Value Safes

The below article was written a while back.  Things have changed with Cannon Gun Safes over the last 7 months.  They have changed so much that we have decided to drop the line and no longer sell Cannon Gun Safes of any kind.  I want to believe in the best for Cannon and hope that they are experiencing growth related pains.

However,  based on the pricing, quality, and service from Cannon Gun Safes.  We are no longer finding them to be the best value that they once were.  For what I can sell you anything in their Patriat, Cannon, or Safari line up.  I can sell you a better safe with thicker steel, better lock, and thicker bolts from Diamond Back Gun Safes.   But at almost half the price! 

The Diamond Back H Series would compare closest to the Dangerous Game series or the T series from Cannon.  But at a price reflective of the Patriot.  So lets be honest here.  All of the above mentioned safes are made in the SAME factory in China.   So workmanship is going to be very similar.   I can’t in good conciousness represent a manufacturer that has lost control of their expenses, vendor relations (you can no longer get any Cannon with a Sargent & Greenleaf lock), and some of the poorest customer service in the industry.  If you don’t believe me call them and pretend to be a customer with a problem with your safe….see if they call you back. Better yet, see if they answer the phone! 1-800-242-1055 is thier number.

The Cannon Gun Safe model P-22 is second in the Patriot Safe series.   This is a very popular size gun safe for Cannon Safes company.  The box itself is made in China but Cannon Gun Safes puts on the finishing touches.  Because a portion of this is made in China doesn’t mean its a like a Sentry Gun Safe. (Which is the bottom rung on the ladder of safes) This gun safe is one of the median models that are imported.  Cannon Gun Safe also puts their lifetime warrenty against fire and theft on this gun safe.  Which other Gun Safe manufacturers are starting to offer.

Its important to view my other posts on Cannon Gun Safes.  The Patriot series inparticular.  I often ramble about many aspects of safes in a series and their qualities all flow within the series and I try not to bore my readers with repition.

Anyway, the P-22 is a Patriot Gun Safe but several manufactures also produce a “Patriot” named safe. Make sure you are comparing Cannon’s when you are researching gun safes and not the other names. 

There are other gun safes that are similar to Cannon Gun safes but there are a few features that the others don’t have.  I have them listed below.  The big feature is in theft protection with the multiple relockers in the safe. Everything else is very similar to other imports but the relocker and warrenty make this a good purchase for my dollars.

Cannon Gun safe model P-14 is part of the Patriot gun safe import line.  Before I go too far, there are several manufactures that have a safe called Patriot.  Make sure when you are discussing the Cannon Patriot don’t get it confused with any of the other Patriot named safes out there.  They are different.  These are made with loving care by our dear friends in China.  However, ONLY Cannon Gun Safes come with a lifetime warrenty against fire AND BURGLARY!!!!!!!  Nobody else offers such an extensive warrenty in the industry…NOBODY!

China may start the manufacturing process but most gun safe manufactures like to finish out thier gun safes here in the USA.  Cannon installs a higher grade interior than other companies with fully lined adjustable interior for those of you that want to purchase a gun safe for other than keeping guns. 

Did you know that this series comes with multiple relockers?  These are added to help support the bolt work system in the event an attack.  (Most gun safes only come with one that is inside the dial or keypad lock) So this is an added benifit

Also comes with hardplate….hmmm, I can hear some of you asking “What the heck is hardplate?”  Well, hardplate is a super heated super refined steel plate that is resistant to drilling.  It needs to be melted.  Which means the thief will need to bring his blow torch with him if he’s going through the lock and door.  I personally don’t know of many thiefs that have entered into a house with a blow torch..so I think hardplate is there to make it difficult on the locksmith to gain entry to the safe but I could be wrong. 

When I show up onto a gun safe that has had a burglar attempt to break into it.  Crowbars and hammers are what is normally used.  Though I was in a McDonald’s once where the theif used a metal mop bucket to beat off the dial.  No, the thief never made it into the safe.  But that is beside the point.  One inch locking bolts going on all sides of the door keep it from being crowbared open within the normal time range of a burglary.

This Cannon gun safe is not extra fancy but it is nicely built and with a warrenty you can’t beat.

Here is a favorite wall safe among customers. The model 2070A by Honeywell Safes.  Good size and easy to install.  The depth is 4.12 inches which fits snugly into standard 2×4 wall set up.  Don’t let the .12 scare you, it fits nicely.  We sell this safe across the country and I have never had a complaint from anyone.  It is a popular wall safe with many folks.  About the only complaint I’ve ever heard of on it was when we sell out!  This has happened a couple of times but Honeywell Safes has increased production to meet demand. 

This wall safe comes with an electronic lock and a key override in case the batteries go dead.  On the negative side, its not what I would call a high security wall safe.  Though it does have the best security measure that wall safes offer…which is hidden security.  Needless to say if the wall safe is found it could be crowbared open within a few minutes.  But realistically most thieves don’t carry crow bars. Most enter our homes empty handed, spend 3-8 minutes in the home, and leave with hands full.  The time it would take to look for a wall safe or pry their way into it takes way longer then the average thief is willing to spend at the CHANCE a wall safe might be in a house. 

Over all it good quality, easy to install and reliable.  It gets my thumbs up as one of the great wall safes.

Wall Safe model WS-DIY is from Fire Fyter Safes. WS-DIYe is the same safe but with an electronic keypad. This is one of the few 1 hour fireproof wall safes on the market.  This first thing you will notice about it is that it has a much deeper depth.  Better find a really good place for it with a lot of available depth. I does come with a good set of instructions on how to install it.

This wall safe comes with mounting brackets and an adjustable shelf.  Mounts flush and is easy to hide with a picture or wall hanging of your choice.

I often get questions regarding if a dial or keypad is better.  Well, there are two points of view.  I have copied a paper from Valuesafes that covers this very well.

Wall Safe model FF-33 is one of the least expensive wall safes on the market today. Made in the USA.  (really!)

 Quick  and easy to install. Comes with instructions.  Fast opening key lock. Cam style.  Below are the specs from the manufacturer website.  But lets point out that its NOT a high security wall safe.  It does take advantage of what every security measure that a wall safe offers.  Its hidden, nobody can find it.  And that is the best security for any safe in your home or office.

There is a down side.  If a thief was to find it AND the had a crow bar, it wouldn’t take them long to break into the wall safe.  However, that someone finds a wall safe is not very common. Put someplace where you can hide it and cover it up.  This is the best protection.  Overall qualilty is very good for a wall safe of this price range. 

The wall safe itself is not fireproof. If you need a fireproof wall safe see the WS-DIY.

Below is a press release from Valuesafes. In case you want to read it. It just talks a little about Valuesafes and who they are.  Nothing of grand importance, like SAFES,  just tidbits of info about them. When I started locksmithing I didn’t know anything about Safes but now after so long and seeing so many models…like which always needed repair, which safe keeps out the bad guys and which one only makes you feel secure. 

www.ValueSafes.com opens a new informational blog to help customers understand the importance of choosing the right safe, backing that knowledge up with an impressive selection of safes for all needs.

Corpus Christi, TX (PRWEB) May 15, 2008 — After 10 years as a locksmith, Value Safes owner Zack Gilmore has learned more than a little bit about the importance of finding the right safe. “My customers were wanting and needing better advice,” explains Zack, who has owned and operated www.ValueSafes.com with his wife Jessica for over 4 years in addition to operating his locksmith business. “They were finding just cheap, bottom-of-the-line safes at department stores, bringing them into our locksmith shops, and saying, ‘I lost the key to this’. I’d literally stick a bobby pin into the slot and pop them open. I’d turn around — we never look into the safe — and say, ‘Please tell me you don’t have money in there’, but people would put ten thousand dollars in there and not even know.”

Protecting one’s valuables is a vital part of personal security, but oftentimes customers don’t even realize the true value of their possessions. “Let’s say you bought a gold necklace ten years ago, and you paid a thousand dollars for it,” explains Zack, giving a prime example. “The price of gold has gone up three times in ten years, and now it’s a three thousand dollar necklace. Along with the current gold rush is the rush to purchase a safe to put it in! We sell a lot to coin collectors who wake up one day and realize their collection has gotten pretty heavy, and it’s time to bump up and buy a real safe.”

My customers were wanting and needing better advice

Giving people a better selection of safes to choose from became one of Zack’s goals, but recently he’s focused on providing them with better information, as well. In opening his new blog at www.SafesBlog.com, Zack is using his experience as a locksmith and seller of safes to match customers with the safe that fits their needs. “There is no Consumer Reports out there that grades safes,” he explains, “so I plan on taking each model number that we carry and basically putting a general rating system on it. This is both the way I see it’s constructed and the comments that my customers leave. Has that particular model of safe ever been broken into? If so, how? What’s the safe’s best use? There are some safes just made for fireproofing or waterproofing, but a waterproof, fireproof safe is not made to keep a burglar out; it’s just made to keep your documents from burning or getting soaked. The customer needs to know that, and I don’t want them to purchase an item thinking they’re getting everything they need if that’s not the safe’s intended purpose.”

Looking out for customers’ needs has always been Zack’s priority, and he is hopeful that proper information is the answer. “There’s a lot of confusion out there in the retail market,” he says. “Safes have not been readily available to people, and that limits understanding. At the big box retail stores, people go out and think that all safes are made from plastic because that’s all that is on display. Now, because of the Internet, the customer has a source to go to, and they can get opinions through our blog. I want people to leave opinions; if your safe was broken into, let us know how it was broken into. I want to hear about that.”

High Security Wall Safe model WS6B is one of the top notch wall safes on the market. B rated with drill resistant hardplate. (Hardplate has to be melted and is placed over the lock on the inside of the safe).  Thick 1/4 inch steel walls and back plate. Designed to hold up against crow bar and sledge hammer attacks. 

Note the 3 holes on the side for mounting to studs or some folks even concrete this wall safe into place.  Its important to point out that this safe will hold up but you better make sure to find a good hiding place anyway.  Also, it will only be as secure as the wall you mount it too.

Also includes one of my favorite, made in Kentucky, Group II, Sargent & Greenleaf, dial combination locks.

Non Fireproof but high on security gives this model a thumbs up for best wall safe on the market.  I’ve seen this sell for as much as $750 but I saw it the other day on www.ValueSafes.com for sale at $499. and that included shipping. Check out their Wall Safes.

Below is an excerpt from my dear friend Jason Hommel and his newsletter “The Silver Stock Report” I don’t share all his opinions but I found the warnings against banks intresting.  I really like the idea of everybody buying SAFES! Hahahaa…. If you would like to sign up to get his free news letter just follow the link above.   As a side note, I like his faith and he has been right for several years in regards to the prices of silver.  Kinda intresting if you are into coin collecting or the Christian Faith.

Some think Matt 6:19 means that we, as Christians, can’t store money for the future, despite other clear verses that show that to be a virtue, such as Matthew 25, Dueteronomy 28:8, Proverbs 21:20, Proverbs 6:6-8, and Proverbs 30:24-45.

It is good to store up money to further the gospel kingdom; as ministry and service costs money. 

Jesus also warns against storing money in a location where thieves are known to break in and steal–this would include banks, which are institutions of theft.  Banks are the modern day “money lenders” in the Temple whose tables Jesus overturned, the modern thieves, because they only keep a fraction of deposits on hand.  The Federal Reserve is stealing value from people who hold paper money or bonds in banks through inflation.  (Hint: Do not store your precious metals in a safety deposit box in a bank.  Why store it in the viper’s den, where theives are known to break in and steal, or where laws can change and they can assess or tax or steal the contents of such a box in the future?)

Buying gold or silver is a way to store up treasures in heaven, since buying gold is an act of righteousness and obedience and dominion, and is a rejection of false weights and measures, and is a rejection of usury.  Neither moth nor rust affect silver and gold. 

Here is another often misunderstood verse:

Matthew 6:24  No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

Some think this means that Christians should live in poverty.  Not so.  There were rich disciples.

Matthew 27:57 When the evening was come, there came a rich man of Arimathaea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus’ disciple:

Christians are called to be able to relieve the poverty of others, and that takes wealth.  How can you have extra to give to others, unless you have extra to give, or more than enough for yourself?  (2 Corinthians 8 speaks on this, the giving of one’s abundance, or surplus.) 

The whole point of free trade and capitalism is to be able to trade away the surplus of your production.  Matt 6:1-4 is about giving alms for the poor.  I believe that to “serve mammon, or money” means making money your master instead of making God your master.  We are called to master our money, to make our money serve us, instead, and take dominion, once again.

I believe Matt 6:24 is warning about how you must have a right view of money; that the wrong view puts money in front of God, the right view puts God first, us second, and money third. 

Furthermore, consider those who are in debt.  All who are in debt are serving a different master, they are serving their present and past selves as they seek to repay the money they borrowed and spent in the past, rather than serve the God of the past, present and future, and they enslave their future selves as they go into debt.

And how can you give to others while you are in debt?  To do so means that you take away from what is due to your lender.

Proverbs 22:7  The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.

1 Corinthians 7:23 Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.

Visit ValueSafes for the purchase of SAFES.

The Wall Safe model SW-1214c is good model. Easy to install and hide. Depth is larger than 2×4 stud wall.  So find a deeper spot than normal to install it.  This is not a high security wall safe.  Only the Group II combination lock keeps this safe closed.  It will hold up okay in an attack but not as good as one that is secured with several bolts. See the picture above to see how the locks bolt keeps the door closed. While you are looking at the picture, you will see two holes in the side. That is where you will send two screws through to attach to the studs in the wall. (If it were me, I will drill a third hole in the center so I would have three screws in each stud for extra security)

 This safe is not fireproof.  It is designed to keep your shtuff hidden and out of the hands of thieves.  So find a good hidding place for this safe. Don’t forget your attic, there are many spaces in the attic to attach a wall safe too. I have never heard a home owner complain that a thief took ANYTHING from an attic. It is very inconvient, which makes it a good hiding spot for your wall safe.

You can purchase this wall safe and other Wall Safes from our friends at ValueSafes.  Feel free to leave your commits or questions here on www.safesblog.com

The EW-03 Wall Safe is the “big brother” to the EW-02 wall safe. Which is a highly regarded wall safe. Though neither are a B rated wall safe. Both should hold up against an attack very well.  Read my EW-02 wall safe posting for some details that I may miss here.

The big difference is the size. The EW-03 is larger and has an extra bolt to support the larger door. Depth is about the same on both models which is around 7 1/2 inches. This will not fit in the standard 2×4 wall. 

The other day I had a question about “What happens if the batteries go dead?” Thats okay, this safe has an external overide that will open it from the outside of the safe. You will still need the combination AND the key to retract the bolts.  The memory of the keypad is “non-volatile” which means it will not reset to factory code if the battery goes dead. It WILL maintain that 6 digit combo that you put into it.  So if you forget your combo….you can’t get inside the wall safe. 

Over all this safe gets high marks for quality and price.  I would not hesistate to install this wall safe in my own home.  Due find a good hiding place for it that is well covered and out of the way.  Some times bathrooms make a great place to install a wall safe.

This wall safe is not fireproof.  Most wall safes are just steel. However, there are several available in the industy. Fireproof Wall Safe WS-DIY is a good model take a look on www.ValueSafes.com