Every once in a while somebody wins the lottery. Congratulations on your win. I still say most fire safes fail in most instances and offer no protection against the elements they claim to. Your condescending attitude sucks too...
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Every once in a while somebody wins the lottery. Congratulations on your win. I still say most fire safes fail in most instances and offer no protection against the elements they claim to. Your condescending attitude sucks too...
*sigh*
Whatever. So you're saying there's a zillion dollar industry build around a product. And NONE of those products work. Many companies (including the one that made my safes) offer reimbursement if the stuff inside is damaged. You're saying that they just build products that don't work and pay off every single customer who has a fire?
Gimme a break.
Three of my neighbors are volunteer firemen. I'll ask them tomorrow.
The safes my uncle had were from the 70s. Amd they worked great. That corner of the house burned to the ground before they could put it out. Everything is the safes was fine. Dry. Not burned. And not smelling like smoke. But I guess he's the only human who ever "got lucky" with a fire rated safe.
There are good fire safes and substandard ones. Look at Liberty’s site for examples of well designed safes.
What he said
. I am not too concerned about stuff, so I would probably get the kids out of the house first, and then maybe the wife
. A well documented insurance plan is the best bet, not sure even a fire resistant safe would stop the heat-level from damaging the goods.
I understand the worry of a fire and whatnot, but lets be honest, our instruments in most cases are going to outlast us, we are fragile. Just insure them and stop worrying.
devnulljp
Supporting Member
I think it's called a humblebragSeems to me like you have already found a solution to your predicament on your own
Here is the fire rating for the top of the line Liberty safe. This safe will run $5000+ with room for maybe 12 give or take basses. The safe is 1750 lbs. empty And much larger than a dbl wide frig/ freezer. Rule #1 always buy the safe twice the size that you think you'll need. Keep in mind that the peak temperatures in a house fire(in one area) is not very long. Is the ratings on the safe accurate, I hope so? There is a strip/seal around the door that expands when under heat that seals the door.
Please do. Then maybe you will realize what I'm saying is more true than not.
Thank you soo much for backing me. I thought the same thing. I just asked a simple question haha
I think you got some good and relevant answers to your question.
A good question can also generate discussions that easily veer off and back on topic. Such discussions can also throw up experiences and alternative lines of thought, which might also prove to be useful in ways that were not previously envisaged.
*sigh*
Whatever. So you're saying there's a zillion dollar industry build around a product. And NONE of those products work. Many companies (including the one that made my safes) offer reimbursement if the stuff inside is damaged. You're saying that they just build products that don't work and pay off every single customer who has a fire?
Gimme a break.
Three of my neighbors are volunteer firemen. I'll ask them tomorrow.
The safes my uncle had were from the 70s. Amd they worked great. That corner of the house burned to the ground before they could put it out. Everything is the safes was fine. Dry. Not burned. And not smelling like smoke. But I guess he's the only human who ever "got lucky" with a fire rated safe.
I’ll leave this here for your consideration.
To be fair the safe in this burn test is a very low quality unit. I would guess it is under $500. The walls of this safe are so thin it couldn't offer enough layers of protection. Trying to compare this safe to a high quality safe is not fair. The other down side to an inexpensive safe is how fast you can pry the thin gauge door open with a crowbar. With enough time you can open any safe but it might buy you some time. I totally agree with you on the safe being tested offers the consumer little to no protection.
What I really learned here is what the UL fire ratings mean....and how a low-cost non-UL rated safe performs vs a more expensive UL-rated safe.
Now, imagine putting your bass in the oven at 350F for an hour! That's the level of protection that a UL Class 350 rating affords. Plastic melts at around 100F, wood combusts at around 300-400F. Do the math.
Some of these safes are not rated for even that (like the one pictured above). And what does "certified BTU rating 131,000 BTU" even mean in the context of a fire-resistant safe? BTU is not a measure of fire protection, it's a measure of energy output, usually applied to things that create heat. I could put two of my gas grills together and produce 160,000 BTU at full throttle. And it still takes 20 minutes to cook a burger. Sounds like marketing speak to me.
For the OP, if you want to buy a fire resistant safe, get one rated for UL 125, (4 hour, just to be safe....
). You may still have some plastic melt but your basses likely won't burn.
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Regarding insurance. It is not enough to have a rider on your homeowners (or renters) insurance that lists the instruments, especially if they've ever left the house for any reason for which you recieved any kind of compensation. THat makes them used as a professional and will be specifically excluded by common insurance policies. They will of course gladly take your premium money regularly but they won't cover any loss to them. You need to make sure the policy specifically covers instruments at the price it will take to make you whole on them (depreciation will apply on new items and when they get old enough you want any vintage value to be part of the amount they pay in a claim). And have good photos, serial numbers, bills-of-sale, and ongoing documentation of continued owenrship.
