Keeping your valuables safe from theft and destruction might seem harder than ever before. Last year saw the worst ever year on record in terms of natural disasters in the USA, with 28 separate events each causing over $1 billion in damages and loss of valuables, with the total across the board exceeding $92.9 billion. This marks a stark increase compared to previous years, with this trend expected to increase in severity and frequency due to climate change.
At Batten, our team of security experts is dedicated to providing you with trustworthy and thoroughly tested recommendations to help you protect your valuables against these growing threats.
Contents
- Quick View — Best Disaster Proof Safe for Home and Office
- How to Choose the Best Disaster-Proof Safe?
- Benefits of Owning a Disaster-Proof Safe
- GHJGAGE Large Safe Box
- RPNB Deluxe Biometric Fireproof Safe Box
- Tiskgg Home Use Safe Box
- Kavey 2.0 Cub Safe Box
- Dayi Safe Box
- Tenamic Deluxe Biometric Fingerprint Safe Box
- The Best Disaster Proof Safes – Final Thoughts
Key Takeaways:
Quick View — Best Disaster Proof Safe for Home and Office
Here’s a quick look at the top six best disaster proof safes.
- GHJGAGE Large Safe Box: A spacious 2.3 cubic foot safe with a fireproof rating up to 1,700°F for 30 minutes, featuring a digital keypad and emergency keys for multiple access methods.
- RPNB Deluxe Biometric Fireproof Safe Box: Offers advanced biometric fingerprint access, a UL 72 fireproof rating, and solid steel construction for maximum security, ensuring your valuables are well protected.
- Tiskgg Home Use Safe Box: Combines user-friendly digital access with triple locking bolts and includes a fireproof document bag, ensuring your important documents remain safe from fire and water damage.
- Kavey 2.0 Cub Safe Box: Features a 60mm thick steel door, dual alarm system, and hidden compartment for enhanced security, making it a robust choice for protecting your valuables.
- Dayi Safe Box: An affordable safe ideal for small spaces, with steel locking bolts and an included fireproof bag to protect your valuables from theft and fire.
- Tenamic Deluxe Biometric Fingerprint Safe Box: Offers four unlocking methods, including biometric access, and features a 2.6-inch thick steel door for superior theft protection, ensuring your items are secure.
How to Choose the Best Disaster-Proof Safe?
Disaster-proof safes come in all shapes and sizes, with plenty of features. This makes choosing the right disaster proof safe for your needs somewhat difficult, especially if you aren’t sure what to look for in a safe. Let’s look at some of the features you should consider.
Types of Disaster Proof Safes
There are three main types of disaster-proof safes: burglary and impact-resistant safes fireproof safes, and waterproof safes. These do not have to be mutually exclusive, as many safes are created to withstand varying types of damage.
Let’s take a look at the three main types and what you should look out for with each of them.
Burglary and Impact Resistant Safes
Burglar and impact-resistant safes are generally made out of high-quality steel. Your average home burglary-resistant safes are built with steel ranging from 12 to 14 gauge. The lower the gauge number, the stronger and thicker the steel. To put this in perspective, with every increase in gauge number, the thickness of the steel drops by 10%.
A major part of a safe being burglar resistant is the lock type. Safes can have many different types of locks, including number combinations, RFID or card locks, biometric locks, key locks, and others. Safes may also be built with pick-resistant locks as well as reinforcement bars for added security. Getting a safe that combines these security measures, such as a digital number combination lock with biometrics, will provide adequate protection against burglars.
Fireproof Safes
The first type of disaster proof safe you want to consider is the fireproof safe. As the name implies, the fireproof safe is designed to protect your valuables in the event of a fire in your home or business.
On average, there are 358,500 house fires in the USA per year, resulting in property damage and the loss of valuables in the neighborhood of $11.1 billion. We then have wildfires and the destruction they wreak to account for as well, with the frequency having steadily increased since 1980.
With this in mind, protecting your valuables from fire is a growing concern, and a good fireproof safe is a necessity. Fireproof safes are built with insulation materials between the outer layers of steel, often materials such as diatomaceous earth, cement, mica, gypsum, and vermiculite. This stops the fire and heat from reaching the interior of the safe.
That said, not all fireproof safes are built the same, which is why you need to look for a standard fireproof rating, most often provided by Intertek, a safe inspection firm, as well as UL or Underwriter Laboratories, a safety certification company. Testing is conducted by placing the safes in a furnace at a certain temperature for a specified time. Most safes are then dropped from a height of three stories and then placed back in the furnace for additional testing.
The majority of household safes are rated to last at 1,550 Fahrenheit for 30 minutes, with the next best option being a safe that can withstand temperatures of 1,700 Fahrenheit for 50 minutes, with the highest-rated safes being able to withstand temperatures of 2,000 Fahrenheit for up to four hours. Remember that your average house fire burns at roughly 1,100 Fahrenheit, and up to 1,500 Fahrenheit at ceiling level, which in most cases is not hot enough to damage the contents inside of a high-quality fireproof safe.
Waterproof Safes
The next type of safe to consider is the waterproof safe, with floods causing untold losses every year. It is estimated that there are nearly 21 million properties in the US at risk of flooding, but less than 5 million have flood insurance. Since the year 2000, floods have cost Americans $850 billion in property damage and the loss of valuables.
Unfortunately, there is no standard rating system used for waterproof safes. Instead, we often have to rely on the word of the manufacturers. One of the methods used to waterproof safes is a closed-cell foam gasket, which creates pressure and forms a barrier between the valuables inside your safe and the water on the outside.
One thing you need to be aware of is that safes are generally not 100% waterproof. But they are often rated as water-resistant for a specific period of time and depth.
Benefits of Owning a Disaster-Proof Safe
If it’s not apparent yet why a disaster-proof safe is a great idea, there are many benefits associated with owning one, so let’s take a quick look at what these are.
Protection from Burglary
Seeing as a home burglary costs an American an average of nearly $2,500 per year, having a disaster-proof safe can save you money by stopping burglars from accessing your valuables, even if they do break into your home.
Fire Protection
If a fire ravages your home, it will likely burn hot enough to destroy all of your valuables. However, even if the structure of your home burns up, if you have a fireproof safe, at least your important documents and items will be left intact.
Water Protection
Water can be just as dangerous as fire when it comes to protecting your valuables, especially paper documents and electronics. A good water-resistant safe can help prevent such losses from occurring.
Advanced Features
When compared to a regular low-quality safe, a high-quality disaster-proof safe may come with advanced security features that make them much more impenetrable to various intruders, whether human or the elements.
Insurance Premiums
Although this depends on the insurance company you choose, if you have a high-quality safe with official ratings, it may decrease your home insurance premiums.
Peace of Mind
:Although money is always an important consideration, perhaps the biggest benefit you get with a disaster-proof safe is peace of mind. Simply knowing that your belongings are safe in the event of a disaster or home invasion should be enough to keep you
If you want added peace of mind in a disaster, don’t forget to formulate a comprehensive family disaster plan. But for now, let’s dive into our list of the best disaster proof safes.
GHJGAGE Large Safe Box
The GHJGAGE Large Safe Box is a fantastic option to consider if you are looking for a mix of security and affordability, with three sizes available, all of which have a combination digital keypad and keyed lock for added security. Let’s take a closer look at it.
RPNB Deluxe Biometric Fireproof Safe Box
The RPNB is officially one of the most expensive safes on our list today ($299.99 for 1.29 cubic feet), although you know what they say, you get what you pay for, and what you get here are advanced security features, a real fireproof rating, and more.
Fireproof Rating
In terms of its fireproof rating, it is rated at a UL 72 standard, allowing it to withstand temperatures of 1200°F for up to 30 minutes. This is mainly thanks to the 16mm heat-resistant fire boards that are built into it, combined with the solid steel construction of it. If you’re looking for something that can protect your valuables from a fire, then this is certainly one of the better options on the list today. As far as fireproof safes for home use are concerned, it’s up there with the best of them.
Waterproofing
Although it is not specified for how long or at what depth, this unit is said to be water-resistant to a certain degree, although we can’t provide you with any exact figures at this time.
Security Features: Locks and Anti-Theft Measures
What you’ll really like are the highly advanced security measures integrated into this safe. First, it features five separate 20mm solid steel bolts for great pry resistance. In terms of the entry modes, there is a highly advanced 500 DPI biometric fingerprint sensor, two backup keys, and a four-digit smart touchscreen keypad.
Combined with this is the three-spoke safe handle that you need to turn clockwise with any of those entry methods. If the safe is shaken violently, it will trigger an alarm, at which point the fingerprint sensor and keypad will also deactivate. In the event of an emergency situation where a battery replacement is required, there is also an exterior battery box.
Size and Capacity
Before we talk about the capacity, it’s worth mentioning that the inside is covered with soft felt to protect your valuables, weapons, and more. This unit comes in at 9.84″D x 12.6″W x 17.91″H, with an interior capacity of 1.29 cubic feet.
However, there is also a smaller option of 0.84 cubic feet for $249.99, as well as a larger 2.12 cubic foot option that comes in at $389.99. For the overall size, it is relatively expensive, although it is also built to last, especially in the event of a fire.
Weight and Portability: Considerations for Installation
The RPNB Safe is one of the heavier contenders on the list today, coming in at over 67 pounds. Although this makes it less portable than some of the other options we’ve looked at, this also increases its overall theft resistance, because walking away with a safe that weighs 67 pounds when it is empty is no easy feat. On that note, it also comes with pre-drilled holes and hardware for floor mounting.
Tiskgg Home Use Safe Box
Here we have the Tiskgg, a middle-of-the-line safe as far as price is concerned ($169.99), with a 2.3 cubic foot capacity, a fireproof document bag, and a variety of advanced security features, such as pry resistance.
Fireproof Rating
Unfortunately, it appears as though this particular safe does not have an official fireproof rating. It is made with very high-quality alloy steel, and the manufacturers state that it is fireproof to a certain degree, although it doesn’t have an official rating, so we can’t exactly comment on how well it will withstand a fire. Its benefits lie in its advanced security features that keep your goods from being stolen by thieves. However, there is a fireproof document bag like the one mentioned above included.
Waterproofing
This safe does have a seamless door that produces a solid seal, which the manufacturers state is waterproof. With that being said, at the time of writing, we could not find any documentation confirming that this safe is waterproof. Based on all of the research and evidence out there, although the safe is highly water resistant, it may not be 100% waterproof. The fireproof document bag, however, is 100% waterproof.
Security Features: Locks and Anti-Theft Measures
What stands out here are the advanced security features that this unit comes with, which help prevent thieves from cracking this safe.
First, it comes with triple high-strength 30mm solid-core lock bolts, combined with dual anti-impact concealed hinges, as well as a 78mm reinforced solid pry-resistant steel door. This makes it both drill and impact-resistant, as well as pry-resistant.
In terms of the locking mechanism here, you get a digital keypad combined with a key lock. You can easily program the keypad to any combination you see fit, and you can set up to two separate codes. If the incorrect password is entered three times, it automatically locks the unit and sounds the alarm.
Size and Capacity
The size of this safe is 14.9″Wx11.2″Dx17.7″H, with an interior capacity of 2.3 cubic feet. It also comes with a removable shelf for organizational purposes. In case this is too much for you, you could also go with the smaller option which is just 1.0 cubic feet, costing just over $80.00.
Weight and Portability: Considerations for Installation
As for its weight, the Tiskgg comes in at just over 30 pounds, making it relatively lightweight. This is ideal in terms of portability allowing you to easily move it from one space to another. However, to prevent thieves from walking away with it, it allows for mounting on a floor or wall, as it has pre-drilled mounting holes, with the mounting hardware included.
Kavey 2.0 Cub Safe Box
If you are looking for a moderately priced safe that is ideal for theft prevention, then the Kavey 2.0 is worth considering, as it has a thick door, locking bolts, and other safety features to prevent burglars from stealing your valuables.
Fireproof Rating
Thanks to its steel construction the Kavey 2.0 Cub Safe Box is fireproof, or at least highly fire-resistant. It is made out of low-carbon alloy steel, which features a high-temperature resistance. However, it does not appear to have an official fireproof rating at this time.
Waterproofing
Unfortunately, this safe is not rated as being waterproof. It’s strengths lie in its high fire and burglar resistance.
Security Features: Locks and Anti-Theft Measures
What really stands out about this safe is that the door is made out of 60mm of solid steel, combined with four 28mm solid locking bolts, as well as that low-carbon alloy steel which is resistant to drilling. It also features a special laser-cut design that doesn’t have any seams or warping points, therefore making it highly resistant to prying.
As for entry methods, there are three available here. The primary method is the digital keypad that allows you to program a code as you see fit. You may also use the emergency keys combined with the turn knob, as well as an emergency battery box combined with the password and the turn knob.
There is also a dual alarm function that activates a 70-decibel alarm if the password is entered incorrectly 3 times or if the safe is violently vibrated or impacted. Overall, it appears to be one of the best safes on the market as far as burglar resistance is concerned.
Size and Capacity
The Kavey 2.0 has dimensions of 12.59″D x 14.96″W x 17.72″H, and an internal capacity of 2.0 cubic feet. This model costs $199.99. It’s moderately sized and should be more than enough for most basic home needs.
There is also a larger 2.6 cubic foot option available for $265.99. The interior features an adjustable shelf for organization purposes, a soft lining to protect your goods, and even a small light for visibility.
Weight and Portability: Considerations for Installation
As for its weight, when empty, it weighs just under 38 pounds, making it moderately heavy. It’s certainly light enough for a person to carry from one spot to another if needed, although if it’s full, it should be heavy enough to prevent a burglar from running away with it. It also features pre-drilled holes that allow you to mount it to either a floor or a wall, for increased burglar resistance.
Dayi Safe Box
First on our list, we have the Dayi Safe Box. Coming in at $89.99, this is one of the more affordable options. Although it may be priced at a budget-friendly level, it has plenty of advanced features to help protect your valuables.
Fireproof Rating
Unfortunately, this particular safe does not have an official fireproof rating. However, it comes with a fireproof bag made out of heat and combustion-resistant materials that can be placed inside the safe. The bag is rated to resist the average temperatures of a house fire. This safe is great for those on a budget looking to protect household valuables for theft.
Waterproofing
The included bag is not only fireproof but also water resistant, allowing you to store important documents and electronics to keep them protected from water damage. However, it is important to note that the safe itself is not totally waterproof.The Dayi does however excel at burglar and theft prevention.
Security Features: Locks and Anti-Theft Measures
What does stand out about this safe is that it features a variety of security measures to help keep thieves out. It has a one-piece steel construction with a seamless design door that prevents it from being pried or forced open. This is combined with three solid steel locking bolts that are 0.8” thick, providing even more pry and impact protection.
For easy access for the owner, there is a digital lock with a keypad, which allows you to program a 1-to-8-digit code, and just in case you forget it, there is a manual override key. If the wrong password is entered three times, a 70-decibel alarm will be triggered, deterring any intruders.
It also comes with floor and wall mounting options, so that a thief can’t simply run away with it.
Size and Capacity
The Dayi comes in at 9.85″D x 13.78″W x 9.85″H, with an internal capacity of 0.8 cubic feet, making it one of the smaller safes out there. For this reason, it’s ideal for small homes and apartments, and for people who only need to store a few valuables.
There is, of course, a certain tradeoff here. Although it doesn’t have much interior space, it’s also space-efficient and easy to hide in your home. However, if you require something slightly larger, it also comes in 1.4 ($119.99) and 1.8 cubic foot ($139.99) sizes.
Weight and Portability: Considerations for Installation
As for the weight, the smallest model comes in at just under 20 pounds, making it fairly lightweight. In this sense, it could be considered portable, although to make it as secure as possible, it should be bolted down using the included mounting hardware.
The 1.4 cubic foot model is just under 29 pounds, and the 1.8 cubic foot model is just over 36 pounds. All things considered, even the largest model is not overly heavy, and one or two people should be able to install it with ease. If you want something even smaller to keep a few personal goods secure, take a look at the Master Lock 5900D.
Tenamic Deluxe Biometric Fingerprint Safe Box
The Tenamic is another moderately sized safe that comes in at a relatively high price of $259.99, although, with this high price, you also get several advanced security features that help keep thieves at bay.
Fireproof Rating
The Tenamic is made out of thick and durable alloy steel, and according to the manufacturer, it is fireproof. However, we were unable to locate an official fireproof rating. That said, based on its all-steel construction, it should be able to resist a good amount of heat for quite some time, although exactly how much that is remains to be seen. While it is labeled as being fireproof, its real benefits lie in its advanced security measures, which we will discuss below.
Waterproofing
Unfortunately, this safe is not labeled as being waterproof or water-resistant, but once again, it’s designed primarily for theft protection, which it excels at.
Security Features: Locks and Anti-Theft Measures
Where this safe really shines is in terms of its security features. The 2.6” pure steel door, the six 1.2” steel bolts (three along the side and three along the top), and the concealed hinges make this an extremely impact and theft-resistant safe, which also happens to be pry, impact, and drill-resistant.
What really stands out is that there are four different ways to lock this safe, including using the digital keypad in combination with the knob, the fingerprint biometric sensor combined with the knob, a physical key with the knob, and a combination of all of the above, including a password, fingerprint, and knob.
The biometric fingerprint scanner keeps the safe secure by only allowing pre-registered fingerprints to open it, and the combination can be programmed as well.
The advanced semiconductor fingerprint reader is one of the best features that this safe has to offer. It also has a dual alarm system that activates when wrong passwords are entered or when the safe is violently shaken or impacted.
Size and Capacity
The exterior dimensions of this safe are 15.7″*13.4″*17.7″, making it average in size, with an internal capacity of 2.16 cubic feet. It also features a shelf on the interior for extra organizational purposes. Keep in mind that there are both smaller and larger options available, including a 0.8 cubic foot ($64), a 3.83 cubic foot (439.99), and a 5.1 cubic foot model ($599.99).
Weight and Portability: Considerations for Installation
This unit comes in at 55.1 pounds, making it significantly heavy. It’s certainly not the most portable safe around, which is of course a good thing as far as theft resistance is concerned. That said, this may make it somewhat difficult to mount, although it does come with pre-drilled holes and hardware for mounting.
The Best Disaster Proof Safes – Final Thoughts
With all of the threats that we face when it comes to our valuables, having a high-quality disaster proof safe is now more important than ever.
Whether you need something that is fireproof, waterproof, or burglarproof or a combination of all of the above, we strongly recommend investing in a durable safe with a proven track record.
If you want to keep your valuables secure, a safe is always the best line of defense.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the main types of disaster-proof safes?
The three main types are fireproof safes, waterproof safes, and burglary and impact-resistant safes. Many safes combine these features to offer comprehensive protection.
How is the fireproof rating of a safe determined?
Fireproof ratings are provided by organizations like Intertek and UL (Underwriters Laboratories). Safes are tested by exposing them to high temperatures for set periods to determine their resistance.
Do disaster-proof safes also protect against theft?
Yes, many disaster-proof safes feature security measures like thick steel construction, locking bolts, and advanced lock mechanisms to resist burglary attempts.
Can I install a disaster-proof safe myself?
Most safes come with pre-drilled holes and mounting hardware for wall or floor installation, allowing for secure DIY installation following the manufacturer’s guidelines.
Why is weight an important consideration when choosing a safe?
Heavier safes are more difficult for thieves to remove and often indicate sturdier construction. However, consider your floor’s load capacity and installation location when selecting.
