How safe is my safe?

[windjammer]

I have a rather large Cannon safe. I've offen wondered how hard it would be to break into it.

It probably wouldn't be too hard for a pro, but the average thief, could they get into it within an hour ?

I wouldn't know where to start. I guess try to knock off the combination and go from there. I dunno.....

 

[R. Walter]

10 minutes with a tow truck and winch and they'll have it loaded up and out of there. No need to break into it until later.

 

[NFrameFred]

A determined thief who has the time and the tools will get in. And through the door isn't likely.

Best bet is an alarm sytem back up and a safe that will stop the smash and grab jerks who are in the house 2 minutes, grab what they can carry and hightail it out.

Someone who knows what you have, where it is, and when you are likely to be gone long enough for them to give it the time it takes will find a way to get in if they want to badly enough.

 

[Troystat]

Way back in the day I bought a large gunsafe that weighs about 700 pounds and cost about 1000 dollars I asked the sales person a the safe company the same question you are asking and he said it would keep kids and casual burglars out but someone with tools could get it open in an hour. Then he showed me a safe that was the same size but weighed 10000 pounds and cost 10 grand the whole body and the door was about 4 inches thick. He said that would keep anyone but the most skilled safe cracker out.

Troy

 

[Hunt200]

I saw a safe guy open a bank vault in an hour. These little things we have in our houses will not stop anyone who knows what they are doing. They will slow down the casual idiots though.

 

[rgitz]

R. Walter makes a very good point. Safes in garages are a lot less safe than safes in basements...if you have a basement & no water problems.
In Nevada basements are in short supply. I know a fellow who's 700 lb safe was tipped off the wall and levered into the back of a pick up. The safe and his collection of old Winchester lever guns were never seen again. This safe was bolted to the cement floor.

 

[OU812]

I use to watch a show on TV called It takes a thief, they often talked about safes and that 99% of thief's are smash and dash in and out in under 4 minutes. They would check to see if it is locked (most are not) then move on to something else.

So I put my second safe in the basement and anchored to the wall and floor. Yea you could steal it but you would have to work for it.

and if I am home say hello to Winchester Defender 12g 00buck

 

[jrm53]

In 1980 I bought a Security Products safe that goes about a 1000 pounds and I put it in a bedroom, it is bolted to a slab floor and has 2 recessed pockets with a key to fit in vertically, I dont think you cold get a slide hammer in the small opening to jerk the locks out. It took about an hour to get it from the patio to the bed room. Its not fire proof is the only drawback.

 

[Landpimp]

this!

(chain saw might be needed as well)

Originally posted by R. Walter:
10 minutes with a tow truck and winch and they'll have it loaded up and out of there. No need to break into it until later.

 

[84CJ]

I just opened one last week that was a failed attempt at breaking in. It had been brutally attacked by some idiot with what appeared to an AX. He or they did not gain entry. SO since the safe was fubared anyway I decided to break into it as if I were a criminal and didnt care about your home or safe. (Normally I open them install new lock and you would never know I was there But this takes to much time.) I took the safe onto the carport because I didnt want to take a chance on damaging anything inside the house remember I am only pretending to not care.It took me a tad over ten min to clean it out. Might could have done it quicker if the previous burgler had not knocked off all the hardware. I went through the door because most times a safe is found anchord in a closet. Any way my point is obvious. If you know what you are doing its not that hard. must crooks are smash and grab and wont bother with a safe except to mess it up tip it over and such. A security system is a very good Idea.

It was a name brand safe I will not say what brand or how I opened. So dont ask

 

[tomhenry]

Originally posted by windjammer:
I've offen wondered how hard it would be to break into it.

Here's an interesting video re your question.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBhOjWHbD6M

But any home safe can be gotten into in a relatively short time with a power saw and box of masonry blades.

The safest safe is the one that no one but you knows about.

 

[Crazy K38]

honestly I couldn't afford any kind of a safe, but I have kids so I bought a 30$ locking pistol box from walmart and decided to be clever, if they can't find it, they can't steal it,I cut a hole in the wall just big enough for most of it to fit in and bolted it to the studs, then i went to the junkyard and found a dead breaker box, I customized it a little and fit it over the front of the box on hinges that make it swing upwards to get to the gun box. so now instead of seeing a gun box they pass by a useless breaker box

 

[Pulicords]

I spent over 30 years as a LEO in Southern CA and while I know that large gunsafes (not talking about those small pistol lockboxes here) can be forced open, I only heard of one incident where a burglar gained access and that was an "inside job." The vast majority of home burglaries involve the loss of money and other relatively small valuables that are easily taken, in an incident that happens over a short span of minutes. If guns are found unsecured in a closet or drawer, they'll be immediately taken, but if a safe (too heavy to be carried) is involved, very few burglars want to expend the time or effort needed to defeat it.

No home is impregnable, but a good gun safe (IMHO) provides far more security than the best door and window locks or alarm system.

 

[rburg]

Originally posted by Pulicords:
No home is impregnable, but a good gun safe (IMHO) provides far more security than the best door and window locks or alarm system.

Agreed. But every level of protection can add upon the others. Unless the crook knows where the safe is located and what tools he'll need, precious time (to him) will be wasted. If a well designed alarm system is armed (as important as locking a safe door), the clock starts ticking the instant the intruder breaches the perimeter. If he takes a few minutes to find the safe and start with his tools, and if he's lucky enough to find a safe in a location that affords him easy access, he's wasting his time. He's still then got to have his buddy (per the video) and begin his 10 minute attack. That's if all goes well for them. Even after opening the safe, they've still got to take the goodies out, and then haul them outside. I'm guessing that will take lucky and good crooks 30 minutes. All the while the alarm is making a terrible racket, and the troops are assumed to be on their way.

Response times vary. Even at the same location. If your monitoring service calls you, often you can be on the way home. Residential burglary is a risky business to undertake. I'm guessing the risk factor goes up exponentially with the time. Good neighbors have even been known to shoot thieves.

But there are some truths to take from all this. 2 safes are better than one (it doubles the amount of work and presumably the time to enter them.) Better still, the safe crackers are probably winded and tired after the first. But any safe they can't find they can't enter. A flimsy decoy may buy significant time.

 

[sar4937]

http://www.libertysafe.com/homesecurity.php?page=8

 

[indiandave]

I agree with Dick. A home alarm system is a good idea. I also have my 2 Pitbulls. They don't like stangers and when they are barking they sound like Hell hounds. It's good to have multi level systems.

 

[Wheelgunner840]

Originally posted by sar4937:
http://www.libertysafe.com/homesecurity.php?page=8

That is a good commercial, but as said earlier in this thread, someone who knows what they are doing can and will get into commercial safes quickly without the use of pry bars. Forceable entry is one of the things I taught while in the fire service. Trust me, there is a tool for every job. These days, they are battery operated and portable. I won't say any more except that you should buy the best you can afford, and get a good security system.

WG840

 

[SmithEC]

It's a good commercial, unless you've seen what the bottom of the safe actually looks like. If you can lay it flat like in the video, it would be a heck of a lot easier just to cut most of the bottom out.

They are what they are. I can't bolt mine down because I live in an apartment. No doubt if I drilled into the foundation of this building, I could one day be sued for a lot more money than I have.

I don't sweat it, though. I watched two pretty big guys have a bad time moving this thing in here, and I'm certain no thief around here has the energy to take it away. Twenty-five cubic feet for only two handguns, but the peace of mind is immeasurable.


.

 

[Smokester653]

For most of my valuables I have a safety deposit box at the bank. I also have a couple of family heirlooms (firearms) in there as well. They don't ask and I don't tell. I have a sister that owned a video poker place years ago that was broken into over a Sunday (they were closed) and they lost about twenty thousand dollars. It was big safe like the premium ones and they destroyed it! If you want in it bad enough you'll get in.

 

[84CJ]

Better still, the safe crackers are probably winded and tired after the first. But any safe they can't find they can't enter. A flimsy decoy may buy significant time.

If they get winded they are not safe crackers.

I dont get paid enough to break into a real sweat or get winded.

I will say I have not seen a liberty safe pryed open. Actually I have only seen one opened successfully. The guy was caught on video and left came back later with a tourch. Inside job the alarm was not set. all total he spent nearly 8 hrs. start to finish with his little break to fetch a tourch.