Non-motoring > Is this safe any good? Miscellaneous
Thread Author: RattleandSmoke Replies: 19
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New Thu 17 Mar 11 20:42 
 Is this safe any good? - RattleandSmoke
I need a safe to store a couple of laptops in as I am going use the internal shed as work space for a few months as I have ran out of space inside the house. I am going to completely empty the shed and put everything in the lock-up.

The shed is on the small size at around 80sq ft but I won't be working in there hours on end so it will be fine. I will make the door very secure with concealed hinges and lots of padlocks and it will also have an alarm.

However as one last safety measure I want to store everything in a safe but would something like this be ok?

cgi.ebay.co.uk/Rhyas-Major-48-Litre-Double-Bit-High-Security-Safe-/270647535525?pt=UK_HaG_Lock_Safes_GL&hash=item3f03d9a7a5#ht_3455wt_905

I already put electricity in the shed a couple of years ago as I had always intended to use it but it just got full of junk again, now I have a large lockup that won't happen. There is also no damp in the shed at all so it will fine for what I intend to use it for.

I don't mind spending upto £150 on a decent safe if it can store upto three laptops. I will continue to work on desktops in the house as there won't be much room in the shed.

Last edited by: RattleandSmoke on Thu 17 Mar 11 at 20:42
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New Thu 17 Mar 11 20:50 
 Is this safe any good? - Zero
Its only 21 Kilos

I could have it away in a jiffy. Need to fix it down.
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New Thu 17 Mar 11 20:56 
 Is this safe any good? - RattleandSmoke
Yep it is going to be drilled into the floor and into the brick wall. I was more concerned of how easy it will be to drill through the lock. I will be sleeping right above it and the alarm will go off too.

I just want to be as secure as I can reasonably get it without it costing a fortune.
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New Thu 17 Mar 11 21:17 
 Is this safe any good? - Alastairw
Of course, having a safe is sometimes a sign to the tea-leaf community that you have something worth stealing.

I generally leave the door unlocked....
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New Thu 17 Mar 11 21:22 
 Is this safe any good? - sherlock47
So they break in and with a quick look round they immediately know that there is a safe! You would be better off installing and leaving it empty with all the valuables hidden in a filing cabinet.

Drilling into and fixing to the floor of a shed will not make life difficult, they will just take it along with the floor boards. If you must fix it in the shed, secure it (weld?) to a couple of RSJs so they cannot get it into the back of the Fiesta with it.

You dont make enough to have a cash pile, and it is hardly big enough to take a laptop.
Last edited by: pmh on Thu 17 Mar 11 at 21:24
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New Thu 17 Mar 11 21:26 
 Is this safe any good? - rtj70
The hall of residence socials had a very heavy safe in their office where I was. One night at the end of term it was stolen and nobody saw anything. I know for a fact it took 2 people to move it along the floor - it was a very very heavy solid safe with about 2 inch thick steel. It vanished.

pmh's idea is fair but the safe I refer to was several hundred kilos in weight at a guess and it was carried off.

Ironically we couldn't be bothered putting the night's takings in it that night so it was pretty empty ;-) It was the last night. So it was 'hidden' somewhere else.
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New Thu 17 Mar 11 21:32 
 Is this safe any good? - rtj70
Just looked at the link Rattle provided. That's not a safe ;-) As already said someone could lift it but you'd probably be able to open it anyway.

If someone told me they would be keeping my £1000 laptop in a £75 safe I'd not be happy. But it's probably better than Rattle can do now though.
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New Thu 17 Mar 11 21:34 
 Is this safe any good? - RattleandSmoke
The other idea is to simply take the laptops into my room at night like I currently do.

I know I can never make anything 100% secure. rtj70's last comment made me think it might not be worth bothering with.

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New Fri 18 Mar 11 06:55 
 Is this safe any good? - MD
>> Ironically we couldn't be bothered putting the night's takings in it that night so it
>> was pretty empty ;-) It was the last night. So it was 'hidden' somewhere else.
>>
Sky rocket??
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New Thu 17 Mar 11 21:33 
 Is this safe any good? - ....
>> I need a safe to store a couple of laptops in as I am going
>> use the internal shed as work space for a few months as I have ran
>> out of space inside the house. I am going to completely empty the shed and
>> put everything in the lock-up.
>>

Take the internal shed outside should free up some space inside for you to work...
If it's only for a couple of laptops why not take them upstairs and stick them under your bed/in the loft/somewhere out of sight?
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New Thu 17 Mar 11 21:37 
 Is this safe any good? - rtj70
>> why not take them upstairs and stick them under your bed/in the loft/somewhere out of sight?

Exactly - just don't step on one ;-)
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New Thu 17 Mar 11 21:40 
 Is this safe any good? - R.P.
rj is right, it looks like a safe so if someone sees it word will get around and it may trigger a visit from undesirables. When they come opening it will be a piece of cake for a smackhead with a motive. What about a proper second hand safe ?
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New Thu 17 Mar 11 23:03 
 Is this safe any good? - Ted
Knowing your type of house,
I imagine what you call a ' shed ' is a brick outhouse tagged on the back of the kitchen and used for coal or an outside bog when built.
Does it have a window,. If so get a metal mesh like what I've got on my rear garage window and coachbolt it on. Forget the safe, spend your wedge on a Kryptonite van lock.

If you want to see one, I've got one on the garage doors, again coach bolted through with big washers on the inside. It's shaped like a hockey puck. it's shielded and none of it's working bits are get-attable.

I wouldn't think any felons would know what you had in there. The secret is to make it impossible or so difficult and noisy to get into that they go up the road and screw someone else's shed for their mountain bike.

Ted
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New Thu 17 Mar 11 23:13 
 Is this safe any good? - BobbyG
All this hassle to hide 3 laptops Rats?

Are you really sure that you cannot find room in your house for a total of, what maybe 6 inches high, 20 inches wide and 12 inches deep?

Get the place cleared out man! Have you got a waste paper bin in your room? Get rid of it and use the space for 3 laptops?
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New Thu 17 Mar 11 23:18 
 Is this safe any good? - rtj70
And where does Rattle think he would stash desktops? They are equally at threat from theft surely? Or does he assume because they are bigger they cannot be taken?

Some Kensington locks might be as useful as the safe. Okay you could still steal them but the damage to the laptops make them more difficult to move on as stolen items.
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New Thu 17 Mar 11 23:21 
 Is this safe any good? - rtj70
Question for Rattle... if I or anyone left you in charge of a laptop and it was lost/stolen, you are fully insured? And what if there was sensitive data? Do you warn customers you are not responsible?

I am fortunate my work laptop (my only laptop) has total disk encryption. Plus for sensitive project data PGP on top of that. So an encrypted disk via PGP (passphrase protected) on top of a physical disk that is also encrypted (domain user unlocks that one).
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New Fri 18 Mar 11 07:40 
 Is this safe any good? - BiggerBadderDave
Put the safe in your bedroom and your parents in the shed.
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New Fri 18 Mar 11 10:10 
 Is this safe any good? - RattleandSmoke
My insurance covers nearly everything but at nearly £300 a year it should do! I really would not want to ever have to use it though.

I tell clients if their laptop gets stolen in their care then I will replace the computer but I am not responsible for the data.

The reason desktops are less likely to be knicked is they are much harder to sell on down the pub. When my mates workshop was robbed they left the desktops behind.

Also with regard to data my plan do a backup of every machine before I start work on it and store it some where different.
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New Fri 18 Mar 11 10:16 
 Is this safe any good? - John H
>> My insurance covers nearly everything but at nearly £300 a year it should do! I
>> really would not want to ever have to use it though.
>>

That seems pretty cheap to me. You may be surprised when/if you claim that you find that the insurance says that you had not declared the true nature of your business and risk.

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New Fri 18 Mar 11 10:09 
 Is this safe any good? - FotheringtonTomas
You'd do better with: bit.ly/evnVGW or: bit.ly/gqgR7y.
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