Are you from the US or from the EU?
in Europe we there is very handy categorisation of safes ranging from S1,S2 which give acceptable but limited protection (Standard: EN 14450) to Safes marked from Grade 0 to Grade VI (EN 1143-1). Vaults go all the way up to XII.
Those come very handy when you need to decide what protection level does the safe offer.
Maybe you can find out the applicable EN category even if you buy it in the US. It should greatly help you with choosing and comparing them
I'm starting to realize that simple safes are good for deterring the ham fisted thieves with a big hammer, however any serious "safe cracker" can get into almost any safe via knowledge and technology.
Yes. With necessary time, knowledge, money and determination any safe can be cracked. It ist just a question how much of those do you need
Not sure how tough D2 is compared to the real "hardplate" that the safe manufacturers are using?
In safes the strength of the door /walls are measured in RU (resistance units I believe). I think that should be a valid direction to look into when comparing materials.
The European standards require safes all the way up from S1 to defend the lock with a plate with the minimal hardness of 60 HRC. So that should give you some comparison.
