Lock for a safe (and a safe)

[cmiller]

I need to buy a safe and lock to store some high value items (total value is >US$500k). It needs to be secure against common threats and some less common ones (e.g. theft by high end professional thieves).

I'm by no means an expert on locks, safes, and similar things. My first thought was "look up who sells safes", but it seems that is not a useful characteristic, as there are dozens if not hundreds of companies that sell every kind of safe under the sun.

What is the best way to find someone who specializes in designing security for high value things?

[Squelchtone]

If you are in the USA, there are a couple professional associations that safe technicians belong to, one of which is SAVTA (Save and Vault Technicians Association. You can find safe technicians close to you in their Safe Tech Search here: http://savta.org/ Their site doesnt always list all the safe and lock shops out there, so you may want to look up some brick and mortar shops in your area and ask if they are with SAVTA or NRO and if they sell Torch and Tool rated safes/vaults

I'm not sure what you're storing so it will make a big difference in size of safe if it is a pile of cash, a bag of diamonds, or 30 AR-15 rifles.

Things you want to look out for, for the value you listed, is to make sure your safe is a TRTL-30X6 or TRTL-60X6 rating (the TR is torch, the TL is burglar tools, and the 30/60 is minutes and the X6 is all six sides) and make sure it has at least 2 combination locks, hard plate, and glass and/or thermal relockers. If you are getting combination locks, get an S&G Group 1 mechanical lock like the S&G 8500 or the S&G 2937 and for the other lock get a Kaba X-09 digital lock. This setup is entirely my opinion, others here may have other ideas to offer you.

Amsec AmVault comes to mind,
http://www.deansafe.com/amsec-amvaulttx ... afes1.html

ISM Super Treasury is another popular one.
http://www.empiresafe.com/143/ism_super ... y_trtl30x6

Here's an example ISM on ebay, $6500 and weighs 5000 pounds
http://www.ebay.com/itm/I221623361020

Thanks for your question,
Squelchtone

[cmiller]

Thanks for the pointer to SAVTA. You also mention NRO -- what does that stand for?

As for size, you are correct that the size of things worth lots of money can vary, as can their tolerance to other hazards (fire, water, etc). In this case fire and water damage are both concerns, in addition to plain theft, so I'll probably be looking at options to protect against those as well.

I see several SAVTA members in my state, so I'll give one of them a call tomorrow.

[Squelchtone]

Most folks will agree that fire safes are usually one animal, and burglar safes are another. It's hard to get one that covers all the bases because of the materials that are used inside them. I know from personal experience that AMSEC has their BF (Burglar Fire) line of safes, but the dollar amount you are storing is probably over their factory or UL rating. I'm not sure what the AMvaults fire rating is off hand.

I should have said NSO not NRO, NSO is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_S ... ganization

NRO is National Reconnaissance Office, something totally different

good luck with your local safe shops,
Squelchtone

[dll932]

If you are in a business dealing in high value goods, your insurance company may TELL you what kind of safe you need. If not, I'd check the level of insurance coverage you have.