Need high end safe help

[micah323]

Hello,

I have learned a great deal about gun safes from reading through this forum. I have decided already what gun safe to get.

However, I am in the market for a high end tl30x6 or trtl30x6 safe for precious valuables, which I have not seen discussed too much on this forum.

I am hoping abj or some other forum members can give me some strong advise. I have not been able to find other safe related forums dealing with jewelry/metals/etc safes.

A local dealer that I have found sells Amsec, but has recommended safes he gets from SOCAL SAFE CO. Has anyone heard of or used this brand? Want to make sure it is not a poorly made safe with a big price/

http://www.socalsafe.com/index.php?page=home

If a TL30 Amsec is a better value and better constructed I would choose that, but if the SOCAL Safe 30x6 is a good one, that would be an option.

From looking at the AMSEC website I think the best option is the TL30 CF line.

Any help would be appreciated. I am finding this a hard subject to research and find a quality dealer, so I am hoping this forum can steer me in the right direction.

Also, any dealers recommendations in Arizona would be great.


Thanks

 

[CB900F]

Micah323;

The person you should be directing your question to is your insurance agent. That is if you expect your insurance to cover what's in the safe.

I'm just gonna pull some numbers out of the air here, but as I'm in the business, they're not going to be unreasonable numbers. Let's say you're going to have personal possessions worth $68,000.00 in the safe. This includes the jewelry, firearms, stamp collection, photo's, and the inherited set of sterling silver tableware for 24 from grandparents. You inform the your agent of the proposed contents and value you place on them. You may want to exclude the firearms as they may want a serial number record you don't want to provide. The agent may not allow you to place a value on photographs. So, at some point, let's say $50,000.00, a company your agency represents is going to be asked to provide replacement coverage.

The insurance company is not just going to take a look at what your valuable goods are. They are also going to inform themselves of the crime rate in your area and your fire protection. These things tend to balance out. For instance, if you're semi-rural the low crime rate may well be offset by the fact that you're relying on a volunteer department for fire protection. True safes with excellent fire protection also tend to offer excellent burglary protection if they are not just fire rated.

In most cases, the insurance company should be able to provide your agent with their requirements for protective housing, or safe. If not, I'd go shopping around among the agencies in your area. If you get what seems to be a gobbledygook answer about what's needed in a safe, I'm sure that either A1abdj or myself will be able to clear things up for you. We're both professionals in the field who frequent this site.

900F

 

[a1abdj]

CB900F brings up a good point that would have a pretty big impact on any recommendation.

Why that rating? Is it something that you want, something that you need, or something that you must have?

 

[micah323]

Thanks for the help guys.

I completely understand the insurance situation and how it is different for everyone and I would need to contact them for my specifics.

abdj-As far as why to that rating. Basically we will be storing precious items and want the best we can get, within reason.

I feel comfortable having firearms in a $1500 safe, but for expensive items it makes sense for us to buy the best we can afford, and as cb900 said, it also could affect insurance on the items stored. So $5,000-$10,000 for a safe makes sense.

Do you think going beyond TL30 is overkill? Have you seen banks or jewelers use less than TL30? I would think the best you can afford would be the best route, but I could be wrong. That is why I hope you guys can give me some info.

Have either of you ever heard of SOCAL Safe CO? There tl30x6 for comparable size is a little more than the AMSEC TL30 vault. Trying to do some research to find out which is truly the better safe.

 

[a1abdj]

Do you think going beyond TL30 is overkill? Have you seen banks or jewelers use less than TL30? I would think the best you can afford would be the best route, but I could be wrong. That is why I hope you guys can give me some info.

Overkill really depends on the value of the contents. If you're keeping $50K in assets (not cash), then yes, it's overkill. If you're keeping $350,000 in assets, it might not be.

Most banks around here keep their cash inside of a walk in vault. Those that don't are keeping their money in anything from TL-15s all the way up to TRTL-30X6. I suppose it has a lot to do with how much they are keeping inside.

Jewelry stores around here tend to use TL-30s. It's actually not uncommon to find jewelry stores with multiple TL-30s to split the risk around. As far as them using less, of course they do. There are many small jewelers that are still using 150 year old cast iron fire safes. As long as their insurancen company signs off on it, they're covered.

I have never heard of them, but it looks like a lower/mid end imported unit (not that that's bad). I have a very nice importer/distributor that I deal with in California that also has lines going up to TL-30X6. The manufacturer of his safes has built major brand name safes. His are also mid level safes, and we have several installed at local jewelry stores.

 

[CB900F]

Micah;

Find out what the insurance company will sign off on first, then go shopping. It may be that you can be fully covered with a TL15X6 in their opinion. If so, why not save some money?

900F