Safes

If you want a safe, and seriously looked at them before deciding to go with a safety deposit box, don’t buy one from Home Depot, Costco, or stores like that. These are worthless, and even a novice burglar can defeat them. Go to a local locksmith, and talk to them about what your needs are. I recommend buying from a local locksmith also as opposed to online because of shipping charges (remember a quality safe will be very heavy). Do try to get one that can be attached, and small enough to hide. A good locksmith store can really be helpful on this. You might find, like I did, that a safe good enough to make you feel safe will be pricy enough to make you consider a bank box instead.

Sadly, small safes are easy to make off with. As @TheMightyOz never buy a safe from a big box store, Harbor Frieght, etc. and be very careful with most on Amazon, like 99% of them. Give someone who knows better one of those and a few minutes and you no longer have your belongings. Only buy them if you want to use them as decoys, otherwise they are useless.

I also do not recommend a safety deposit box because those locks are usually super cheap and there are a number of other factors that make them a bad idea. Great article here.

Best option is of course, hide them well, put the safe in the pantry, washing room, etc. But if you simply want something that you can conveniently store them to prevent house guests, kids, etc from accessing them; a safe like the Stealth EHS4 is excellent, especially if you mount it to studs or the floor. Something a little smaller that you hide behind a photo like the Viking Safe VS-12BL.

Sadly the article you linked is behind a paywall. But I disagree, respectfully, with you on the security of safety deposit boxes. Yes, an inside job is possible. But short of that a bank vault offers better security than anything a non millionaire can set up in a home. Also, if you are stopping by with any frequency, you’ll know pretty quickly that there was a theft. I tend to swap out watches between one and three months. I will admit a thing I do to avoid attention to the contents of my box. When I go to the bank, my watch is in my pocket, and I use my passport as a diversion. So, I have my passport in hand when I go into the private room. Then I swap watches, and leave the passport in the box. Watch goes in my pocket. Next time, I remove the passport and visibly have it when I leave. So, if there is a thief that somehow got to work in the bank my box is that much less interesting. Between the fact that there’s hundreds of boxes, generally feeling that I can trust the bank employees, and visiting with a decent frequency, I feel pretty safe.

I also say this having worked at a bank in my formative years, I think you will find the success will vary by bank. If you use a site like waybackmachineyou should be able to get around most paywalls. It goes into great detail how through a number of events, mergers, non payment, etc. Not to mention, anyone with 1/2 hour watching LPL videos and a couple jigglers can open most safe deposit boxes in seconds. In addition, most banks are slowly trying to get rid of them. Personally, I would treat it like a storage locker, keep nothing valuable in it, but use it as a place to keep copies of things safe from harm; IE encrypted hard drives with important docs, photos, etc, where if it is lost, short of really bad luck, I will have back-up.

I agree that LPL is a true danger to security. Really, he is running a burglary training program on his YouTube channel. I’ve had this box at this bank for decades. I decided to get one when I lived in apartments. When I started buying watches I seriously considered going the safe route. But to me a bank vault is the best piece of mind. I understand what you are saying. But I just don’t think the risk is as high, statistically speaking, as you seem to believe. But I also believe my passport diversions buy me a bit more security.

Concealed shelf. Hard to find an image in it without guns...

Buy a cheap safe for a closet and put the watches in old socks on the floor in the corner. No one even pokes old socks. Leave only a few bucks in the safe

Don’t ever by a Sentry Safe from big box Stores. They can be bypassed extremely easily. Go to your local Locksmith.

I have the stealth hs8 and I highly recommend. I keep more than just my watches in it.

I’m adding the HS8 to the rotation soon!

I could see how some might think that. Lockpicking is my 2nd hobby responsibly of course. LPL helped advance my skill quite quickly. Great Guy. I do not believe he has ill intentions.

He only wishes to point out vulnerabilities So The Public can protect themselves properly.

Remember Never Buy Master Lock!

He may not have criminal intent. However, he is openly assisting in training criminals by putting the information out there. If it were up to me he'd be charged as a co conspirator in every single case where it could be established that his videos assisted a criminal to learn how to defeat locks. He should serve jail time and pay restitution in every case. You openly admit he helped you to improve your lock picking skills. You have to admit that this information is being used for advancement of crime.

Oh come on. Seriously 😒. And I guess every other lock picking channel as well? I don’t mean to be harsh and honestly that wouldn’t hold up in Court. if you are so concerned about that get better locks. People often buy cheap locks for valuable items. I recommend an Abus Granit for a padlock it has a 4 star insurance rating as for anything else go with an Abloy they are unpickable by locksmiths as Abloy can cut a key and lock for every person on the planet without repeat cuts.

Yeah seriously. We have different opinions on this. He is helping criminal activity. If he truly wanted to help make locks better he'd just notify the lock makers. Instead he's training criminals on how to break into houses. You can think what you want. But that's how I see it.

He tried that. They both Sued Master Lock. Certain companies have made their locks better.

I’ve talked to him and know he has no ill intent from experience. I wish you a good day my friend 🤝. Hope you have a sweet watch on wrist today.

I think it's best that we agree to disagree. There's no chance I see for either of us to change our opinions, and opinions can vary.