Dilemma: should you trust your property to a safe with a combination lock?

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

Leaving your fortress unattended, you want to be calm for your hard-earned treasures. But to whom to entrust family jewels and securities? And most importantly, how to protect your most valuable heritage - children - from firearms? Will a safe with a combination lock be reliable protection?

A bit of the history of the safe with a combination lock

At first it was just a chest. But burglars forced it to gradually evolve, and from a simple chest it turned into a heavy metal box with a strong lock, which was locked with a key.

Interesting fact: the sunken liner "Titanic" took with it not only human lives, but also their treasures. In safes at the bottom were buried diamonds totaling three hundred million dollars. It was then at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth century that the need for reliable safes increased.

But the safe with a combination lock was still far away. They were preceded by cipherlocks with a dial, which acted on the principle of rotating disks. Their disadvantage is a slight click, slightly audible to the human ear. With the help of a medical stethoscope, the thieves calculated its correct location and penetrated inside. Later, the inventors introduced additional false clicks that prevent burglars from making out the true sounds.

But who invented the combination safe?

Creating a combination lock

As you know, truth is born in a dispute. This is how the first combination lock was born. In the early 1970s, its creator, Nick Gartner, had a bet over dinner with Harry Miller, owner of Sargent & Greenleaf, that Gartner would create a lock that Harry couldn't pick.

And on May 27, 1974, Gartner patented the first combination lock with a keypad, the progenitor of all first electronic locks. It was a real breakthrough, and Harry was awarded a contract to develop safes with a combination lock.

Gartner immediately set to work on the invention of a new tamper-resistant mechanical combination lock, which later became the Sargent & Greenleaf standard.

But really no one was able to crack the safe with a combination lock?

And the chest just opened. How to open a safe with a combination lock?

As they say, "there is no reception against scrap." Whatever the thieves came up with in order to get the contents of the safe. And a sledgehammer was used, and a grinder, and diamond-tipped drills, and a welding lamp. But lately, the robbers, without wasting time, take away even the heaviest safes from the place, which they then open in calmconditions. Therefore, experts advise to properly install them using anchor fasteners.

A bit of educational program: where did the word "bear cub" come from. To break into the robbers used a steel L-shaped hook, which was called a bear. To do this, you need to have remarkable physical strength. Hence the name.

It happens that sometimes the owner himself has to become a bear cub. For example, if the code is forgotten. A hopeless situation? Not at all.

If it is a safe with a mechanical lock and was released before 2000, then you can use the standard combination:

• turn 4 times clockwise so that the first digit turns to position "0":
• turn 3 times counterclockwise to position "30";
• two turns clockwise to position "59";
• one turn left to "0".

If the algorithm of actions did not help, then it remains only to wait for the specialists, having previously prepared the relevant documents for the safe.

If this is a safe with an electronic combination lock, then the “master key” comes to the rescue. This is a special key that has the ability to reset the code. But what if the “master key” is inside the safe? Then things get a little worse, but in this case, you also need to find documents in the hope that the master code from the instructions will help you reset the settings and open the safe. But this is only if it was not changed by you when you bought it. If this advice does not help, then it is better to use the services of specialists.

Gun safe or key holder

Whether you use a safe with a combination lock for keys or for storing weapons, you should be guided by your capabilities, needs and budget. For example, if these are hotel complexes, then you cannot do without a safe-key holder. If there are children and hunters in the house, or if you just have to work with weapons on duty, then the gun safe will allow its owner to sleep peacefully. Moreover, this is one of the requirements of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Interestingly, in Europe, insurance companies enter into agreements only if there is a safe in the house. And the amount of insurance proportionally depends on the value of the safe. In any case, the key and gun safe will allow these items to have their safe and permanent place in the house.

Battle: mechanics or electronics?

When the question arises which combination lock is better, it is necessary to consider all the advantages and disadvantages. So, the advantages of a safe with a mechanical combination lock:

• reliability guaranteed by the age of the mechanical lock;
• price is way below the electronic combination lock;
• maintenance free.

Mechanics flaws:

• if the key is lost, thieves can use it and steal the contents;
• if the key is lost, it will not be possible to open the safe without damaging it.

Advantages of electronic locks:

• quick code change;
• quick opening safe;
• high security;
• when the code is pressed incorrectly over five times within five minutes, thelock.

Disadvantages of electronic locks:

• change batteries once a year and a half;
• 20% more expensive than mechanical key locks;
• forced code change due to the fact that it is easy to track the wear of the keyboard cover.

So, who won? It all depends on the needs and capabilities of the one who is considering the choice.

Mini safe for tight spaces

Modern families, as a rule, live today in apartment buildings with a small area. But it's not a problem. Safes can also be placed in small apartments. To do this, there are mini-safes with a combination lock, which can be easily placed in a wardrobe, dressing room or closet. Furniture safe due to its small size will easily fit into the interior of the bedroom, hallway or living room. The big advantage is that the safe remains invisible to prying eyes, and at the same time always at hand.

If you were faced with a choice, then we hope that after reading this article your dilemma will be resolved. In any case, every year combination locks are progressing. And soon there will be no need to remember the code. But it's still a secret…