Don’t put a wall safe behind a picture. This is an obvious ploy that many homeowners believe is foolproof—but burglars watch TV, too. Behind a big picture or a mirror is often the first place a burglar will look for a safe.
Do install a wall safe behind a camouflaged panel. Most professionals will recommend that you install a wall safe behind a panel or door painted to look exactly like your wall. It’s less likely to stand out and can be more difficult to access.
Don’t put anything too valuable in a diversion safe. Diversion safes can be very clever—they’re built into everyday objects such as candles, jars of peanut butter, soap, or bottled drinks. They’re popular because they’re inexpensive and operate on a well-known cliché: the best hiding place is in plain sight. This may be true in some cases—burglars on a time crunch will probably not want to look in every bottle and examine every object in your house to see if there’s a hidden safe anywhere. But some pros will tear a house apart looking for these little safes, and once found, they’re extremely easy to take and break into. It’s best to use a heavy-duty safe for extremely valuable objects.
Do choose a convincing diversion safe. The better diversion safes will weigh and feel the same as the objects they’re imitating. A really good one will even operate as the item it’s pretending to be. For example, a safe built to look like a shaving cream can will sometimes contain a small amount of shaving cream. A good candle safe can actually be burned for a short amount of time.
Don’t make your diversion safe too obvious. If you do have a diversion safe, take care to make it inconspicuous. If it doesn’t stand out too obviously, hide it with others of its kind—a book safe, for example, should be stored with other books on a shelf. If it’s different from the real thing, however, keep it a little separate. For example, don’t hide a soap safe in with a box of soap if it’s not exactly like that brand, and doesn’t come packaged exactly the same way.
Do put a bookshelf or heavy dresser in front of a socket safe. Socket safes are a type of diversion safe that looks like a wall socket. It’s easy to break into, but most burglars don’t have time to run around your home, testing each socket to see which is the fake one. Still, don’t make it easy—put something heavy in front of a socket safe so it’s less easy to access.
Don’t hide things in plain sight. Conventional wisdom holds that if you put a candle safe or other diversion safe in plain sight, the burglars will ignore it and tear your place apart looking for better-concealed hiding places. But it’s just as easy for a burglar to pick up an obvious candle or can to see if it feels like a safe—and if it’s out in the open, there’s no reason not to. When using a diversion safe, put it in a logical place—not an obvious one.
Do roll a heavy object over your floor safe. Floor safes can be extremely secure—they are only accessible through the door, and that’s the strongest part of any safe. But why make it any easier on burglars? Put a heavy cabinet over your floor safe—something that takes some real muscle to move—and you’ll only increase the time it takes for them to find and access the safe. The more obstacles you throw in a burglar’s way, the less likely they are to stay long enough to steal from you.
Don’t think your safe is “safe” because it’s hidden. There’s no replacement for a good, strong safe that stands up well against break-in attempts—even out in the open. Your safe is more secure when bolted to a floor in plain sight than it is hidden but easily removed once found. If you really want to protect your valuables, hiding your safe should be an extra precaution—invest in quality first. A strong, highly rated safe will do much more to protect your possessions than an inexpensive lock box or diversion safe, no matter how well-hidden.
About the Author
Anthony Neary is managing director of www.thesafeshop.co.uk an online supplier of security and fire protection safes. For more information on wall safes visit http://www.thesafeshop.co.uk/Categories/wall_security/