So as I was digging out a birth certificate for one of the kiddos I had the thought that it might be a good idea for some redundant document protection for the standard array of documents many of us have. I’m talking vehicle titles, birth certificates, original SS cards, passports, that sort of thing. Currently the whole stack reside in a file folder in my Browning Silver safe in my garage. I was thinking it wouldn’t hurt to add another layer of protection and a quick search turned up these as seemingly good options:

SentrySafe Fire Safe, Waterproof Fire Resistant Chest, .17 Cubic Feet, Extra Small, H0100 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00G...cp_api_Z4DTAb3FM2MCG

Or

Fireproof Document Bag,Hange Fire and Water Resistant-Silicone Coated File Pouch-Zipper Velcro Closure For Maximum Protection-Cash Envelope Holder-15×12×3 inch https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075...cp_api_17DTAbKCKJ02C

Any thoughts on the idea or products? Not necessary? A good idea? Flooding isn’t likely but we’re not talking much money here and there is a water line almost directly over the safe....

Plus I have to think documents inside a heat resistant. Obtained that is inside another heat resistant container would have a good chance of being A-ok after the fire fades and the hoses stop spraying.

I would go with a safe with a good fire rating and then a vacumn sealer to seal the paperwork from water.

In addition, get all of those documents PDF'd onto a zip/thumb drive and secure in seperate waterproof container.

All my important documents are scanned and on a thumb drive, which I make duplicate copies of and store one in my gun safe, one in dad's gun safe and one in my filing cabinet at work.

The originals are in a fire resistant box in the bottom of my gun safe.

Gun safes are not as "fireproof" as their manufacturers would lead you to believe.

You should be using an insert of some sort, or a freestanding container that actually will do the job.

Fireproof file cabinets are a great options, and can typically be picked up on the used market for far less than they cost new. They also don't scream "valuables inside", so criminals tend to leave them alone (especially if left unlocked).

Can't stress enough how quickly items can be lost to a fire. Not only from heat but water damage.

Forty eight years back we had a fire in the basement at our home in NJ. Consequently I lost photos and negatives from before HS, through to two days spent at Woodstock, several notable concerts, numerous muscle car/drag racing photos, pictures of friends, first year in the USAF, etc. An entire chunk of my life GONE.

Don't forget memories. Scan and store on a zip, etc.

Many important documents can be archived at you county courthouse or hall of records, for little or no fee.

As an additional layer of protection why not upload the documents to the Cloud?
Our brokerage firm (Fidelity) allows unlimited storage of any documents you'd like to store.

What about a good old fashion safe deposit box at your bank for any you do not need very frequent access to. Almost impossible to beat that for safety and security. You could throw in the occasional computer backup on an external HD even, you know for photos and such.

I have a folder on the home server label that contains PDFs of important documents. The server itself is in the basement in a location most likely to be protected from damage in a fire/flood and has two mirror image hard drives in it. I copy the files to a thumb drive that get exchanged for another in our safety deposit box anytime we go to it. I also have an external hard drive in the box that I bring home at least yearly which has the same data but also all our personal digital photos. Thus, at least 4 copies of the files in 2 different physical locations.