Video showing how fast a cheap safe can be cracked

[mms]

I bet if my 320lb butt was on the end of that pry bar i could have done it in 45 sec .......

but really it takes more than just buying a safe to keep things safe dogs ,placement and security systems are a good thing to have/do as well

really if some bodys wants it bad enough all you can do is slow them down

 

[Hornett]

That's an American Security video. They were showing it at the shot show. The also have one of the same two guys breaking in to one of their own safes. The interesting part... They got in. Only it took somewhat over 10 minutes (if memory serves).

A friend of mine was looking specifically at safes while we were there. There is a LOT of difference between brands. After looking at different brands of safes ALL DAY here are some things to look for IMHO.
1. Fire rating - It's really difficult to find a safe with a fire rating of an hour or more. If you do they are HEAVY.
2. Waterproofing - I was surprised at this but the best safes have a seal around the door that seals out any water. If you have your safe in a basement that is a requirement. Think of where the water from the firemen goes during a fire.
3. Number of lugs - Better safes have 3 or more lugs across the top and bottom. Some just have one in the top and bottom. The top of the lime Browning safes we saw had lugs at the corners.
4. Size of the lugs - The size of the locking lugs varied from 3/4" to almost 2". You do the math.
5 gauge - obvious

The absolute coolest safe I saw there was round and could be disguised as a water heater. It even had special bearings in the bottom that could be engaged (if you know how) allowing the whole safe to be turned so the door is toward the corner or the wall. Inside was a lazy susan setup where you could turn it and get to any gun you wanted.


A close second was the safe disguised as an electrical panel. It said Danger High Vltage or something on the front and looked just like an electrical box. When you open the front you see two fuses. One of the fuses is the handle to open the door to the compartment where you would have a handgun.

 

[gunrunner0]

I understand that you get what you pay for, but c'mon with a little common sense you can make it atke longer than 2.5 minutes to steal all of your valuable form even a $50 safe. IMHO it would take a burglar longer than 1 minute to find a safe and remove all the valuables, plus I'm not a burglar but if I was, I would'nt crarry a big pry bar like that when I was breaking into houses unless I knew for fact there was a safe there so again just to beat a dead horse, like many others have posted common sense when hiding/placing a safe is the best security.

 

[Jack Ryan]

Put the safe inside a locker of some kind surrounded with rebar and pour concrete in the space between the two.

As a millwright who's done tones of tear out and rebuild I can tell you that would be a total PITA to tear down or get out. No ten minute job for sure and concrete is cheap and easy to work with when it's going in. The forms are the skill part and the two containers would do that job.

 

[22lr]

What the video shows is classic of "you get what you pay for." Im sure a safe expert will tell you that you arnt supposed to be able to pry a door off the safe. If your getting that much leverage to pry out those deadbolts than you have a inferior safe quality. Deadbolts need to be on all 4 sides and anything under an inch inset is just asking for trouble.

Also as for mounting, it makes a difference but I could still use portable jacks to pry that door off, even if it was swinging away from the wall. If your serious about protecting the safe from thieves you need a quality built safe, mounted properly, and a shotgun outside the safe were you can use it.

If you want security for your safe while your gone, rumor has it that German Shepherds make good guard dogs.

 

[CopperWires]

I've seen the video before after hearing a rep from Ft. Knox Safes on the gundudes podcast. What I noticed, and this may just be inexperience with safes, is that the door was awfully flimsy. I know the doors on most high dollar safes are heavy because of the lugs and locking mechanism but how much of that weight is the heavy gauge steel? I thought it should be a little more rigid than what was portrayed in the video.

 

[groovatron]

Put the safe inside a locker of some kind surrounded with rebar and pour concrete in the space between the two.

As a millwright who's done tones of tear out and rebuild I can tell you that would be a total PITA to tear down or get out. No ten minute job for sure and concrete is cheap and easy to work with when it's going in. The forms are the skill part and the two containers would do that job.

That's great

 

[dubsac]

Thats NO Johnson safe.

 

[BigMatt]

Isn't that the first thing you do is bolt down a safe?

 

[nova512]

wonder how liberty safes do lol,,plus i have an added bonus for the people that want to get in my house its call 180 pound set of jaws that doesnt like strangers.

 

[fastwally]

It wasn't properly installed or wired to 220v.

 

[z5843]

What kind of safe is it?