Question about gun safe & DVDs

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oldman45

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I have a few safes and one has some available room inside. This causes me to wonder about a couple things.

1. What would the temperature run inside a gun safe being kept in an air conditioned room where the air temps will be around 72 degrees, give or take a couple degrees? Also assume the safe would be opened maybe a couple times a month.

2. Can a person safely store computer media like DVDs inside a gun safe? I have years of work reports, photos and such on DVD in the event I have to go to court on something. I also have years of photos I made of women that I cannot post on here on DVD. I am more protective of these DVDs than of the work DVDs. Neither needs to be damaged by heat, cold, flood or stolen.
 
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Hey, a gun safe will NOT protect any type of computer or film media. Here is a link to fire testing and the requirements to pass these tests by Underwriters Labs.

UL Fire Safe Rating Guide

A few years ago when I worked part time at a local gun shop, a customer brought in about 40 handguns and rifles. They had a fire which burned down their house. These guns were in a name brand gun safe. They required us to inspect, test, and repair the guns.

Upon first inspection most of the guns looked fine. Some had discoloring and melted plastic parts.

But some the guns that looked fine did not function properly and had to be repaired or sent back to the manufacturer. Others guns were just fine.

Evidently some areas of the safe got hotter than others.

When you see the link above, note the requirements of tempurature and relative humidity INSIDE the safe.:)
 
Interesting link Kanewpadle. I thought a gun safe protects everything as long as it's dark, dry and the humidity inside the safe is right.

Guess I was wrong...
 
Kanewpadle said:
Hey, a gun safe will NOT protect any type of computer or film media. Here is a link to fire testing and the requirements to pass these tests by Underwriters Labs.

UL Fire Safe Rating Guide

A few years ago when I worked part time at a local gun shop, a customer brought in about 40 handguns and rifles. They had a fire which burned down their house. These guns were in a name brand gun safe. They required us to inspect, test, and repair the guns.

Upon first inspection most of the guns looked fine. Some had discoloring and melted plastic parts.

But some the guns that looked fine did not function properly and had to be repaired or sent back to the manufacturer. Others guns were just fine.

Evidently some areas of the safe got hotter than others.

When you see the link above, note the requirements of tempurature and relative humidity INSIDE the safe.:)
Click to expand...

Ok, so how does one store media safely?
 
You would either have to buy a Media Safe (very expensive) which is specifically designed for such items or buy a fire box such as those made by Sentry that lock with a key.

Put your media in the fire box and then put the box into a gun safe.

You may need more than one box and you may need to reorganize your safe.:o

It wouldn't hurt to put a small bag of dessicant in the fire box and well as the safe itself.
 
As a self-employed CPA, I looked for years for something reliable to store media with client records. Never found anything.
Best I had was when I was in a bank building. I stored backups in a safe deposit box. Swapped them out once a week.
 
"Ok, so how does one store media safely?"

If you can, make a copy and store it in a second secure location or a bank safety deposit box.
Steve W
 
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