Hi,
I'm looking to purchase a fire resistant safe.. but have a few
questions. I've looked at a few different ones, and most of them say
1/2 hour but some of the more expensive ones say 1 hour. Is it worth
spending the extra cash for the 1 hour? To me even 1 hour is way too
short to withstand the heat from a house fire. Any thoughts? Do these
safes actually work, or are they false security?

"Matt" wrote in message
...
Hi,
I'm looking to purchase a fire resistant safe.. but have a few
questions. I've looked at a few different ones, and most of them say
1/2 hour but some of the more expensive ones say 1 hour. Is it worth
spending the extra cash for the 1 hour? To me even 1 hour is way too
short to withstand the heat from a house fire. Any thoughts? Do these
safes actually work, or are they false security?

My safe is an gun cabinet, and is 1.5 hour rated and the lowest rated for
explosions, internal type. I do keep ammo in it so that was an issue for me.
If your really concerned get a safety deposit box at the bank.

"Matt" wrote in message
...
Hi,
I'm looking to purchase a fire resistant safe.. but have a few questions.
I've looked at a few different ones, and most of them say 1/2 hour but
some of the more expensive ones say 1 hour. Is it worth spending the
extra cash for the 1 hour? To me even 1 hour is way too short to
withstand the heat from a house fire. Any thoughts? Do these safes
actually work, or are they false security?

If you never have a fire, they are all a waste of money. If the high heat
lasts less than 30 minutes, the added cost of a 1 hour is wasted. If it
protects your valuables in a fire, it is cheap insurance.

In most cases, house fires are put out in a short time. You may be a ble to
find some statistics on that. You probably also want to find the best spot
in your house that would see the least damage, such as a low corner of the
basement, far from the heater and oil tank.

"Matt" wrote in message
...

If you never have a fire, they are all a waste of money. If the high
heat lasts less than 30 minutes, the added cost of a 1 hour is wasted.
If it protects your valuables in a fire, it is cheap insurance.

In most cases, house fires are put out in a short time. You may be a ble
to find some statistics on that. You probably also want to find the best
spot in your house that would see the least damage, such as a low corner
of the basement, far from the heater and oil tank.

Right.. obviously as the other poster mentioned... if you really want
safety get a safety deposit box. As you state.. if the fire doesn't last
1 hour the cost is wasted. What I'm wondering is, will a 30 minute safe
actually live through a house fire, or not? I live in the city so
response time should be fairly fast.... just wondered what people's
thoughts were


I have a friend who's house caught fire in the basement,
all told the whole basement was gutted and rebuilt. nothing structural but
everything on the surface was replaced
his computer was downstairs with all this personal banking.
the monitor melted, but the hard drive inside the computer worked fine when
he put it in a diff computer.
so, depending on the size of the fire you may not need to spend the extra
money,
a smaller fire may not damage anything, while a large fire will not let you
rescue anthing regardless of what you use

my thought is that if the fire has been burning for 1 hr the fd may not be
able to put a fire that has been burning that long out, and instead they
would just contain it.
meaning that, everything would be toast by the time the fire was put out.
I'd personally go for the off site backup, get that stuff in a safe box in
the bank

If you never have a fire, they are all a waste of money. If the high heat
lasts less than 30 minutes, the added cost of a 1 hour is wasted. If it
protects your valuables in a fire, it is cheap insurance.

In most cases, house fires are put out in a short time. You may be a ble to
find some statistics on that. You probably also want to find the best spot
in your house that would see the least damage, such as a low corner of the
basement, far from the heater and oil tank.

Right.. obviously as the other poster mentioned... if you really want
safety get a safety deposit box. As you state.. if the fire doesn't
last 1 hour the cost is wasted. What I'm wondering is, will a 30
minute safe actually live through a house fire, or not? I live in the
city so response time should be fairly fast.... just wondered what
people's thoughts were

Do you think safety box is safe at your bank? Take a look at this happened
in Asia.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNew...657227-ap.html

It can happen in your local bank too. LOL..



"Matt" wrote in message
...

If you never have a fire, they are all a waste of money. If the high
heat
lasts less than 30 minutes, the added cost of a 1 hour is wasted. If it
protects your valuables in a fire, it is cheap insurance.

In most cases, house fires are put out in a short time. You may be a
ble to
find some statistics on that. You probably also want to find the best
spot
in your house that would see the least damage, such as a low corner of
the
basement, far from the heater and oil tank.

Right.. obviously as the other poster mentioned... if you really want
safety get a safety deposit box. As you state.. if the fire doesn't
last 1 hour the cost is wasted. What I'm wondering is, will a 30
minute safe actually live through a house fire, or not? I live in the
city so response time should be fairly fast.... just wondered what
people's thoughts were

do a little googling and get a better understanding of exactly what the
ratings mean. here's a start:
http://www.cdcsecurity.com/safe_ratings.htm

personally, i would either bury the thing in the basement, or under the shed
well away from the house.

randy


"Matt" wrote in message
...
Hi,
I'm looking to purchase a fire resistant safe.. but have a few questions.
I've looked at a few different ones, and most of them say 1/2 hour but
some of the more expensive ones say 1 hour. Is it worth spending the
extra cash for the 1 hour? To me even 1 hour is way too short to
withstand the heat from a house fire. Any thoughts? Do these safes
actually work, or are they false security?

Matt wrote:
Hi,
I'm looking to purchase a fire resistant safe.. but have a few
questions. I've looked at a few different ones, and most of them say
1/2 hour but some of the more expensive ones say 1 hour. Is it worth
spending the extra cash for the 1 hour? To me even 1 hour is way too
short to withstand the heat from a house fire. Any thoughts? Do these
safes actually work, or are they false security?

It is really difficult to say. Fires are not all the same. The times
indicated are based on a standard test, but homes don't always product the
standard fire.

Another consideration is the amount of protection the contents need.
Paper may need one level of protection, diamonds can handle more heat, and
computer disk less.

I have a one hour safe. I got it cheep at a garage sale. It should
provide a little better protection than the 30 minute types. It is my
understanding that the 30 minute types are rather marginal.

--
Joseph E. Meehan

26 + 6 = 1 It's Irish Math

And some banks have been known to look through the boxes. Happened here in
town a few years ago. Best protection against lost records is multiple
copies at different locations. Of course, if you're storing cash, there's no
such thing as backup copies.

Bob


"ChInKPoInt [No MCSD]" wrote in message
...
Do you think safety box is safe at your bank? Take a look at this happened
in Asia.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNew...657227-ap.html

It can happen in your local bank too. LOL..



"Matt" wrote in message
...

If you never have a fire, they are all a waste of money. If the high
heat
lasts less than 30 minutes, the added cost of a 1 hour is wasted. If
it
protects your valuables in a fire, it is cheap insurance.

In most cases, house fires are put out in a short time. You may be a
ble to
find some statistics on that. You probably also want to find the best
spot
in your house that would see the least damage, such as a low corner of
the
basement, far from the heater and oil tank.

Right.. obviously as the other poster mentioned... if you really want
safety get a safety deposit box. As you state.. if the fire doesn't
last 1 hour the cost is wasted. What I'm wondering is, will a 30
minute safe actually live through a house fire, or not? I live in the
city so response time should be fairly fast.... just wondered what
people's thoughts were

buy a small safe
keep it handy in your bedroom
when you smell smoke, toss it out the window

make a box out of CaSO4 2H2O (gypsum) ie: Sheetrock
Sit that box over your safe.
Notice the H2O, gypsum contains chemically combined water (about 50% by
volume). It'll help keep the safe cool for a bit longer than you think
until that water evaporates out and it cracks and the box falls apart.

"Matt" wrote in message
...
Hi,
I'm looking to purchase a fire resistant safe.. but have a few
questions. I've looked at a few different ones, and most of them say
1/2 hour but some of the more expensive ones say 1 hour. Is it worth
spending the extra cash for the 1 hour? To me even 1 hour is way too
short to withstand the heat from a house fire. Any thoughts? Do these
safes actually work, or are they false security?

On Wed, 24 Nov 2004 11:06:20 -0500, Matt wrote:

I'm looking to purchase a fire resistant safe.. but have a few
questions. I've looked at a few different ones, and most of them say
1/2 hour but some of the more expensive ones say 1 hour. Is it worth
spending the extra cash for the 1 hour? To me even 1 hour is way too
short to withstand the heat from a house fire. Any thoughts? Do these
safes actually work, or are they false security?

The average house fire lasts less than 1/2 hour. Rarely would a
single family home burn for more than an hour, assuming you're in a
reasonable response time for a local fire company.

Yes they work. Not as well as using a safe deposit box, but better
than putting important papers in the top drawer in your kitchen
cabinet.

Jeff

They are also effective against smash and grab break-ins. Some advised that
there will be a lot of moisture within the safe should there be a house
fire, so you will also need a watertight bag inside the safe.

"Jeff Cochran" wrote in message
news
On Wed, 24 Nov 2004 11:06:20 -0500, Matt wrote:

I'm looking to purchase a fire resistant safe.. but have a few
questions. I've looked at a few different ones, and most of them say
1/2 hour but some of the more expensive ones say 1 hour. Is it worth
spending the extra cash for the 1 hour? To me even 1 hour is way too
short to withstand the heat from a house fire. Any thoughts? Do these
safes actually work, or are they false security?

The average house fire lasts less than 1/2 hour. Rarely would a
single family home burn for more than an hour, assuming you're in a
reasonable response time for a local fire company.

Yes they work. Not as well as using a safe deposit box, but better
than putting important papers in the top drawer in your kitchen
cabinet.

Jeff