I never bolted mine down . Mine isn't very accessible to pry bars or whatever else the common thief may or may not have on him . And if somebody wants to pull a dolly out of his burglar mobile , they will have to remove a couple of doors to get clearance to wheel it out . All while the alarm is screaming to high hell and my nosey neighbors are walking outside to see what's going on . And the Police around here have a pretty decent response time . YMMV
Posts: 4783 | Location: Down in Louisiana . | Registered: February 27, 2009
Originally posted by urbanwarrior238: I know a silly question but why? bolt a safe anyways. Yes, a small easily carried away safe I can see bolting. But when you get to the 500/800/1k pound safes, why bolt them? Especially if it is in your house, basement, etc. Yes, I know thieves could break in and spend several hours lifting/moving the safe to their waiting truck. But does a huge safe need to be bolted? I would be more concerned with how they pry the door to get into the safe. And, a safe guy told me an advantage to the crooks is if it IS bolted, they can pry and attack it easier and not have to worry about it falling on them.
Other than the 'piece of mind' philosophy, is there really an advantage to bolting a BIG safe down??
Inquiring minds are interested in opinions.
As Aeteocles said, it is advantageous to thieves to be able to push it onto it's back. Watch the videos of prying attacks available and you'll see why.
I am bolting it down because it is frankly dangerous if not. A gun safe is typically not a real safe. Those big thick doors have decent protection, but the back, sides, top and bottom are all just rolled sheet metal, and don't weigh much compared to the door. So with the door open, it is easily tipped over. Might not be a huge danger, but cerainly feels unsafe.
I'm not much concerned about actual security, as I have a good monitored alarm system with cellular communication. The safe is a convenience, which offers decent fire protection, and it keeps out people that have access to the house, like house cleaners and repair guys, who may be allowed in the house when I'm not there all day to babysit them.