How to choose a safe that stores not only money
“God save me from evil!” We utter these hidden charms at various moments in our lives to ward off the most unpleasant thoughts. Whether it's a trip to the flea market, where pickpockets abound, or returning home late at night, we sometimes don't feel safe even in our own apartment. Police reports read like a war chronicle. According to statistics, apartment thefts occur every 3.5 minutes. The culprits are rarely found. But can such troubles be prevented? Specialists from INSAFE, a leading supplier and manufacturer of safes and metal furniture, confidently answer this question: a safe will ensure the protection of your savings.
First Situation: The Sad One
Once, a popular actress had her colorful television explode in her apartment. Everything was burned in this fire, including a unique photo archive, the loss of which she still mourns. And even though the completely burned-out apartment was later renovated, she could no longer live there. For her, it had become a completely foreign home—without memories, without photographs that could never be recovered.
Advice: For those who do not want to find themselves in such a situation, it is best to place precious photos, letters, and other documents in a safe place in advance. The best option in this case is to purchase a fireproof safe with partitions filled with fire-resistant concrete. Such a safe won't offer much protection against burglary, but it will definitely protect against fire. Fireproof safes undergo stringent testing: paper documents are placed inside, put into a furnace at a temperature of 1000 degrees for one hour, then cooled and dropped from a height of 6 meters, and then heated again. If after these tests the document inside the safe is readable, it means the durability test is passed.
Specialists take into account two parameters for a safe's fire resistance rating: the time in minutes during which the temperature inside the safe's body does not exceed the critical storage parameters of the item (expressed in numbers in the safe's marking—60 or 120) and the type of storage item, denoted by letters (B—banknotes, paper documents; D—all listed plus magnetic disks and tapes, cinema and photo films; DIS—soft magnetic disks).
Second Situation: The Curious One
A successful entrepreneur did not lose family photos and important documents in a fire. Instead, his entire personal life turned to ashes. The fuse that destroyed the family's happiness was letters from a former flame, which the entrepreneur carelessly kept on a bookshelf behind books in his office. His offended wife, having accidentally found the intimate correspondence during a general cleaning, filed for divorce and through the courts took not only the children but also a substantial part of the family capital from him.
Advice: It is said that one does not learn from others' mistakes, only from one's own. If this is the case, it's time to change this pattern and store items not meant for prying eyes in a safe (whether it's household members, invited relatives, or casual guests). Additionally, there is no need to purchase a particularly multifunctional metal storage. A small safe that combines easy operation, high quality, and an optimal price, ensuring secure storage of important, secret documents at a reasonable cost, will suffice. To make the safe inconspicuous, it can be camouflaged. Essentially, these are burglary-resistant safes, but the necessary level of protection is usually ensured only from the door side, or the safe is built into the wall. It's good if there is a niche for this purpose. If not, it needs to be planned in advance during the next renovation.
The highest level of protection is provided by safes from the WEGA series, produced by the German company Format, as well as AIKO safes. INSAFE Valberg safes, which stand out with their affordable price and high quality, and Technomax safes made in Italy, have also proven themselves well.
Third Situation: The Mysterious One
The incident discussed in this section happened in the family of a famous singer N, whose real name we won't reveal for understandable reasons. She doesn't like to remember what happened several years ago when the public's darling celebrated another milestone birthday. Many notable guests gathered in her luxurious apartment in the center of Moscow for her birthday celebration. The next morning after the banquet, the hostess was in for a surprise. Opening the chest with jewelry kept in the bedroom, she found that a valuable ring was missing. The thief was never identified.
Unfortunately, such situations are not uncommon. Moreover, in similar situations, not only jewelry and money but also important documents (passports, real estate documents) have disappeared, and the suspects have included not only the victims' acquaintances but also their relatives, housekeepers, and casual visitors (plumbers, electricians, children's classmates) who occasionally visited them.
Advice: Furniture safes Valberg or T series safes with electronic locks (INSAFE), as well as Technomax safes (Italy)—all these, in addition to simple use, a sleek design, and an acceptable price, also have a high level of security. They all meet the latest European requirements for built-in furniture safes. An inexperienced thief would find it difficult to notice such a safe, let alone crack it.
Fourth Situation: The Unpleasant One
When it comes to professionals, a simple furniture safe is not enough, especially if you own something particularly valuable. It could be a collection of unique stamps and coins or awards that you or your relatives were once honored with.
Criminals who robbed the apartment of the parents of a famous athlete—an Olympic champion in diving—took a liking to these awards—the athlete's cups and medals. Law enforcement officers who handled the case are still convinced, two years after the theft, that the thieves acted on behalf of a collector, as no valuable jewelry was touched, and the awards were made of ordinary metal. However, they were precious to the world champion himself, who even announced a reward for those who would return the stolen items, as no one would specially remake another medal or order for him.
Advice: Unfortunately, the lost items cannot be recovered: such thefts are rarely solved. But such situations can be prevented. How? By purchasing a burglary-resistant safe whose doors are made of thick steel plates, and the gap between the walls is filled with high-strength concrete. Such safes are divided into 10 classes. Class 3 and 4 safes are installed in bank vaults, class 5 and 6 are popular with jewelers, and class 1 and 2 will fit perfectly in your home.
As with fireproof safes, burglary-resistant safes are also tested for durability before going on sale. They are not placed in a heated furnace (in the event of a severe fire, the contents of such a safe, although it has some fire-resistant properties, will turn to ashes). For the burglary resistance test, professional burglars from special institutions are invited, and they try to crack the safes. Based on the results of the "scientific break-in," the burglary resistance class for a specific type of safe is determined. This is done by multiplying the "test time" by the "tool coefficient" (electric drill or gas torch) and adding the "base size" of the tools used to the obtained sum. Based on the test results, taking into account the net working time of each type of tool and its coefficient, the number of resistance units (Ec) for a given type of safe is determined.
It is worth paying attention to the durability of burglary-resistant safes from Asia (AIKO), Italy (Technomax), Finland (Kaso), and France (Fichet), as well as Valberg Karat series safes (INSAFE, Bulgaria).
Fifth Situation: The Pointless One
But this case is from the series of curiosities and happened in an ordinary family. The events unfolded in the most pointless way. Have you ever left a two-year-old child unattended for a short time? So, a young mother made this mistake. Chatting with a neighbor on the landing, she had left her little son alone to play. Returning to the apartment, the woman froze on the threshold: her little boy had chosen the family's jewelry as toys and was enthusiastically flushing them down the toilet one by one.
Advice: The mother can only be sympathized with: such a fate can befall not only jewelry but also important documents. Therefore, the main task is to store them securely. For this purpose, an ordinary burglary-resistant safe with a key lock will do. Most safe manufacturers choose key locks from the German company Mauer for their products, designed for 10,000 opening cycles and characterized by precise execution, ensuring high operational reliability.
For those who do not want to deal with keys, safes with code locks (mechanical or electronic), whose code combination you can change at any time, are better suited. To open a four-digit code lock consisting of four two-digit numbers, it takes 10 disc turns with four fixations, taking at least 30 seconds.
An electronic lock solves this problem and, at the same time, provides the owner with a number of specific functions: access blocking, delayed opening, etc. However, a safe equipped with a good electronic lock is much more expensive. What to choose will be up to you. Additionally, if you have a small child at home who likes to explore and test the durability of things...
Sixth Situation: The Tragic One
Children are a special topic, where almost every case is curious. However, some cases end tragically. One of them happened two years ago when a five-year-old boy, playing with his father's gas pistol, suffered a severe head injury. The boy could not be saved. The grief-stricken parents still cannot forgive themselves for leaving the weapon in plain sight on that fateful day. If they had thought everything through in advance, the tragedy could have been avoided.
Advice: Need to buy a gun safe? INSAFE has extensive experience in this area, while customers have a wide selection. The gun safes in the company's trading turnover are represented by products from the German company Format, which are distinguished by impeccable quality, high security, strict design, and acceptable prices, as well as various configurations of self-produced safes under the Valberg trademark (with two functional compartments for storing cartridges, hunting ammunition, documents, and two to five clamp-type mounts for placing rifles), equipped with 8-lever Mauer (Germany) locks. You can rest assured: the weapon stored in them will never fire...without your knowledge.