You love living in the city and can’t imagine moving from your new condo or perfect apartment. But you’re also interesting in protecting your bullion, jewelry, art or other treasures against theft and fire. You’ve looked into the alternatives – a safety deposit box or insurance policy rider – and have decided that a home burglary safe is the best solution. But looking online has given you sticker shock. Most heavy duty burglar-fire safes cost several thousand dollars! You weren’t expecting safes to be so expensive.
Well I have good news. The best burglary safe for you might be both economical and secure. And I have even better news too. If you live in a multi-unit condo or apartment, you can often get away with a less expensive safe than someone living in a single family residence or townhouse. Why is this so?
It’s pretty simple really. Many multi-family buildings and high rise apartment complexes are constructed from steel and concrete. This means they have an innate level of fire resistance that is absent from detached single family housing built primarily from wood. In addition, building codes in many areas require multi-family buildings to have sprinkler systems, although this varies by state and local jurisdiction (at least in the United States). These two factors combine to make severe fires a rarity in modern multi-unit condo and apartment buildings that are up to specifications.
All this matters because there is a simple rule of thumb about home safe prices. Either fire protection or burglary protection is generally available at a reasonable price, but acquiring both fire and burglary protection in the same safe is substantially more expensive. So in many instances, condo and apartment dwellers can safely buy the best burglary safe possible while ignoring fire protection.
Of course, this must be determined on a case by case basis. Some people living in condos and apartments may feel they need both fire and burglary protection for a variety of reasons. If that is the case in your situation, please give your wallet my condolences. For everyone else, let’s talk about the best burglary safe for your condo or apartment.
First it is important to define security industry standards. In the United States most residential burglary resistant safes will have a “B” designation. This rating is a construction-based standard created decades ago by the insurance industry. It specifies a door with a 1/2″ thick solid steel plate and walls with 1/4″ thick steel. In addition, all good B-rate safes will have a relocker – an internal device that permanently locks the safe when tripped by a forcible entry attempt.
Because of all that steel, a real B-rate safe will be heavy, usually weighing 200 or 300 pounds for a modestly-sized unit. Please note that a home safe must be bolted to the floor to offer any real burglary resistance. It is not unusual for thieves to abscond with safes weighing several hundred pounds during burglaries. Even safes that weigh 1,000 pounds or more must be bolted to the floor for maximum effectiveness.
Once properly installed, a B-rate safe will provide serious protection against the two most common types of attacks encountered in residential burglaries: sledgehammer attacks and pry attacks. However, a troubling trend that has unfolded recently is for safe manufacturers to skimp on the amount of steel in their B-rate safes. Often they only use 3/16″ or even just 1/8″ thick steel in the walls versus the 1/4″ that is mandated by the original standard.
Fabricating the body of a safe with thinner steel saves on material and shipping costs. But it also makes these safes more susceptible to brute force attacks. However, there are still a couple safe companies that are bucking the trend by continuing to put out top quality products.
One of these companies is Gardall, a reliable name in safes for over 50 years. Their B-rate Gardall Money Chest series
There is even a mini version, the Gardall H2-G-C
Sturdy Safe is another safe company that does not compromise on quality. Their Model 2020 with its “popular feature” package – known as The Cube – is also a great safe for condo and apartment denizens. This superb, compact safe features a 3/8″ plate steel door with an additional 3/16″ thick, 8″ by 12″ stainless steel plate welded over the core of the locking mechanism. Stainless steel is not only torch resistant but also very difficult to drill, adding another layer of protection to an already formidable safe.
The Cube’s walls are 4 gauge steel, which at 0.2242 inches thick is just under 1/4″ steel. It has two active locking bolts, a relocker, anti-drill hardplate and an anti-pry deadbolt. Sturdy Safe’s Cube is made to exacting standards at Sturdy’s facility in Fresno, California. Although not technically a B-rate safe, The Cube will nonetheless be an intimidating safe for most burglars. If desired, optional fire insulation is available for a modest additional fee.
Considering they are all manufactured in the U.S., Sturdy safes are some of the best burglary safes for your money. They also offer larger gun safe models with identical construction. Sturdy safes are a real bargain considering the level of protection they provide.
Most worthwhile burglary-fire safes cost over $1,500, but the best burglary safe may be cheaper than you think. Living in a condo or apartment may allow you to safely forgo fire protection and get a B-rate, plate steel safe for significantly less.
Don’t mistake a $500 Bighorn, SentrySafe or Stack-On safe you see in a Costco or Sam’s Club for a true B-rate, burglary resistant safe, though. Those sub-par, big box store safes are made in Chinese sweat shops as cheaply as possible. Their shiny paint jobs and large diameter locking bolts certainly look impressive. But all the effort goes in their physical appearance, not their security features. They simply cannot compare with the real B-rate safes featured in this article.
