# Advice from safecrackers and locksmiths **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 1, 2002, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-from-safecrackers-and-locksmiths/101226 "2002-04-01T17:21:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2002, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-from-safecrackers-and-locksmiths/101226/1 "2002-04-01T17:21:54Z")
I don’t want help picking locks, I need help choosing a safe. It will be mainly for guns and other valuable little trinkets I could ill afford to have stolen. What are the important criteria in choosing a safe? Are all combination locks pretty much the same? Is having a key lock on the dial valuable? I figure if someone knows how to crack a safe the key lock won’t even be a speed bump. Are electronic locks the way to go? ---
**Author:** ![Osip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4491bb/32.png) [@Osip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Osip)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2002, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-from-safecrackers-and-locksmiths/101226/2 "2002-04-02T01:03:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Padeye \* > \*\*I don’t want help picking locks, I need help choosing a safe. It will be mainly for guns and other valuable little trinkets I could ill afford to have stolen. What are the important criteria in choosing a safe? Are all combination locks pretty much the same? Is having a key lock on the dial valuable? I figure if someone knows how to crack a safe the key lock won’t even be a speed bump. Are electronic locks the way to go? \*\* As for what the rating mean on safes you can look it up here: [http://www.custom-safes.com/ul-terms.htm](http://www.custom-safes.com/ul-terms.htm) There are a few SAVTA members in your area (Safe and Vault Technicians of America) they are James Hawley CRL Hawley Lock Supply 2122 E. Van Buren St Phoenix, Arizona 85006 William R Hicks Hicks Safes & Locks 2336 N 32 St Phoenix, Arizona 85008 Kenneth G Kitchen Arizona Lock & Safe 3610 W Van Buren St Phoenix, Arizona 85009 Michael Knudson A-Best Security 2627 W Northern Phoenix, Arizona 85051 Gary R Lewis CML Apollo Lock Service 4502 W Indian School Rd Phoenix, Arizona 85031 Richard Loewy National Lock & Safe 10430 N 19th Ave #5 Phoenix, Arizona 85021 **last but not least** Marvin W Sharp Safeco Security Inc 2606 W Townley Ste #1 Phoenix, Arizona 85021 Tell them SAVTA member 8722 refered them 🙂 They are all safe technicians who can steer you in the right direction to what safe will best suit your needs plus they can most likely sell you one as well. If you have any other questions E-mail me or of course post to this thread and I will try to help. \ ***note** While I am a SAVTA member I do not recieve any compensation of any kind for any referals. Of course, if you want to send me a fiver my way Padeye I would not object ! 😃 Osip ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2002, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-from-safecrackers-and-locksmiths/101226/3 "2002-04-02T04:21:13Z")
I am not an expert, however: [ul] [li]First of all, keep in mind when you’re shopping the difference between a fire safe and a money safe. Fire safes are designed to protect their contents from fire, and are not warrantied for anything else, though obviously they’ll provide a barrier against a casual grab. They usually have square doors, and although they look quite study the walls are packed with insulating material which would be easy to punch through with tools. Money safes generaly have round doors, which are substantially more secure. They will also have sturdier walls. All this notwithstanding, a fire safe would be plenty good enough for the vast majority of home security needs.[/li][li]The dial has little to do with how secure the safe is, and adding a key won’t change that. People don’t crack safes like you see on television, with stethoscopes or sandpapered fingertips. They crack them by peeling the doors or punching the locking mechanism. This is a long and noisy process, which most people aren’t going to bother with all that unless they have good reason to believe you’ve got something in there worth the trouble. The safe could also be blown with nitroglycerine, but this is hardly done anymore, because it’s not worth the risks of using the stuff.[/li][li]Many safes, for economic reasons, I suppose, have sturdy doors, but backs that can just be knocked open with crowbars. I’m sure it keeps costs down, but if you’ve got serious valuables, it’s false economy. [/li][li]No safe is secure if it can be readily loaded onto a dolly and transported to someplace where it can be opened at the thief’s leisure.[/li][li]A lot of people leave a safe almost dialed open, so the first thing a thief will try is to dial each number in turn, pulling the handle. Don’t get in the habit.[/li][/ul]