How to choose a safe (a plausible story). How to choose a safe for an apartment What additional properties should be paid attention to when buying

Choose a safe based on your needs. Safes are divided into burglary-resistant, fire-resistant and combined, protecting both from burglary and fire, they are the most expensive. Burglary-resistant safes, according to Russian standards, can be divided into 12 classes - degrees of protection. The higher the value, the safer the safe and, accordingly, the more expensive it is. For domestic use, safes are offered no higher than III protection. This class is determined not only by the type and complexity of the lock, which can also have a degree of reliability A or B, but also by the thickness of the walls. A safe with class I reliability must have a wall thickness of at least 3 mm and be equipped with a class A lock. There are also non-burglary safe structures, the class of which is defined as 0 or H0. Rather, they are designed to protect against children's curiosity.
A good and reliable safe should be equipped with a saw-proof lock.

Safes differ in the way they are installed. Built-in are mounted in walls and firmly fixed with cement mortar and anchor bolts. As a rule, only their front panel has reinforced protection - from all other sides they are protected by impenetrable walls. Camouflage is carried out with the help of paintings, mirrors or wall decoration. If robbers try to pull such a safe out of the wall, there will be a lot of noise. Furniture safes can be installed wherever you want. They have small size and can be hidden anywhere, such as in a wardrobe or closet. There are models that can be fixed with reliable anchor bolts using walls or floors for this. This complicates the task of robbers, especially considering that the weight of such a safe can be quite large.

Safes are equipped with key, mechanical combination and electronic locks. Key locks are the most popular. Mechanical ones may or may not have the ability to change the code; the electronic code must be changed periodically.

To provide smooth operation electronic lock safe, autonomous power supply must be provided.

How to install a safe

In order to install the safe well, you need to hollow it out, or maybe even at the stage, provide a special niche. On the body of the safe, fittings or hinges must be welded, which are poured after installation cement mortar in the space between the walls of the safe and the niche.
When making additional hinges or holes to fasten the safe, proceed carefully so as not to compromise its fire resistance.

To install a safe furniture design anchor bolts are required, they must be especially strong, since even a simple crowbar provides a breaking force with a force of a ton. Usually there are mounting holes on the back or bottom of the safe, if there are none, drill them yourself. To install the anchor, drill a hole in the floor or wall and insert the sleeve into it, when the bolt is twisted, the petals on the sleeve will disperse and wedged inside the hole, providing a secure fit.

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A fire-resistant safe not only protects valuable documents and things from intruders, but also prevents their thermal destruction. Depending on the fire rating, they can save paper documents, film and magnetic media from charring or degaussing.

Fire safe design

The properties of a safe are determined by the structure of its walls and doors. The interwall space is filled with finely porous concrete, which has low thermal conductivity and is able to keep the temperature inside at the desired level for a certain time. Such a safe is much heavier than usual due to the design features.


Do not confuse a fireproof safe with a fireproof one. The latter itself does not burn, but it gets very hot, and all the contents inside will become unusable. A gun safe is usually a fireproof box, but for better safety, you can also play it safe.

Fire resistance class


  • Class "B", maintains the temperature inside no more than 170 ° C. Papers and banknotes will be safe.

  • Class "D" is suitable for storing magnetic disks, video cassettes, film. Temperature inside at the fire - no more than 70 °C.

  • The DIS class is designed for any magnetic media, guarantees the safety of flash drives and memory cards. The temperature inside can reach +50°C.

Before you buy a fireproof safe, you should choose the type. It can be an electronic, mechanical, key or coded device. In terms of fire safety, the most reliable will be a key, a thermal lock or a mechanic.

The best safes

All safes are tested for temperature regime and thermal shock - for example, after being heated in a special furnace, they are dropped from a height of 6 meters. Each country has its own compliance standards. In Russia, this is GOST R 50862-2005, in Germany VDMA 24991, in the EU countries - EN 1047-1, in the USA - UL 72, in Japan - JIS-S 1037. These are countries of brands that have proven themselves as manufacturers of the best safes.


The most popular fire-resistant safe Valberg from a Russian manufacturer is reliable protection for documents and valuables with crossbar locking systems. As a safe for weapons, you can choose inexpensive products from Topaz from South Korea or Comsafe from China.

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Every day the list of people who decide to purchase a safe is updated. For the majority, he became a guarantor of the safety of their savings, securities, or simply things that are dear to the memory. However, based on the growth rate modern market(the introduction of new technologies, the quality of the material, its type, etc.), you must first familiarize yourself with all the proposed segments of this product.

What to be guided by when choosing?

Before buying a safe for your home, you should decide what exactly you need. So, we have compiled for you a list of five main points that you need to rely on when choosing a safe.

  1. First of all, you should decide on the subject of storage (what exactly will be in your safe).
  2. You also need to find out what exactly the valuables you have chosen will be protected from (burglaries, fires).
  3. You also need to decide on the dimensions of your future safe (height, width), as well as the dimensions inner space. You need to rely on the fact that over time, the internal space will require 25-30 percent more.
  4. The next step will be the installation site. Agree, this one will also depend on the previous paragraph (if the safe is very large and heavy, then you will probably install it on the ground floor or in the basement). In addition, there are built-in safes that can be perfectly disguised, while decorating, but you will lose weight and size.
  5. Before choosing a safe for an apartment, you still need to deal with the last, but no less important point - the type of lock. Today you can be offered electronic, key or mechanical locks. You can also combine several locks on one safe. It's very secure.

Main types of safes

Manufacturers most often produce two types of safes, each of which is reliable and safe in its own way.

These include:

  • burglar-resistant;
  • fire resistant.

Now we will go through each of these types separately.

Burglary-resistant safes different from the usual elevated system security from different kind robbers. Of course, such a safe will not protect your savings from natural Disasters or a fire, but he definitely will not give them into the hands of intruders.

Fire safes are not equipped with a security system such as the above. However, your valuables will be saved from all kinds of fires. Safes are made of special refractory materials and are equipped with one secure lock. They will not be able to resist robbers at such a high level as burglar-resistant ones, but this minus is easy to explain. Often such safes are placed in a visible and protected place, where the probability of fire is much greater than the probability of breaking.

How to choose a safe for an apartment according to the material of manufacture

Safes, apart from protective features, are also distinguished by the material of manufacture and purpose. These species include:

  • gun safes (the name speaks for itself);
  • built-in safes (mounted in the floor or in the wall, which allows you to reliably hide it from prying eyes);
  • special safes for storing magnetic media;
  • furniture safes (they are used mainly in various offices).

If you want to protect your money or things that are dear to you, then buying a safe is a great way out. When making such a purchase, remember: you are spending money on your safety!

Safe for home or office: which lock is more reliable and what you should pay attention to before buying

Safes of any type - weapons or for storing money, and so on - are sold in any furniture stores.

Consider the criteria for choosing the simplest safe for storing money and documents.

The safe has 10 burglary resistance classes. In Russia, the division system is usually used for 6 security classes. The higher the level of security, the thicker the walls (more impressive layers of steel, there are layers of concrete) and more ingenious locks.

The first class is usually a metal box with thin walls and one lock. Such a box is quite suitable for storing not very valuable securities and a small amount of money, or medicines and items that you want to hide from children. The higher the amount of stored valuables, and the less protected the premises, the higher the class should be chosen.

A simple furniture cabinet is quite suitable for storing money and documents, as well as for the purpose of removing medicines from children - such safes do not require certification, as for fire-resistant ones, and they are relatively cheaper. If you still need more serious option, you will have to decide and choose either burglar-resistant or fireproof. The combination of these properties directly affects the price - fire-resistant ones are much more expensive.

For real, you can choose a fire-resistant safe of the 1st or 2nd security class with two types of locks (mechanical and coded electronic). But such a model will not be cheap.

What is the best safe lock?

The choice of lock depends on the habits of the buyer. Locks are combination, key electronic and key mechanical, as well as lever locks (the secret part consists of plates with curly cutouts) and cylindrical, pump-action, with a fixed cipher and a replaceable one. German burglar-resistant safes are considered to be of the highest quality.

If you want to open it often enough and quickly, it is better to choose an electronic lock. But it should be borne in mind that once a year you will have to change the batteries (even if the batteries run out, the code does not go astray), but it is easy to change the code. A mechanical lock requires effort and precise movements, it is difficult to change the code. The most expensive locks are electronic combination locks, the cheapest locks are key locks. Key locks have a definite plus: they are cheaper and break less often. But you can lose the key and make a copy of it.

Combination mechanical locks are difficult to handle, the slightest unnecessary movement and the lock is blocked, as if the wrong code was entered. very comfortable, but much more expensive. The combination of an electronic lock with a key is not very reliable(a not very high-quality lock is often duplicated with a key lock so that it can be opened if the electronics fail). This is especially true of not very expensive models.

Useful options in modern safes

  • When buying, you can choose safes for storing money with convenient and useful features:
  • The lock with system of a delay at opening;
  • The mechanism for recoding to new keys when changing the owner;
  • Blocking after three incorrect code entry;
  • Opening a coded electronic lock with several code combinations at the same time;
  • The presence of a display and the ability to check when, what time and who opened the device.

What to look for when buying a safe

  • The warranty must be at least one year;
  • It is desirable to have a post-warranty service;
  • If the model weighs little, it must be attached to the floor or wall anchor bolts;
  • The thickness of the wall affects the resistance to fire, burglary-resistant safes may not be thick-walled;
  • If you want to buy not a furniture box, but a safe, buy it in specialized stores, or in an office furniture store and preferably famous brands(Mauer key locks and American Sargent&Greenleaf, TOPAZ, SAFEGUARD, Aiko, KASO, etc.);
  • Always ask the seller for test certificates according to the standard of the country of origin.

“Keep valuables in a savings bank,” the experienced burglar Miloslavsky called in the film “Ivan Vasilyevich Changes Profession”, but after defaults and crises in our country, not every person will now entrust their money to Sberbank.

Buying a safe might be a good idea. Experts told what to pay attention to.

Classification of safes

Modern safes are divided into 2 categories:

Fire resistant. They are intended only for the safety of the placed things from fire, and an experienced burglar will easily open any fireproof safe, because it is not equipped with a serious locking mechanism. Fireproof safes are more suitable for the home than for the office.

How to choose a safe

Burglary resistant. Their main task is to protect valuables from thieves who are greedy for other people's property. By design, such safes are significantly different from fire-resistant ones, they have many degrees of protection. There is a misconception that reliable safes have thick metal walls and a door.

The door of the safe is made not only of metal. Many manufacturers prefer to make doors from two fairly thick steel sheets, the space between them is filled with other material - special mixtures, concrete. This prevents penetration.


Fire-resistant safes - the best, but also the most cheap option, which is protected from burglary and fire. The weight of the safe can be from 40 kg, and the weight of complex models can be up to 500 kg, so you should always consult with a specialist before choosing a safe. During installation, the safe is fixed with anchor bolts to the floor.

What questions do you need to know the answer to when choosing a safe?

1. What are the values ​​that you plan to store in it. It can be precious stones, jewelry, large sums of money, documents, weapons, information media, and so on. For example, securities and banknotes it is better to store in a safe with good waterproofing and fire resistance - in fire-resistant models.

If a large volumes is not planned to be stored, then you can purchase a compact furniture safe. Despite the fact that he will perfectly cope with his main task. If you are planning to buy it for the office, then it is better to opt for more spacious and reliable models than furniture ones.


2. What is the general level of danger in the room where the safe will be placed. If, for example, the apartment will be well guarded, then the usual fire-resistant model will do its job perfectly. If there is no certainty that intruders will not be able to get to it, then you should take care of a powerful anti-burglary system.

3. Which manufacturer's products are right for you. It's the same as with any other product. An expensive product from Germany will be an order of magnitude better and more reliable than a cheap analogue from China. Optimal in terms of price-quality ratio are domestic safes certified in accordance with GOST 50862-2005.


The only objective evidence high level reliability in this case is a certificate. Only on the basis of a certificate can one speak of real technical specifications and product parameters. However, the certification procedure is quite expensive for manufacturers, so their price will be higher.


Many manufacturers create good and reliable models, but in order not to increase their price, they refuse to be certified. This is not against the law. The only negative is that you have to take the manufacturer's word for it, without reliable evidence of quality on his part.

Thief gives advice on where not to keep money

4. What additional equipment do you need. So, safes can be equipped with an alarm. This is another additional frontier in the way of hackers.

A gun safe is required for owners of dangerous firearms (according to federal law, traumatic short-barreled self-defense weapons, as well as hunting rifles and carbines can only be stored in a safe that is installed according to certain rules). Such safes are often equipped with compartments for storing cartridges.

DIY gun safe

As you can see, even the most common home safe can have many features that are different from other models. According to the site, you can easily do right choice if you clearly define the requirements that it must meet before buying.

Unfortunately, with the growth of the reliability of safes, the virtuosity of intruders increases. An integrated approach to the protection of the object helps to increase the degree of protection of property.
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Many people keep money, securities, expensive jewelry at home, important documents, databases, weapons. Naturally, putting all this in the most visible place is unacceptable, and banal placement in a closet does not guarantee safety. In this case, the establishment of a safe at home can come to the rescue.

To choose optimal model and the size of the safe, you first need to decide what exactly you will store in it. Conventionally, several types of safes can be distinguished, depending on their purpose: furniture, weapons, office, data safes. Furniture safes got their name due to the fact that they are built into furniture. They are quite modest in size, but have a number of advantages: they are harder to detect, they fit perfectly into the interior. Given the size of this type of safes, they are designed to store small items: jewelry, money, stocks. When choosing a furniture safe, consider the degree of its protection (of course, the price will directly depend on this). As for gun safes, this is first of all a necessity, because the law implies the storage of weapons only in a special safe (this limits access to weapons to those who do not have the right to do so). There are safes that are designed to store a certain type of weapon, and there are also universal weapon safes, but their cost is much more expensive. Those who are not used to counting money will be pleased with expensive safes designed to store several different weapons at once.


Contrary to popular belief, office safes are used not only for offices. They got this name due to the fact that their size allows you to place various documents. The safe itself is a separate structure that can be easily installed on a nightstand, under a table, in any other place. Think about what features you would like to have in your safe (protection against drilling of the lock, the possibility of attaching to the floor, additional volume, ergonomics, etc.) and choose the right model with this in mind.


Data safes – the last word technology. They have an air-, heat-tight chamber, the door is hermetically sealed (these models are able to protect the contents from fire, the duration of which can be about 2 hours). Usually they are used to store magnetic, digital media.


The main safety features of safes are fire resistance, burglary resistance. Fire resistance - the ability to withstand fire, high temperature. This effect can be achieved by special fire-resistant concrete, which fills the walls of the safe. Burglary resistance prevents unauthorized access to the contents of the safe due to the use of reliable locks and a special body of the safe, into which special concrete. Safe locks There are several types: key, code mechanical, electronic. The most popular is the key lock (usually lever locks are used, which cannot be opened silently and quickly). Electronic lock provides for changing the code of the safe, connecting an alarm to it. Its main disadvantage is the inability to work without electricity. Combination mechanical locks can be with a permanent code or with the possibility of changing it. The ideal option will use multiple locks at the same time. In total, there are 15 classes of burglary resistance, for a home safe, class 1-3 is quite enough.


Among the well-known Russian manufacturers safes can be noted Velberg Euro, Velberg, Praktik. good models release Italian manufacturers Stark, Technomax, and Safetronics (Slovakia). excellent quality at safes Fichet (France), Kaso (Finland).

The safe will securely store any of your belongings, while they will always be at hand, in close proximity, which will allow you to access them when needed. Remember that saving on choosing a safe is not worth it.