Archive for the ‘Safe Shopping Tips’ Category

What’s the BEST Jewelry Safe?

Tuesday, December 14th, 2010

Luxury Jewelry Safe

The one that has room for everything you want to protect, safely and conveniently. The one that looks the way you want it to look. The one that fits where you want to put it. The one that keeps out the bad guy who is stupid enough to break into your home. The one that protects your valuables from fire until the crew puts it out. The one that fits your budget.

Preparation will help you get the right jewelry safe for your needs. Before you go shopping take a mental if not paper inventory of the things you want to protect. Keep in mind you probably have additional valuables you will want to secure when you go out of town and you may acquire more valuables over the years. Think about where the jewelry safe will be placed so that it is convenient and you will actually use it. Take measurements of any tight spaces you so have an idea of how much space you have to work with.

There are many jewelry safes out there, but what you need is the best one for YOU. While it’s not rocket science it does help to talk with a safe expert. All jewelry safes are not created alike and you ought to know what you are getting. Don’t fall prey to the “great deal” that will provide a false sense of security rather than the protection that you need.

To make sure you get the best jewelry safe for your needs visit us on the web at Maximum Security Jewelry Safes
or call us at 800-538-0600 or locally at 714-550-4123. We ship all over the U.S..

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Luxury Jewelry Safes – 5 Things to Look For

Monday, October 18th, 2010

Luxury Jewelry SafeWhere do you keep your jewelry?  If you are like many folks it’s in a bedroom or bathroom drawer, crammed in a too small jewelry box, or laying on your bathroom counter.  Maybe you are tricky, and even hide some special pieces in places a burglar would “never find”, or so you hope.

It’s not worth it.  The risk of your jewelry, with precious memories attached, left vulnerable to burglary and fire, just doesn’t make sense.  The thought, it would never happen to me, only works for so long.  The effort and investment required to protect these precious items and the memories they represent is well within reach…enter jewelry safes.

But not all jewelry safes are created alike.  In fact, it is easy to go to either extreme, buying a false sense of security or being scared off thinking jewelry safes need to cost many thousands of dollars.  Good quality, reliable luxury jewelry safes can be affordable and beautiful.

So, what to look for in your jewelry safe:
1)    Independently verified burglar protection, UL RSC labeled
2)    Independently verified fire protection, 1 hour labeled
3)    High security digital lock, UL rated
4)    Interior drawers with organizer sections and protective fabric lining,
5)    The right location to place your safe.

Webster’s definition for a safe is, a place or receptacle to keep articles (as valuables) safe.  Even a fishing tackle box meets that criteria.  I don’t think many of us would feel secure storing our precious valuables in that!  The well know testing agency United Laboratories, UL, tests burglary safes offering a Residential Security label to any security safe meeting the requirements of a quality home burglar safe.  Look for that label.

Fire protection is evaluated based on the minimum amount of time the interior of a safe will stay below 350°F.  A common question is, how long does a typical house fire burn?  Years of attempts to get statistics from fire authorities and fire personnel have brought me no closer to a firm answer than when I began. There are just too many variables involved to get an average or a statistic that can give us comfort.  After 16 years in the jewelry safe business my personal place of comfort is a minimum of one hour of independently verified fire protection.  UL, Mercury and ETL are all highly reputable testing authorities that test safes for fire protection.  This independent testing gives me the confidence that my luxury jewelry safe will perform when put to the test. Look for a 1 hour fire label from a reputable third party testing agency.

There are lots of options available when it comes to locks.  First, be sure you select a jewelry safe with a high security lock.  UL tests locks and verifies their quality.  For your jewelry, don’t mess around with any lock that isn’t designated high security by UL.  High security locks come in three primary styles, the traditional tumble style combination lock, the digital lock and the biometric fingerprint lock.  Any of these three will provide you the security you need.  The digital lock is just so much more convenient than the tumbler and more affordable than the biometric.

Finally, be sure to select a good placement for your luxury jewelry safe.  You want it to be secure so that no one can carry it out.  And, you want it to be convenient so that you will actually use it.

Now, what are you waiting for?  With a little help from the experts at Maximum Security your luxury jewelry safe can be selected and installed in days.  Come on in or call us at Maximum Security Safes, or visit our Jewelry Safes page on the web, and let us help you get your jewelry protected now.

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Security Risk in the Dorms – Consider A Burglary Safe

Tuesday, August 31st, 2010

Laptop Security Safe Under Bed

Is your son or daughter headed off to college this fall? Have you considered a burglary safe? The dorms are great fun but can also present a security risk. In the midst of the new and exciting social environment students often leave their doors open. New friends and acquaintances stop by and visit and spontaneous gatherings occur. It may not be until hours later that they realize an iPod or digital camera is missing.

College kids these days have a collection of valuable electronic devices; laptops, iPods, iPads, cell phones, digital cameras and maybe even an eReader. In addition students often have some cash, jewelry or other valuables that are put at risk in the dorms. An effective, yet inexpensive security safe can provide a solid solution to this vulnerability.

Look for a burglary safe that has an easy to use, programmable electronic lock. The old fashioned tumbler style locks are time consuming to open and significantly decrease the likelihood that the security safe will be used. The lock should have a key back up in case your student forgets the combination or the batteries run out when the door is locked. Encourage your student to set the custom combination as soon as they get their electronic safe. They should select a combination that is easy to remember but not easy for others to guess. Birthdays are NOT a good idea.

Look for a security safe that provides an easy way for it to be secured to something permanent. Often students use a tether cable to attach the safe to a bed or desk. The burglary safe should be easy to access so that your student will use it. Stowing it in a difficult to get to location, like deep behind the dresser, will deter use. There is no point in having an electronic safe unless it is used!

Look for a burglary safe that is large enough to fit their laptop computer as well as other electronic devices and miscellaneous valuables. We offer one that is just right for this purpose the Laptop Safe fits just about any laptop computer with plenty of room to spare, yet can easily be tucked under the bed or desk. This electronic safe along with a cable lock will give you peace of mind well worth the cost.

College is expensive enough as it is, nobody wants to absorb the cost of replacing a stolen computer or other valuables. Provide your student with a convenient way to secure their valuables and you will all have a lot more peace of mind as they go off on this exciting adventure. Call or visit us at Maximum Security Safes today, we are ready and able to help you get the peace of mind you desire.

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Gun Safe Buyer – How Big Should You Go?

Monday, July 12th, 2010

Gun Safe - BF7240

A common complaint of folks who have purchased a gun safe is they wish they bought a bigger one. Home safes are like closets, we fill them up quickly. Most folks will keep their security safe for a very long time, in fact your safe may very well out-live you. Security safes don’t wear out, they just get too small. To make the most of your investment, buy your home safe at least one size bigger than you think you need.

Most of us are concerned about cost. What you will likely find is that as you move up in size within a line of gun safes, the price differential is relatively small. Most times the better values come with the larger sizes. Consider carefully what size home safe you will invest in.

Besides cost, the size decision will be based on two primary considerations; what you expect to put into the gun safe and how much room you have for the safe. It is worth your time to make a list of what you plan to put into the home safe. List out all the items that will stay in the security safe long term, then add the items that will go in and out with regular use, next add the items you will store in the gun safe when you travel and finally keep in mind extra room needed for valuables you will acquire or inherit in the future. Most gun safes are used for a variety of items, not just guns. Once you have a security safe in your house you will find it is a valuable storage place for birth certificates, insurance records, photos, jewelry, a stash of cash, and the list goes on. When your list is complete it is time to consider whether or not the size gun safe needed will fit in the location you had in mind? Some folks find they actually need two home safes.

Two security safes provides the opportunity to put the long term storage items in an out of the way location and a smaller safe, with the items you need more regularly, in a easy to access location. A conveniently located gun safe will be more likely to get used. If it’s not easy to put your items securely away in your home safe you may have a tendency to leave them out and vulnerable. This two security safe approach also makes it easier to have more secure storage space with room to grow.

Selecting the most appropriate size gun safe is as important to your decision as what type of safe. To ensure you get the most out of your “safe” investment consult an expert. At Maximum Security Safes we have expert consultants who are ready to discuss these questions with you. But don’t delay, you don’t want to be the next statistic we read about in the news.

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Home Jewelry Safes – Which Lock is Best for You?

Monday, May 10th, 2010

Diamond NecklaceHome jewelry safes are an excellent place to securely and conveniently store your jewelry.  First, select a good quality safe that’s the right size to meet your needs now and in the future.  Then you will likely have the opportunity to select the type of lock you want.  There are several things to consider as you select the lock for your home jewelry safe.

The three most common jewelry safe locks are the traditional tumbler style combination lock, the electronic/digital lock and the biometric or fingerprint lock.   The most important consideration is that the lock be listed by United Laboratories as a high security lock.  Anything less will not provide the level of security warranted for a home jewelry safe.

The high security combination lock looks very familiar.  It is the one you see most often in the movies where the thief turns the dial slowly listening carefully, sometimes with a stethoscope, trying to hear the correct combination.  These locks have the solid, traditional look that many people like.  They are however, cumbersome to open.  They are not like the old high school lockers that many of us remember, where you can dial in your combination with minimum precision, give it one good kick, and it opens every time.  With a high security tumbler you need to be very precise, dialing the lock four times one direction, three times to the other direction and then  two more times to the third number.    As we get older most of us will need to pull out our glasses to be able to accomplish this.  If you are off by just one tick mark you start all over again.  The traditional combination lock provides reliable, secure protection but not the most efficient access to your home jewelry safe.

The high security electronic or digital lock is currently the most popular lock on home jewelry safes.  These locks provide convenient, quick access.  When your home jewelry safe arrives you will receive easy to use instructions guiding you to set the combination of your choice.  Rather than a factory combination as with the traditional combination lock that requires a locksmith to change, you are able to select an easy to remember number that you can change yourself at will.  These locks are designed to prohibit a burglar from sequentially trying different combinations, hoping to get lucky.  After 3-4 incorrect attempts it locks out for a period of 10-20 minutes.  Following the lockout, if an incorrect combination is entered even once more, the lockout period begins again.  Batteries are typically of the common 9-volt variety and easily replaced from the outside of your home jewelry safe, in the faceplate of the lock.   The electronic locks provide convenient, quick access to your home jewelry safe at an affordable price.

The high security biometric lock is commonly known as the fingerprint lock.  The biometric locks offer all of the same conveniences as the electronic lock with the distinct advantage of not having a combination to remember.  While they are becoming much more reliable, as with any newer technology they are still a bit pricey.  Generally these locks allow several different fingerprints to be stored so numerous users can have access to the home jewelry safe.  The primary user or administrator is able to add and delete fingerprint users at anytime.  While the biometric locks are gaining ground they are still out sold by the electronic locks due to worries of reliability and price.

The locking mechanism is one of the key security components of your home jewelry safe.  While locks can be changed at a later date it is more cost effective to make the right selection up front.  Call or visit the experts at Maximum Security Safes and we would be happy to discuss this decision with you!

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Keeping Guns Safe and Accessible

Thursday, March 18th, 2010

Gun safe needed

We are blessed to live in a country where we have so much freedom, but with freedom comes responsibility.  If you own, or plan to own a hand gun, rifle, or any type of firearm it is your responsibility to secure it.  Gun safes provide peace of mind that your gun will not be discovered by a child or stolen and used in a future crime. Securing your firearm does not mean it can’t be easily and quickly accessible.

The critical components to assuring quick access to your firearms are:

  1. locating the gun safe near where you are likely to be in the case of an emergency and
  2. a quick response locking device.

Some of the most popular pistol safes are made by GunVault. These hand gun safes have a fast access lock that is easily and quickly opened. even in the dark.  Upon entering the correct code the door is opens quickly and automatically.  The pistol safes are most often bolted down in convenient locations allowing the homeowner to be armed within seconds.  Our customers have attached hand gun safes to the underside of beds, to a bedside table, to the inside wall of a closet, in their vehicle and many other places.  GunVault pistol safes come in single and multi-gun sizes.  GunVault also has rifle safes with the same locking mechanism.  Prices on the GunVault pistol safes start at $99 and GunVault rifle safes start at $499.

Secure Logic makes some great wall safes that are approved for secure gun storage by the California Department of Justice.  I call these our 007 wall gun safes because of their high tech look with stainless steel exterior, electronic or biometric lock and internal hidden compartment. The door slides down to open quickly allowing convenient access to contents.  By placing the safe behind a picture it can be both discrete and out of the way.

Rifle safes come in all types and sizes.  The locking mechanism can be either a traditional tumbler style, electronic or biometric.   Tumbler style locks take time and precision, not the best alternative if you want quick access. The electronic gun safe has a 6-digit push button combination that allows the user to program their own combination and get into the safe quickly.  The biometric gun safe, also known as a fingerprint gun safe, is also a quick access safe.

When shopping for gun safes be sure to look for the Department of Justice label indicating that the safe meets the California Department of Justice standard for firearms security.  If your safe will protect high value guns or other significant valuables look for the United Laboratories Residential Security Container (RSC) label as evidence that the safe has passed this more demanding test.  Beyond these two tests additional features such as greater amounts of steel and/or more bolts can offer increasing levels of burglar security.

Many gun safes also offer fire protection in addition to child safety and burglar protection.  If fire protection is important look for a label on the gun safe indicating that the fire rating has been verified by an independent third party.  This third party confirmation offers confidence that you are getting what you expect.

As a responsible gun owner you can protect your gun from the hands of children and burglars while still keeping it quickly accessible in case of an emergency.  Gun safes come in a wide range of types and sizes.  To be sure you get a safe that provides the kind of protection you need talk to a safe expert at Maximum Security Safes.  Call us at 714-550-4123 or 800-538-0600.

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Sad Story of a Home Security Safe Buyer

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

Sean was in our store today looking at safes for home. After two bad experiences with home security safes from big box stores he has learned the hard way. The first security safe was too light weight and not bolted down; it was carried off by burglars with the wife’s jewelry and all their important papers inside while he and his family slept undisturbed upstairs. The second home security safe was larger and heavier, but not very good quality. Two months after the one-year warranty expired the handle malfunctioned. After several phone conversations with the manufacturer and hours of frustration he was still unable to open the safe. At that point Sean realized it was well past time to invest in a quality home safe and he came to visit us at Maximum Security Safes.

So, how do you buy a home safe? A security safe that will truly protect your valuables, not just give you a false sense of security? The first key is asking questions about the product you are considering so you know what you are buying. You are looking to protect some of your most precious valuables; this decision warrants careful consideration not a knee jerk response.

It is important to understand is that there is such a thing as too good a deal. We have a $285, 185 lb, 2 cu ft security safe in our store from a leading supplier of safes in the country. The inexpensive digital lock failed and the owner couldn’t find the back-up key. The security safe was then opened by an eager teenager with a home screw driver in 2 minutes. The owner brought the safe to us in disgust, looking for a security safe he could trust.

What questions will you ask to prevent this scenario from happening to you?

  • 1) Is the home security safe made of steel or plastic? (How much value will you entrust to a plastic security box?)
  • 2) Has this home safe been tested against burglary and/or fire by a responsible testing entity like United Laboratories (U.L.)? Be very careful if the sales person says “It’s just as good as…”.
  • 3) Can you get support from the place you are buying the security box, should you need it?

Obviously there are many more questions that you can ask, and you should, before you make this important decision. These considerations hold true regardless of the type of safe you are looking for, general purpose home safes, jewelry safes, gun safes as well as safes for business. If you have the opportunity, go to a store that has a good variety, 20+ security safes, on their showroom floor of various sizes and price ranges. Test the locks, open and close the doors and begin to get a feel for what you get at different price points. If the security safe does not have any labels on it from independent testing labs, buyer beware.

Don’t fall into the trap of learning the hard way like Sean and our other customer mentioned above. Learn from their mistakes and make an educated purchase.

Morals to the story.

  • 1) If you must get a small light home safe, bolt it down.
  • 2) Believe the truth of the old adage, you get what you pay for.
  • 3) Ask questions of a knowledgeable source before you buy.

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I Wish I Bought A Bigger Safe

Friday, January 22nd, 2010

The most common complaint we hear from our customers is that they have run out of room and wish they had purchased a larger home safe. Safes are like closets, you generally fill up what you have, and fast! Over time we realize more and more things that we want to secure. To help minimize the running out of room problem review the following list of items that many folks keep in their home safes. Make a list of what you want to put in yours and use that as a starting point, then if possible, select a safe one step larger. The price differential between sizes is relatively small, especially when you consider the lifespan of your safe.

Monetary Valuables
Cash
Precious metals
Jewelry
Collectables
Silverware
Fine china
Fine crystal

Sentimental Valuables
Photographs
Home videos *
Collectibles
Scrapbooks
Journals
Personal letters
Awards, trophies & metals
Genealogical records

Firearms & Accessories
Rifles
Pistols
Accessories
Ammunition

Critical Documents
Financial records
Warranties
Receipts
Insurance documents
Tax records
Contracts
Deeds
Stocks & bonds
Birth certificates
Passports
Wills

Electronic Equipment & Media
Laptop computers
Hard drives *
Back up disks *
Flash drives *
CDs & DVDs *
Software *
Cameras
Lenses
Video equipment
Video tapes *

The List Continues…

You probably have other things that you would benefit from securing in a home safe. Consider this question carefully before committing to a safe that is too small!

Call or come by our store, we would be happy to help you evaluate what would be the best home safe for your needs.

* Electronic media needs special handling. Talk to one of the experts at Maximum Security to learn more about protecting these items.

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Christmas Gift Idea – Pistol Gun Safes

Wednesday, December 9th, 2009

Who on your Christmas list has purchased a gun this year? How about giving a pistol gun safe to keep that new weapon secure? Gun safes can be a practical and affordable gift.

It’s Christmas time and many of us are hoping to come up with just the right gift for each person on our list. We want something that will be unique and personal, something that will actually be used not just set aside and put into the re-gifting pile. Maybe you have someone on your list that has purchased a new handgun this year. 2009 has been one of the most prolific gun buying years in history. There are lots of folks out there who have either purchased their first handgun or have added to their collection. For many of these folks a pistol gun safe may be just the right gift

Pistol gun safes provide peace of mind. These safes keep curious children from harming themselves or others. One of the more recent stories was in Gardena, CA where a 12-year old boy shot himself while playing with a gun that was not secured. Safes also protect gun owners from their weapons being stolen and used in a future crime. Our pistol gun safes provide compliance with state laws. One of these can be a practical gift for the right person on your Christmas list.

Pistol gun safes are affordable. The most popular models are made by GunVault with their unique “No Eyes” keypad for quick access. Prices start at just $99. The MicroVault is a slim-lined safe that can be used as a portable safe or bolted down inside a drawer or on a shelf. The Mini GunVault is designed for one or two handguns and provides very fast access to your weapon with its quick release door. The Muti GunVault is taller with room for more handguns or handguns and other valuables.

Visit us on the web at http://www.maximumsecurity.com or call us today at (800) 538-0600  to learn more about safe gifts for Christmas.

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