So Looking for something like a fire safe for home to secure critical documents , passports, birth certificates etc
I know nothing about them, we had a smallish one when i was married, but thats gawn with the house and money…
so Im going to get one this week.
Any hints and tips on whats good and whats not? Google gives about 5 billion hits contradicting each other.
yea agree with you on that.
Thinking of brands to steer clear of, that kinda info
Can't think of any brands, but steer clear of any electronic locking mechanisms. Stick to the manual ones.
Buy from a reputable safe retailer rather than Amazon or Bunnings and buy the size that fits your needs with the longest protection period you can within your budget.
Fire safes are generally rated based on temperature and hours. Problem is, if the fire exceeds that then the documents are toast. Also the more fire safe, the thicker the insulation and therefore the bigger the safe (and more expensive). Sometimes it would be better to just locate it somewhere where there is very little combustible material and close to the ground (as heat rises). Also keep scanned copies offsite as an extra backup.
Budget would help and an approximate size. No sense telling you to get a Lord that would house a small family if all you need is a Sandleford for 3 sheets of paper.
Get on the CMI website and have a look. They are an Australian manufacturer and build real safes and not Bunning shit.
The other thing, dont go looking for “fire safe”, what you want might also be called a “data” safe or a “document and record” safe.
Go speak with a safe shop and tell them your needs. You can get fire rated safes, fire inserts, fire envelopes etc.
We simply bought a big arse safe and put it in the garage. Unlikely to burn and still has some hours fire rating anyway.
An anecdote I heard was one of the houses that burnt down in the Blue Mountains in 2013 had a floor safe embedded in concrete that had a large amount of cash in it. The outcome was a charred black lump and ashes where there used to be documents.
So probably best to have a plan B as well!
Best place to have real valuables is a safety deposit box. It'll never burn.
I have been skeptical of safety deposit boxes ever since I lost a pile of bearer bonds in Nakatomi Plaza back at Xmas 1988.
Few bank branches offer a safety deposit box service any more. There's third parties that do but how safe are they really?
If you're in a major city there are plenty of options. Need to call the banks as you'd be surprised which branches have them available.
@Benoffie: You might be confusing them with what many have replaced them with which is a safe custody arrangement. Actual safe deposit boxes are rare and have long waiting lists. At least that's what I've found in Sydney. I even found a few years back that when the branch relocated they changed all the boxes to just the custody arrangement without informing me.
@apsilon: I'm not confused and am aware of the differences and wait times but the OP may be lucky or may be willing to wait.
In Melbourne where the OP is, there are several options available in the CBD however the NAB have ceased this service. Darn sight more than Adelaide has left (hence why we ended up buying a big arse safe at home and kept the SDBs)
I'd start with CBA or Westpac before checking out Bank of Melbourne and others.
I knew someone who had a fire safe. House had a small
fire and the room with the safe was mostly destroyed. The safe was perfectly fine, definitely held up, however everything inside the safe had melted or burned from the external heat.
Seeking to purchase a small fire resistant/water proof chest.
Mainly used to keep A4 sized documents, think academic transcript, will, birth cert etc.
Have taken a browse of officeworks/bunnings and am looking for something like below
https://www.officeworks.com.au/shop/officeworks/p/sentry-saf…
Anyone have experience with purchasing something similar?
It's a bit of a minefield when you start researching - same goes for most safety products like helmets, life jackets, surge protectors.
Just buy whatever you can afford.