A Buyer's Guide to Home Safes
If you want to protect your belongings then it is a good idea to invest in a home safe. There are many different kinds of home safes on the market. Some are very secure, while others have limited utility and will not stop a determined thief.
If you have any incredibly valuable items - such as expensive but rarely used jewelry, incredibly rare coins or other treasures, then you should keep them in a truly secure location - such as a safety deposit box in a bank. However, if you simply want to keep your passport and birth certificate somewhere that a casual thief would not take them, or out of reach of a nosy child, then a simple and affordable home document safe may do the job.
When you are buying a home safe, try to find one that is both fire and water resistant. Most people are more likely to lose documents to a fire or minor flood than they are to a theft. Once you have found a box that is physically secure in that respect, you can think about security against burglars. Note that many home safes are small and lightweight, so even if they have a very good lock on them there is no guarantee that your items will not be stolen. A thief could choose to simply pick up your safe (if it is not screwed down) and walk out with it, then open it at their leisure. If this is a concern, then purchase a heavy safe, or buy one that can be bracketed to the ground or wall, and put it in a discrete location. If your safe is out of view then there is a good chance that a would-be thief will not see it and therefore will not be tempted to try to break it open.
If you want to protect your belongings then it is a good idea to invest in a home safe. There are many different kinds of home safes on the market. Some are very secure, while others have limited utility and will not stop a determined thief.
If you have any incredibly valuable items - such as expensive but rarely used jewelry, incredibly rare coins or other treasures, then you should keep them in a truly secure location - such as a safety deposit box in a bank. However, if you simply want to keep your passport and birth certificate somewhere that a casual thief would not take them, or out of reach of a nosy child, then a simple and affordable home document safe may do the job.
When you are buying a home safe, try to find one that is both fire and water resistant. Most people are more likely to lose documents to a fire or minor flood than they are to a theft. Once you have found a box that is physically secure in that respect, you can think about security against burglars. Note that many home safes are small and lightweight, so even if they have a very good lock on them there is no guarantee that your items will not be stolen. A thief could choose to simply pick up your safe (if it is not screwed down) and walk out with it, then open it at their leisure. If this is a concern, then purchase a heavy safe, or buy one that can be bracketed to the ground or wall, and put it in a discrete location. If your safe is out of view then there is a good chance that a would-be thief will not see it and therefore will not be tempted to try to break it open.