Safes & Secure Storage

Pick in 10 seconds

• If it is cash and small valuables at home → the combination cash box, steel, opened by a code you set.
• If it travels with you (car, gym, dorm, beach) → the portable combination safe with its security cable.
• If it is medications, papers or tools → the locking drawer chest indoors, the lockable storage trunk in the garage, shed or truck bed.
• If fire and water are the worry → the fireproof document bags, three sizes in one pack.
• If you would rather hide it than lock it → the diversion safe, a weighted hollow book.
• If it is about keys → a wall-mount key lock box instead of a spare under the mat, and a Faraday key box for the car fob.
• If it is a drawer, a laptop or a suitcase → the cabinet & drawer lock, the laptop cable lock or the TSA luggage locks.

Where to keep what matters

Burglars work fast, and they head where everyone hides things: the master bedroom, the top drawer, the closet shelf. Secure storage breaks that script. See where burglars look first, and the full walkthrough in where to keep cash, documents and valuables.

Lock the obvious

The combination cash box is solid steel, about 9.8 by 7.9 inches, with a removable tray that sorts notes and coins, and room beneath for documents and keys. The locking drawer chest has four lined drawers that lock with one key, which keeps medications away from children. The storage trunk is 39 inches of diamond-plate aluminum for power tools and gear, and you can bolt it down. If you host a rental, the Airbnb host security guide uses the chest and the trunk as a locked owner's closet. None of these is a rated fireproof safe.

Protect against fire and water

Theft is not the only way to lose documents. The document bags are silicone-coated fiberglass rated to about 2000F, with a water-resistant zipper: a large sleeve for folders and deeds, a mid-size for passports, a pouch for cash and drives. They work inside a safe or on their own. What goes in a fireproof document bag lists what to pack.

Hide in plain sight

The diversion safe is weighted like a real hardcover, with a foam-lined compartment for a watch, rolled bills, a passport or a key fob. Shelve it among other books, away from the master nightstand. It has no lock: its protection is that nobody recognizes it.

On the move, and the keys themselves

The portable combination safe has a four-dial code and a steel cable you loop around a seat frame, bunk rail or locker bar, so it can't be carried off. It fits a phone, wallet, passport and keys. The portable lock box guide compares the options, and the dorm safety kit guide covers what campuses ban.

The key lock box lets a neighbor, a caregiver or a contractor in with a four-digit code you can reset after the job. The Faraday key box blocks a car fob's signal while the lid is shut, and two pouches cover the spare fob and travel.

One habit, and one alarm

Whatever you choose, keep it out of sight and tell one trusted person where it is. Locked, unseen and off the usual hiding spots beats an expensive safe in plain view.

A TremShield vibration alarm sticks to any smooth solid surface, a safe or a trunk lid included, and sounds at 125 dB when it is struck or pried. Better still, stop the search before it starts: alarms on the reachable windows go off while the person is still outside. Six are $99, $16.50 each, with 2 free no-drill window locks. Start with Window Security and Door Security.