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When it comes to keeping your valuables hidden in a safe space, while you can keep them locked away in your drawers and cupboards, nothing beats the security features of a safe.
What is a safe? A safe is a secure lockable box that comes in a wide range of shapes, sizes, and types, and is perfect for protecting your valuables not only from theft but also from fire and water damage.
You can store several items in a safe ranging from money, jewellery, important documents, media, guns, to just about anything. Of course, there are specialised safes to keep each of these items safe in the best possible condition, such as gun safes, media safes, and fire-resistant paper safes.
Read on to find out more about safes, their locking mechanisms, what they protect, their types, and much more:
TYPES OF SAFE LOCKS
There are a wide variety of locking mechanisms available for safes: key locks, mechanical locks, electronic combination locks, and biometric locks.
There are also dual locks that require two different locking mechanisms or individuals to access the contents of the safe.
When choosing the best type of lock for your safe, you must ensure that it is strong enough to withstand any attacks and allows easy management for regular use.
Each type of lock has its own set of advantages and disadvantages, and you must choose one that you are most comfortable with and that fits your situation perfectly.
Let’s discuss two of the most common types of safe locks – key locks and combination locks – and see how they are different from one another:
WHAT ARE KEY LOCK SAFES?
A key lock safe is a safe with a key-operated lock, which is one of the oldest and most common types of locking mechanisms found in safes.
A well-maintained key lock may outlive a substandard electronic lock and may prove to be more reliable in addition to being extremely cost-effective. However, you need to keep one thing in mind when opting for these types of locks and that is key management.
When dealing with physical keys, you need to be extremely careful since not only are they breakable but also losable.
Misuse of the key may cause it to get damaged in the lock, leading to lock-out situations where lock picking or drilling may be required to regain access to the safe and its contents.
Keys can be lost too, and anyone who has ever had a key in their possession would know how common that is. They are one of the most commonly misplaced items in the world with the majority of people losing at least one key in their lifetime.
If you’re a forgetful person, key locks may not be the best idea for you since if you lose your safe’s key, the safe and its contents are left in a vulnerable state.
Key locks can be equipped with either cylinder locks or double-bit key locks. Cylinder locks are not as effective when it comes to tampering, making them unsuitable for burglar-resistant safes.
They are typically used on key boxes and some fire-resistant safes, with the main focus on fire safety rather than protection against theft. They are much cheaper than other types of key locks and reduce the overall cost of the safe.
Double-bit key locks, on the other hand, meet the high-security requirements of a burglar-resistant safe and, in terms of security, they are no less than electronic locking mechanisms, albeit much cheaper.
In addition to that, they are much more weather-resistant than electronic locks, making them the more reliable choice.
The downside with them, as with all types of key locks, is that they have to be managed properly. If a burglar gets their hands on the safe key, you can most certainly kiss your valuables goodbye.
WHAT ARE COMBINATION LOCK SAFES?
Combination lock safes eliminate the need for keys to open a safe and rely instead on the user to enter a certain code to gain access.
Combination locks may conjure images of safes often seen in movies with a numbered dial to spin and input the right sequence.
These types of locks are known as mechanical combination locks where only people with the right code can access the safe’s contents, and what’s best is that no keys need to be managed.
On the other hand, you have electronic combination locks that come with digital keypads or touchpads using digital codes. They are ideal for situations where you have to give access to more than a few people since they also allow you to keep track of when the safe has been accessed and by whom.
You can give out different codes to different people so that it becomes easier for you to keep track, and with the ability to change the codes almost instantly, you can get rid of codes that have become vulnerable and revoke access from the individuals who used them.
In addition to that, the locks are temporarily blocked after a certain number of incorrect attempts and, in some advanced systems, you also have the option to set an opening delay, double code, or push notifications sent to your phone every time the safe is accessed.
These locks are battery-powered and require you to maintain them and replace weak batteries with new ones.
The downside with electronic combination locks is the costs since they are more expensive to buy than key locks and even mechanical combination locks.
OTHER TYPES OF SAFE LOCKS
Other than key and combination locks, you can find a few other options when it comes to effective locking mechanisms for safes. They include:
Biometric safe locks
Although combination locks, both mechanical and electronic, eliminate the use of keys and solve the key management issue, they have other drawbacks such as the users forgetting the code.
Biometric locks deal with this problem by eliminating both key and code use and instead allow access by reading unique physical characteristics of the users such as their fingerprints, retina scans, or facial recognition.
Out of the lot, fingerprints are the most common and generally used in both residential and commercial safes. They are unique, cannot be copied or misplaced, and are literally right there at your fingertips.
Dual safe locks
Dual locks, as the name suggests, use two different types of locks to access the safe and its contents to provide double the protection than a single lock.
The two most common lock types found on dual locks are key and combination locks, where both are required in order to gain access.
This uses both their advantages and overcomes their disadvantages by providing the maximum level of security to keep your valuables protected from unauthorised access.
If you accidentally misplace your key or it is stolen by someone, you wouldn’t have to worry about an unauthorised individual gaining access since they would need to know the combination of the safe along with possessing the physical keys.
The downside to this is that if an authorised user misplaces their key or forgets the code, they won’t be able to get into the safe either since both authentication methods will be required.
However, due to the increased security benefits and added peace of mind, most people are willing to take this small risk since it is worth it if you look at the bigger picture.
CHOOSING THE BEST SAFE LOCKING MECHANISM
When choosing the best locking mechanism for your safe, it really comes down to your personal choice and what works for you.
While electronic locks, including combination locks and biometric locks, are incredibly easy to use and much quicker to open, for some old school reliability and longevity, there’s nothing that can compete with a good mechanical lock.
DIFFERENT TYPES OF SAFES
Now that we’ve discussed the different safe locking mechanisms and how to choose the best one for your property, let’s look at some of the most common types of safes found in residential and commercial properties.
Wall safes
Wall safes are secret security compartments that are installed inside a wall to offer convenient protection for your belongings.
They are mostly small and can accommodate a few items such as papers, a bit of emergency cash, boxed jewellery, or loose jewels.
It is not recommended to use wall safes to store very valuable items because if a burglar discovers the safe’s location, it won’t offer much protection as compared to a traditional safe that is bolted to the ground.
Floor safes
Underfloor safes are secure boxes that are installed underground. They have a safe door at the top, and since the body itself doesn’t offer the maximum protection, they are encased in concrete to up the level of security.
Often confused with floorboard safes that are secured to joists and sit in the void between the floor and ceiling, underfloor safes are placed in sturdy, concrete flooring and require professional installation.
The doors to these safes are typically round in shape and become thicker as the level of security improves. The round lids limit the size of the items to be stored in the safe, not allowing very large items to go through.
Since underfloor safes have a door on top of them, you can easily open them without having to drag the entire safe out from under the floor. However, because they are under the floor, you will have to bend down or sit on the floor to open them and access their contents.
Data safes
Made specifically to protect items such as laptops, USBs, hard drives, cash, and any important documents including IDs, passports, and birth certificates, data safes ensure that all these items are never lost, damaged, or stolen.
Most data safes are smaller than other types of safes and are designed in a way to keep papers and small electronic equipment safe. Their size makes them portable and easier to move around without any trouble.
A few important features of data safes include fire and water resistance so that you don’t have to worry about your important papers and gadgets getting destroyed in the event of a fire or flood.
Gun safes
Although gun safes are not mandated by law, gun owners do have the legal obligation to ensure their firearms remain safe from theft and misuse.
Furthermore, in order to gain your gun license, the police will inspect not just your property but also your gun storage provision. This means that without a proper gun safe, your license is most likely going to be rejected.
Therefore, any individual who owns a gun needs to have a safe place, aka. a gun safe, to store their firearms and keep them out of unauthorised hands such as children and burglars.
Gun safes come in a variety of sizes and should meet the British Standard BS7558 that ensures that they will be able to withstand a 5-minute-long attack using common burglary tools.
Key safes
Key safes are lockable key storage devices mounted on the exterior of your property that keep your keys away from the wrong hands.
As opposed to mechanical push-button lockboxes, secure mechanical key safes offer a higher level of security and are made to withstand various levels of physical attacks and tampering.
You may also opt for smart key safes that you can access remotely through a smart device such as a smartphone, tablet, or laptop via an app.
This gives you the advantage of being able to open and close the key safe through your smart device, along with changing the codes from anywhere in the world.
Drop safes/Deposit safes
Drop safes, also called deposit safes, are a type of security safe installed in various business setups to safeguard cash and important documents from thieves and burglars.
They are also used to temporarily store items until they can be transferred to a bigger, more secure facility, and are mostly found in businesses such as banks, postal offices, and retail stores where deposits are made at regular intervals.
They normally have a slot, either on the top or front, or a drawer, depending on the size of the safe, that allows employees to make deposits into them without even having to open them.
This not only helps keep the deposits private and safe from outside threats but also restricts employees from being able to see or steal whatever’s inside.
Only authorised people, most likely the business owners and managers, have the keys or security codes to access the contents of the safe.
CONTACT CALDER SECURITY
We are members of the Master Locksmith Association (MLA) and are familiar with a wide range of safes, cash boxes, and strong boxes. Our SSAIB contractors can help you assess your security needs and recommend a suitable safe perfect for your requirements.
We offer professional safe installation services to not only prevent theft and fire damage but also ensure that the safe is secured in place properly, cannot be removed, and is not in danger of falling or damaging anything.
We also offer safe opening services since misplacing the keys, forgetting the code, or failure of the safe itself can all lead to the contents of the safe being inaccessible.
By design, of course, safes are very difficult to access in these circumstances and you need a professional safe engineer to do it for you. Our Calder specialists can open most safes and can restore them to full working order afterwards.
When you need to relocate or remove your safe entirely, you can count on us to carry out the job with ease. In addition to that, our professional safe repair and maintenance services ensure that your safes are always in optimal health providing you with the best security.
Contact us here or call us on 0800 612 9799 to talk to our security professionals right away for the best key and combination safes for your property!
Photo by Kristaps Ungurs on Unsplash