I'm looking for a small safe, maybe 12" square by 3-4". Mainly to be used for documents, passports, cash, etc.... Fireproof is a must and waterproof is a bonus. Preferably a manual type locking mechanism (key or dial). I don't want anything electronic. Cost isn't too much of an issue if it's worth it.

Thanks.

Sentry fire safe.

Sentry makes a very good, inexpensive fire safe. Not high quality, but will get the job done.

If you want better quality look at commercial 2 hour fire safes (with UL label). Not only will they offer superior fire protection, but you will get better everything else: locks, bolt work, hinges, etc.

quote:

Originally posted by a1abdj:
If you want better quality look at commercial 2 hour fire safes (with UL label).

Any particular brands you can recommend?

I have small Sentry fireproof safe thats 20+ years old and still works great.

I recently was thinking about a similar topic. It seems logical to me that putting a small document “fire safe” inside my Browning Silver series gun safe would result in significantly better heat/fire protection for the items in the document safe, no?

Seems logical but I’ve been wrong before.

That's kind of what I was looking to do.

I have a Sentry fire box for papers that lives inside the gun safe. It is a little smaller than requested in the OP, but space in the big safe is tight (as we all well know) so think about that trade-off too. It is very simple with a key lock that is trivial to defeat by picking which also has its trade-offs, e.g. if your wife wants to keep the key in her purse, and is away from the house.

If you're wanting to put something inside of your existing safe, forgo an actual safe, and just get one of those key locking fire file boxes. They are generally only rated at 30 minutes, but that's 30 minutes of stand alone exposure.

Inside of another safe, and likely low to the bottom, and you'll get good protection.