Buy a safe today and you could greatly increase the safety and security of your most important possessions, both by protecting them from potential fire damage and the danger posed by thieves and vandals. A safe has been proven over many decades to be the most effective way of protecting assets that need to be kept on the premises, and this can only continue with the development of new harder materials and new technology for locking and entry systems. Combine the new modern safes with techniques for further enhancing their safety, and you will do the best you can for your priceless possessions.
Safes are a vital asset for many commercial businesses, and they also have an important place in the homes of those with important assets to protect. Commercial safes need to be as effective as possible because every thief who breaks into a commercial building expects to find a safe somewhere. They will come prepared and willing to spend time to try to defeat the combination or electronic security, and if they are able to somehow disable the alarm, they could have many hours in which to work as the building will be empty. A residential safe may need to be just as good if the occupants are known to be away for an extended period of time.
It is not just the risk of intruders, vandals and thieves which needs to be met head-on with an effective safe. There is always a risk that any building will catch fire no matter how well it is maintained, and that fire can spread quickly depending on how well the building is constructed. A good safe needs to be able to withstand fire and leave the contents undamaged, which is possible in virtually every case with modern materials. Items stored within the safe should still be individually protected as there are never any guarantees as to the temperature inside during an extended fire.
You can also buy a safe to help you overcome potential entry problems to your home or office. No matter how careful you are, there are always events you cannot control and could cause serious problems. If you only have one set of keys to your house, and you are robbed or attacked in the street, how will you get inside? Having a key safe in an outbuilding or even hidden on a wall is one way to at least guarantee that you will be able to get into your home should you need to.
When you are considering which safe to buy, one of the most important considerations is how the safe is going to be entered. The traditional combination entry system is still in use and many used safes will still feature it. More new safes are being built to take advantage of electronic technology, using either a credit card entry system, a numeric keypad or even fingerprinting. Obviously, a safe that can recognize fingerprints will be priced above other systems, but only you can decide whether the expense will be worthwhile.
Before you go out and buy a safe, it is important to consider what else you can do to increase your safety level still further. A safe can be hidden from view so that a casual intruder is unlikely to find it, even if it is just a traditional wall safe. Simply covering it with a picture is not going to be enough, but you can always use what appears to be an electrical point to mask a safe set into the wall. For even greater safety, think seriously about a safe below ground level.
A safe which is located below ground level is safest for many reasons. Firstly, it is harder to find if it is concealed properly. Boards can be placed over the area to completely camouflage the installation. Secondly, the safe will be much harder to remove should an intruder try to extract it to be worked on after leaving the property. Another important benefit is increased protection from fire, as the safe will be set in a non-heat conducting material. Fire doors can also be placed between the safe and the main areas of the building.
Don’t be tempted to buy a safe without considering where it will be located and how it will be fitted. Ideally, you should have a contract to have the safe installed before you part with any money. A safe is only as good as the installation which prevents it from being removed from the site by an intruder who wants to carry it away and work on it later, eliminating all of the advantages of the materials and the locking system. Make sure that you know exactly how and where the installation will be made before you finally commit to buying a safe.
