SentrySafe DS3410 Black Fire-Safe 1.2-Cubic Foot Combination Safe
by SentrySafe
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of SentrySafe DS3410 Black Fire-Safe 1.2-Cubic Foot Combination Safe
Customer Review: Sturdy safe for 'peace of mind'
Summary: 4 Stars
I recently purchased this safe and am quite pleased with it. It seems solidly built and is very heavy.
I bought it primarily to keep my important documents such as birth certificates and passports as well as my 1TB hard drive which I use for my monthly back-ups (I take the HD out one night out of the month to back up my comp). I decided to get this after one of the buildings in my condominium complex burnt down. I know it's only rated for "1-hour" fire protection and isn't waterproof...but being on a budget, this was all I could afford.
The safe came via UPS ground...took about 3 days to get here and though there was a slight dent in the outer casing on the right side...it seems only cosmetic and I've decided to keep it. The interior is all plastic and has a removable shelf which can be placed at various heights and can bear some weight. The combination cannot be changed (disappointed with that) and the mechanism clicks....which is a bit of an annoyance since you have to turn it through multiple revolutions both ways. It comes with two keys making it capable of dual locks and what is also handy is that you don't need the key to lock it.....just push the 'key button' in and spin the dial and it's secured.
The interior comes with 5 hooks which I'm assuming is for sets of keys...there's also a 2 small pockets on the interior door....it comes with a packet of desiccant which I put in there. I haven't bolted it down yet, but it comes with 2 lag screws, washers and masonry anchors. A drill, wrench and 7/16" drill bit is recommended...I'll probably bolt it down one weekend.
I keep the documents and passports in a ziploc back in case there's ever a fire to keep any water from ruining the documents.... probably not adequate...but again...'peace of mind.'
Definitely register the safe and try to remember your combination....after registration, you'll be able to recover the combination or order new sets of keys. I emailed myself the combination just in case.
Overall a decent safe at an affordable price. Didn't give it 5 stars because of the aforementioned annoyances (clicks of the combination lock and inability to change the combination code.
Hopefully I won't have a fire or flood to 'test out' the fire-proof etc.
I would recommend this for the size and value...Amazon as always has the best prices...with free shipping!!
Customer Review: It's a safe. 'Nuff said.
Summary: 5 Stars
We bought the safe because we have valuables around the house, including jewelry and important papers. For the price I went ahead and bought the larger safe on the theory that the amount of valuables around the house will expand to fill the space. While I can't comment on the two hours of fire safety of the safe (because my house hasn't burned down yet), I was a bit concerned with the whole "gosh, let's put all my valuable things into a convenient and burglar-friendly carrying case" thing, so I bolted it down to our raised wooden floor.
This required a quick trip to the hardware store to pick up the required bits (a 7/16" drill bit and a 9/32" drill bit). One instruction (drill a hole through the bottom of the safe for the lag bolt) made me a bit nervous: you really want me to mutilate this thing I just bought? But (aside from insulation scattering everywhere) it was fairly easy. With a stud finder I found the floor joist, drilled a couple of 9/32" pilot holes, and bolted the safe down using a ratchet wrench: no problems. (SentrySafe says you need a 3/8" instead of a 9/32" drill bit if you're drilling into masonry.) The safe I ordered from Amazon did come with the necessary lag bolts, washers and masonry anchors that are labeled as an "optional floor mounting kit" in the instructions on SentrySafe's instructions.
The combination is fixed: you can't change it (like you can with the electronic version), and you need to open both the combination lock and the key lock to open the door. The back of the door has some hooks to hold important keys, such as spare car keys. And the only down side for us is that this only comes with one adjustable shelf: a quick trip to Sentry Safe's web site fixed that. (I bought three more shelves to help hold all the small stuff we're storing in the safe.) Other than that, the safe is quite handsome, and looks fine sitting next to my wife's shoes in our closet.
Customer Review: Good.. Just a note about bolting it down
Summary: 4 Stars
Pros:
-Its a little heavy, so it's not as easy as the small hanging file safes to get up and walk away with.
-The key and the dial are very user friendly. The key doesn't stick at all and works every time without fail.
-The combination is factory set so you don't have the possibility of using a combination that would be easily guessed (a lot of people use their birthdate or home phone number for things like this... BAD BAD BAD).
-There are no batteries required. This is good, because if the thing really is stuck in a fire, there are no electronics to be melted, or to be wet by the water hoses. Plus those batteries can get expensive and corrode if left in there unused for a length of time and I'm guessing you wont be going in this every day, so it's probably better to have no electronic parts.
Cons:
-Its heavy #but this is a pro, too#, took 2 people to get it upstairs without too much hassle.
-The instructions tell you to drill the holes in the bottom of the safe and on the mounting surface #typically the floor# with a 7/16 drill bit. Well this is the same size as the screw, so I recommend only using the 7/16 bit in the bottom of the safe, and using a slightly smaller bit to drill the holes in the floor #Do this ONLY if you have wood or carpet floors, as doing this on tile will possibly crack it) I say this because the first time I mounted this, I used the 7/16 for both and the screws just slipped right through the holes in the floor. This made the safe slightly harder to move, because you had to lift it 2.5 inches off the floor, but it would still be easy for 2 crooks to lift and move.
Overall Opinion:
I'm recommending this to my mom, so it's not bad at all. Just make sure you register the safe on their website in case you lose your key or combination or if someone needs to get it in the event of something happening to you.
Customer Review: Good Safe For Home Use
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought this safe primarily to have a fireproof place to store important papers and computer backups. I'm satisfied that it will do what I want but I had a couple of surprises:
1. The double locking system really means that it takes both a key AND a combination to open the safe. If you loose the key or forget the combination you will have some difficulty getting to your valuables. The safe can be "single locked" with just the key or just the dial, but it is very easy to double lock it by accident.
2. I hadn't considered that fireproof did not necessarily mean air or water tight. I watched some video of fire testing and it came through with flying colors. The problem is that most fires also involve water damage when the fireman shows up to put out the fire. Some water is going to get inside if there is enough put on the safe during the fire suppression effort.
The user documentation is "OK", and there is a web site that lets you recover your combination once you register. You can buy new keys there as well.
The safe is heavy, but can be carried around by one person. I hauled it up two flights of stairs in the original packaging. It can be bolted down with the provided hardware and this seems like a good idea.
The packaging consists of a cardboard box and four Styrofoam inserts. If the box is punctured or dropped the safe could be damaged. Mine was delivered by FedEx and had a dent in the back left section even though the box was undamaged. Amazon was great: They offered to replace the safe, but I decided to keep the first one because the dent isn't obvious and the safe's function has not been compromised.
Customer Review: Adequate for my needs - Can't change combination
Summary: 3 Stars
The safe was delivered by my next door neighbor (a UPS driver) so the damage I later found probably happened in the warehouse or the trip here (I trust him).
The safe is boxed in cardboard only slightly bigger than itself and with foam on the four corners. Nothing to protect the dial or anything else.
There was a small hole in the top of the box and whatever did that, also put a dent in the top of the steel safe.
Amazon.com was nice and we came to a mutual agreement; but make sure you check the safe when delivered.
NOTE: This model (a combination dial-not digital) has a factory combination which CAN NOT be changed.
This wasn't a problem for me as I didn't want yet another item that required batteries like the digital model does.
The combination works well; you can even miss the numbers by one or two and it will still open. You can push in the "key lock" and that disables the dial for extra security.
If you want to mount the safe to the floor, you have to drill holes in the bottom of the safe for the bolts - not a problem for me, I have all the tools, but it may be for many.
If you don't mount the safe down, be aware most suspects will just take the safe (it's about 90 lbs). I'm a retired cop and I've been to plenty of burglaries where they have done just that; so hide the safe or bolt it down (the first place they look is in your closet).