As the Northern California distributor for Fort Knox Safes, our company can often be found in a booth at Bay Area  Home and Garden shows selling top quality safes designed for storage of valuables such as cash, jewelry, important documents and family heirlooms. During these shows, we often hear many of the same questions get asked.

The #1 home and garden show question asked at our booth is without a doubt, “What is the cheapest safe that you have?  I just need to lock up some cash, jewelry, documents or, fill in the blank_________.”

This question always puzzles me because many of the very same show attendees asking this question think nothing of plunking down thousands for a new stainless steel refrigerator in order to better preserve their veggies.  Once arriving at our booth however, they will agonize for hours about spending anything at all for something that will preserve and protect their important documents, cash, and valuables from fire and burglary for generations.

When in the market for a safe its very important to take the time to educate yourself to insure that what you are buying will best suit your needs.  Safes may look the same, however when examined more closely, many differences become apparent.

Some important things to consider:

  • Does the safe possess a lifetime warranty, parts AND labor included on the body, bolt work, and most importantly the lock?
  • Does the the manufacturer have a repair or replacement warranty if  its damaged in a burglary attempt, fire or flood?
  • Was it built in the USA with American manufactured steel, components and labor?
  • Does it carry a UL listing for burglary protection? Many safes built overseas do not.
  • Does it have internal re-locking devices, corner bolts and hard plate behind the dial to help thwart a drilling or prying attack? Are the welds on the seams continuous, or spot welded as many cheap safes are?
  • Does it posses adequate fire protection- 90 minutes at 1680 degrees? Most all foreign built safes are tested at a mere 1200 degrees for only 30 minutes to an hour.
  • Is it big enough to hold everything that you want to put in it? Many buyers make the mistake of purchasing a safe that may hold what they own now, but may be too small for items they acquire in the future.
  • Is there a choice of colors, steel thickness, internal or exterior hinges, electronic or manual lock, or shelf configurations? If its made overseas on an assembly line the answer is no.

Costco, Walmart, and  Home Depot all carry what could be loosely referred to as “Safes”. However if you look closely at their spec sheets, almost none of the security features and benefits mentioned above would apply- Cheap is indeed cheap.

Fort Knox safes offer not only all of the security features and benefits mentioned above, but also a wide variety of sizes, colors and additional security features to protect your valuables. All of their products are 100% American made, possess a full 90 minute 1680 degree fire rating, and have passed a stringent underwriters laboratories test for security.

Fort Knox Safes: Lousy for storing cold cuts and lettuce,.simply the best for securing your valuables.

Visit our store today to see the full line of Safes from Fort Knox Security.