When a thief breaks into your home he knows what to look for and he knows where to go.  Items like jeweler, guns, coin collections, important documents, furs, and electronics are easy for thieves to find.  That's why a safe can be beneficial but knowing what safe to buy can become complex.

          First, you have to ask yourself what do you want to protect and what do you want to protect it from?  That's because the items you want to protect will determine what type of safe you should buy.

Safes are made specifically to protect against specific threats.  For example, a safe meant to guard against burglary, may not protect papers from a fire.  There are three basic types of safes to choose from.  There are fire resistant safes, burglar resistant safes, and combination fire and burglar resistant safes.

          Fire Resistant Safes

          Fire resistant safes are available in two categories.  They are record or document safes and media safes.  Record or document safes protect paper from fire.  They are constructed of fire resistant insulating material sandwiched between two metal walls that keep the interior below the burning point of paper (350 degrees Fahrenheit).

          Media safes protect anything made of plastic, magnetic or digital information, and photographs. This type of media is more sensitive to heat and humidity than paper so media safes are differently constructed and much more heavily insulated than regular fire safes.  The internal temperature for a media safe must stay below 125 degrees Fahrenheit.

          All safes should have Underwriters Laboratories (UL) ratings.  These ratings determined how fire resistant a safe is and fall into three categories:

Class C Safe - Protects paper documents for up to 1 hour at temperatures up to 1700°F

Class B Safe - Protects paper documents for up to 2 hours at temperatures up to 1850°F

Class A Safe - Protects paper documents for up to 4 hours at 2000°F.

            Burglar Resistant Safes

          Burglar resistant safes are constructed of solid metal and a heavy door resistant to attack by drilling, cutting, or prying.  There are two types of ratings.  They are class rating (1 to 5) and UL rating.  The class rating system is based on a combination of door and wall thickness and resistance to attack.  The UL rating includes letter designations:  DR (drill resistant), TR (torch resistant), and X6 (for bankers and jewelers safes).  There are two specialized burglary resistant safes that are commonly used for storage of cash.  They are the in floor safe and the drop safe.

          A combination fire and burglar resistant safe offers both types of protection.  You can look for a safe at a hardware store, sporting goods store, office supply store, professional home security retailer, and at the locksmiths.  The cost can be anywhere from one hundred dollars to thousands of dollars.