insurance costs with the price of the safe. A more expensive safe might result in a hefty insurance discount. In this manner, getting an expensive, strong safe and insurance might be cheaper than getting a weaker safe and insurance in the long run.
The amount of coverage can depend on the safe as well, with insurance providers willing to offer higher coverage for more secure safes.
Locking Mechanism
While the locking mechanism is important from a security standpoint, you also want to select a method that is appealing to you personally.
- Combinations are fairly effective, but they do require remembering a combination. More importantly, they involve fidgeting around with a small mechanism, which can be difficult if you have problems with dexterity or if you need to open your safe at night.
- Keys can be useful, but if they get stolen or misplaced, then you will have no way to easily open up your safe.
- Biometric scanners are fun ideas, but they do tend to be quite expensive.
