A security safe can make a valuable contribution to any home. They are a good way to ensure the safety of valuables like jewelry, firearms, cash and currency, checks and other money orders, passports, birth certificates, other identity documents and anything else that you deem sensitive or valuable. There is a wide range of types and styles available from the very simple and basic to complex high security safes at the upper end of the scale.
American security safes start at less than $100. Diversion safes, which are actually lockable containers disguised to look like common household items, such as soda cans, books, or condiment jars, can be bought for as little as $12. Smaller conventional safes start at around the $100 mark although insubstantial ones can be obtained for less. These safes usually use any of three main methods for security. The first, and most vulnerable, are pin tumbler locks - your conventional keyed lock. The second, and potentially the most secure, uses a mechanical combination lock which has a dial with numbers (usually numbered 1 to 40 or 50.) The third option, can be more secure as it eliminates the possibility of picking and the combination cannot be "heard" like it can with some mechanical combination locks, are electronic combination locked safes. Smaller models, which are often not sturdy enough to withstand a determined brute force attack, can be obtained for about $100.
If you wish to go further up the scale you will mainly find combination locks - keyed locks simply being too vulnerable to picking. For $400 you can obtain a sturdy, secure, mechanical combination lock security safe with ample room. It will not be invulnerable to picking attempts but most models at this price bracket will take some time, effort, and considerable skill to get into. If your concerns are gun safety, short or long term valuables storage, or antique security, safes like these are a worthwhile investment.
Even further up the scale comes the high security safe. Utilizing complex electronic locks, well designed mechanical combination locks, and, more recently, biometric locks, anything above $500 and well into the thousands will ensure a very high level of security. Biometric locks do add a premium to high security safes, as much as $200 just for the cost of the lock. These advanced locks record key parts of your fingerprint pattern and compare it to the fingerprint being offered for scanning. If the scanned print matches the pattern in the database the lock will open. This high-tech solution is becoming increasingly more affordable and more common.
Since any safe is designed to be opened any safe can be opened by someone who isn't the correct key holder. There is no such thing as 100% secure but with technology and engineering becoming more advanced and cheaper every year, high security safes are available to the consumer market. Home security safes are affordable and easily obtained; if you frequently have valuables, firearms, or sensitive documents at home, why not make this in valuable investment?
