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A phone on a bunk. A wallet in a gym bag. A passport in a hostel drawer, a cordless drill on an open shelf in the garage. Things like that rarely go missing because a lock was beaten. They go because they were light, loose and within reach of a hand that had a few seconds to decide.
So the question is narrower than "what is the best safe". You are storing against one of three threats. Someone lifts the whole object and walks: tether it. Someone already in the room looks through your things: hide it. Fire or water reaches the paper: seal it. Get the threat right and a small box does more for you than an expensive one bought for the wrong reason.
Match the box to the threat: tether a lock box against a grab-and-go, hide small valuables in a hollow-book safe against a snoop, seal papers in a fireproof bag against fire and water. A cable box is not a rated safe, a book safe has no lock, and fireproof says nothing about theft.
Storage is the last line, the one that decides what a stranger can reach once he is standing in the room. The first line is the pane he would come through, and no box covers glass. That is the job of the TremShield Vibration Alarm: $29.99, stuck flat to the pane, sounding a 125dB siren the moment someone pries at it or hits it.
Three threats, and what each is worth spending on
- The grab-and-go. Your things sit unattended where other people walk through: a locker room, a bunk room, a parked car, a truck bed. Nobody there is picking a lock. Someone is picking up an object, so a box that locks helps and a box tied to something bigger helps more.
- The snoop. A roommate, a guest, a contractor, a teenager's friends. A visible lock is a mixed blessing: it announces where the good things are, and a small box can be carried off and opened somewhere quieter.
- Fire and water. Heat does not care whether the drawer was locked, paper chars long before a steel box gives up, and what survives the flames meets the hose water.
The tethered lock box, $18.99
Our Portable Combination Safe is a hard-shell box with a four-dial combination and a steel security cable. You set the code, so there is no key to lose in a locker room, and the lock is mechanical, with nothing to charge. It runs roughly 9.6 by 6.1 inches and 2.4 inches tall, packs flat and slides under a car seat: a phone, wallet, passport, cash and keys lying flat.
The cable does the real work. Loop it around a seat frame, a bunk rail or a locker bar and the box stops being a portable object. The usual failure of a small lock box is not someone opening it in front of you. It is someone carrying it out and opening it later. It is not a rated anti-theft safe, and not fireproof or waterproof. If the room is a dorm, our college dorm safety kit guide covers what else works where you cannot drill.
The diversion safe, $19.99: hiding is not locking
A Diversion Safe is a real hardcover book with the pages hollowed into a foam-lined compartment sized for a watch, a spare key, rolled bills, a passport, small jewelry, an SD card. It is weighted and finished like a real hardcover, because what gives a cheap one away is that it feels empty in the hand.
It has no lock. Not a weak one, none. A lock is the signal that a container holds something worth the trouble, so placement is the whole product: spine out among twenty other books, in a room that is not the main bedroom, cash rolled and keys wrapped so nothing rattles. It beats a box during a quick pass through a bedroom and loses to a patient search, so keep what is inside small. On placement, where burglars look first walks the rooms in order.
The fireproof document bag, $29.99: the protection a lock cannot give you
Locks stop hands and do nothing about heat. The Fireproof and Water-Resistant Document Bags cover that gap: silicone-coated fiberglass rated to roughly 2000F, with a sealed zipper that holds back sprinkler spray and standing water. Three sizes come in the pack: a large sleeve for folders and deeds unfolded, a mid-size for passports, a small pouch for cash, keys and a USB drive.
Two things it does not do. It is water-resistant rather than submersible for hours, and nothing on it locks, so a packed bag is light enough to carry off: keep it inside something that does lock. For what belongs inside, work through what goes in a fireproof document bag, then keep it low and near the door you would leave by.
The cash box, $34.99: a fixed address for the float
Petty cash, the kids' savings, emergency bills, a spare set of keys. In most homes all of it lives loose in a drawer. The Combination Cash Box gives it one place with a lock on it: a steel body around 9.8 by 7.9 inches, a combination you set yourself, and a lift-out tray for bills and coins, with the full depth underneath for documents and a passport.
The code is the part that matters in a busy house: there is no key to lose or copy, and no batteries to go flat. It is a cash box and not a fireproof safe, so papers you cannot reprint go in a sealed fireproof pouch inside it. For the fixed spots in a house, see where to keep cash, documents and valuables at home.
The locking drawer chest, $79.99: meds, papers, and a house with other people in it
Sometimes the problem is not a thief. It is a curious four-year-old, a house guest, a home aide, a roommate you would rather not have in your drawer. The Locking Drawer Chest is four lined drawers in a portable metal body around 20.5 inches, and one key locks all four at once.
Give each drawer a job: medication up top and out of a child's reach, documents and a little cash next, small valuables third, tools below. Padded liners stop things sliding when it moves. It is not fireproof and not a rated anti-theft safe. What it gives a home is the lockable drawer a house rarely has.
The storage trunk, $129.99: garage, shed, truck bed
The easiest value to carry out of a lot of homes is not in the bedroom. It is power tools, bikes and camping gear on open shelves behind a garage door that stands open part of every day.
The Lockable Storage Trunk is roughly 39 by 13 by 10 inches of diamond-plate aluminum with a lid that locks over everything inside, so power tools fit, and so does gear no small safe would hold. The aluminum is weather-resistant, so an unheated shed or an open truck bed does not trouble it, and it is heavy enough not to leave under one arm. Bolt or chain it down and it does not leave at all.
Which storage for which situation
| Situation | Threat | What to use | What it stops | What it does not do | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dorm, hostel bunk, gym locker, a bag in a parked car | Grab-and-go | Portable Combination Safe with steel cable | Holds a phone, wallet, passport and keys behind a code you set, and the cable ties the box to a rail or seat frame so it cannot be carried off. | Not a rated anti-theft, fireproof or waterproof safe, and no match for tools and time. | $18.99 |
| A shared home where people you know come and go | The snoop | Diversion Safe, a hardcover book with a hollow compartment | Keeps a watch, spare key, rolled cash or small jewelry from reading as valuable on a shelf of books. | No lock of any kind, so it protects nothing once found, and no use against a slow, targeted search. | $19.99 |
| Passports, deeds, titles, certificates and scans | Fire and water | Fireproof and Water-Resistant Document Bags, three sizes | Silicone-coated fiberglass rated to roughly 2000F, with a sealed zipper against spray and standing water. | No lock, and light to carry, so not a theft layer; water-resistant, not submersible for hours. | $29.99 |
| Cash, spare keys and papers loose in a drawer | Casual hands at home | Combination Cash Box (large), set-your-own code | Puts cash and documents behind steel and a code, with no key to lose and enough weight to be awkward to carry. | Not a fireproof or waterproof safe, and not rated against a determined attack, so keep it out of sight. | $34.99 |
| Medication and valuables, with children or guests around | Things within reach | Locking Drawer Chest, four lined drawers, one key | Locks all four drawers in one turn and keeps meds, papers, valuables and tools sorted and portable. | Not a fireproof safe and not a rated anti-theft safe. | $79.99 |
| Power tools and gear in a garage, shed, truck bed or RV | Grab-and-go outdoors | Lockable Storage Trunk, 39 in diamond-plate aluminum | Locks a lid over bulky gear no small safe could hold, in weather-resistant aluminum heavy enough to stay put. | Not a fireproof safe and not a rated anti-theft safe. | $129.99 |
Choosing a lock box, safe or bag
What is the most secure way to store valuables when traveling?
Split them. Keep your passport, one card and the day's cash on your body. The rest goes in a lock box with a code you set, tethered by its cable to a bunk rail or bed frame so it cannot be picked up and opened elsewhere later.
Can I change the code on a combination lock box?
Yes. On both TremShield combination boxes you set the code yourself, and the large cash box lets you change it whenever you like. Both locks are mechanical, so there are no batteries to go flat.
Is there a small cash box that opens with a key instead of a code?
Yes. The TremShield Mini Cash Box, $14.99, has a simple key lock and comes with two keys, one to use and one to keep somewhere separate. It measures roughly 10.2 by 5.7 by 3 inches and holds everyday cash, coins and a spare key, not documents.
Where should I keep cash at home?
Not all of it in one place. Put the amount you use in a locked cash box with a code you set, on a closet shelf rather than a nightstand, and keep a smaller amount somewhere unremarkable in another room.
Lock the box, then cover the pane
Every box here decides what a stranger can reach once he is in the room. The cheaper move is the room he never gets into, and that comes down to the glass. The TremShield Vibration Alarm presses onto a pane in about 60 seconds, has a sensitivity dial so a passing truck stays quiet while a deliberate strike does not, and runs with no Wi-Fi, no app and no monthly fee. One is $29.99. Six are $99.00: $16.50 per alarm, and $80.94 saved against six singles. Two free no-drill window locks come with them, the Home Security Guide is emailed over as a PDF, shipping to the US, Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand costs nothing, and returns stay open for 30 days. Put the boxes where the valuables are, and the alarms on the panes someone would come through to reach them.
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