Sturdy Gun Safe is based in South Fresno, California.  They have been around for 53 years and pride themselves on being made with 100% USA parts.  They import nothing.  The company also has no complaints ever filed against them by the Better Business Bureau and all of their products exceed the UL RSC specifications.

Their website goes into extensive detail on the construction of their safes such as:

• All of their safes are made with 7 gauge steel (3/16″) versus the typical safes being sold out there are made of 12 gauge steel (little under 1/8 of an inch).  This is 77% more steel.  This can help by providing more tool resistance (TL) such as a fire ax attack.  Most 12 gauge safes don’t last long against this common tactic, but 7 gauge will be almost impossible for a burglar to penetrate.  Even if he does succeed in making a hole or two, he will be there for a long time and most likely not get the contents.  Here are some examples of compromised gun safes.
• The bodies of the Sturdy Gun Safe are a uni-body.  In other words, they are made from a single piece of flat steel that is bent into the proper shape.  This eliminates any weaknesses associated with the corner weld points.  It also allows for a much cleaner look as their are no ugly vertical seams in the body or door.  You typically only find uni-body construction on the top line gun safes.
• I was impressed by a photo that the company has on their website showing someone unable to slip as much as a dime between the door and frame.  That is a zero tolerance that will prevent or at least slow down anyone trying to use a crowbar to open the door.  Additionally, Sturdy ads another bend in the door frame to have the bolts lock against a full piece of steel, not just the edge like most other gun safes.
• The doors on these safes are built unlike most other gun safes.  They eliminated the clutch and shear pins that are are typically used by safe manufactures that break off and permanently lock the safe in the event of an attack.  While the need for these sounds great, they can actually cause a safe owner problems if the door is slammed shut of something is caught in the door while trying to close it, locking the owner out (and requiring a locksmith to reopen the safe).
• Another common problem on other safes is that if you slam the door shut with the deadbolts out or catch the strap of a rifle in the locks, they could cause the safeties on a traditional safe to lock out the owner, requiring a locksmith.  Sturdy Safe solves this problem as their deadbolts are supported through the frame of the door and it is not possible to bend or shear them off (they have a 30,000 pound shear strength and their are 8 of them on each safe).
• Sturdy adds another hard-plate to the combination area to prevent drilling, punching or otherwise manipulating the combination box or re-lockers.  They also designed their re-lock system to engage in accordance with the amount of attack force.  Because this re-locker only fires once the hardened locking mechanism is breached (a very rare event), this is a critical time and the re-lock is very difficult to disengage.
• Each size safe they sell can have options applied. You can add fire insulation, electronic locks, twin locks and others.  Plus, unlike any other safe manufacturer I have seen, you can actually upgrade the thickness of steel over the entire safe or in just vulnerable places.  For $245 (on the 11 gun safe), you can add another two 4 foot sheets of 7 gauge steel welded onto the sides.  That gives you 3/8″ of steel on the sides!  Or you can add special torch resistant stainless steel reinforcements on the front.
• While their prices are more expensive than the large volume safe manufacturers, you can really feel comfortable that you are getting one heck of a tough high security gun safe.  For example, an 11 gun unit (their starting size) with fire proofing  and no other upgrades will run you about  $1700.  Add more steel and you will be easily over $2000.  Luckily shipping is included in the cost.

• Most of these boxes are rather small.  They are about 1/2 the size of a briefcase.  If you are planing to use your fire safe box to hold documents in, make sure the inside is at least 11″ tall and 8.5″ wide so you don’t have to fold your papers (if you need to store legal sized documents, you need a safe that is 14″ long).
• It is important to purchase a fire safe that has been tested by underwriters laboratories.  This important feature means that a neutral third party has put this safe through a rigorous set of tests to insure it can live up to the manufacturers claims.
• Confirm your safe is rated to store media such as computer discs, memory chips and tapes.  While paper must reach 400 degrees in order to catch file, media can be damaged at as little as 125 degrees Fahrenheit.  Building a safe that protects media takes another level of design.  This safe will cost more, but will be worth it to protect your computer work.
• While stack on safes are very popular with the hunting crowd, you may be surprised to learn that they do manufacture and sell a fireproof safe that is slightly larger than a fire safe box, but functions in an identical way.  It looks like a more traditional safe.
• These safes are really meant to keep valuables and documents from being destroyed in a fire.  They have locking mechanisms, but are not meant to be high security safes.  If you have the room and the budget, a larger fire safe may be a better investment.
• Some fire safeboxes are designed to work almost like a small file holder.  The top opens up to allow folders to be dropped into the safe and protected against fire.  It can be a great place to keep all your important documents organized.
• If possible, see if your firesafe box can be mounted or tethered to something to make it more difficult to be stolen by a burglar.  Because these safes are so small and light, they could easily be carried out of your home where they would be opened later with ease.

Buying a fire safebox is a good investment, but be sure to do your homework before you buy on.

Best of all, their  Interlock-XP models can be assembled by the end user at their location.  No need to hall a 800 pound safe down a flight of stairs.  Take several 50 pound pieces down.  This is a nice feature for getting the safe into a tight space, up a flight of stairs, or if you move often (you can simply disassemble the safe and throw it in your moving vehicle versus hiring a moving company).

The Dakota safe company is built around two different safe lines:  The Interloc-xp and the Welded Bodies.  Here are some of the features of both:

Dakota Safe Interloc-XP

• Packaged in 6 separate boxes, no moving equipment required
• Modular design to fit through tight areas
• Customizable interior via movable shelving and compartments
• Reinforced 12 gauge plate steel construction
• 3/16″ plate steel door
• Seven 1.25″ locking bolts with deadlock bar
• Certified fire protection to 1263 degrees for 30 minutes
• Limited lifetime warranty
• Expansion kits will allow you to store up to 51 rifles in this gun safe
• This is an excellent compromise between a gun safe and a gun cabinet.  It is much heavier duty and more secure than a metal gun cabinet, but it is much easier to move and transport than a gun safe.
• Because it is lighter, you must secure this rifle safe to the floor or wall to insure a thief doesn’t simply pick it up and move it out the door with the contents to be opened later at their leisure.

Dakota Safe Welded Bodies

• Available in 4 different models, Maverick, Boss Hawg, Watchman, and Executive.   The size you are looking determines which model suits your needs.  The largest of this line (the Boss Hawg) can store up to 65 guns.
• .25″ plate steel door
• Reinforced 12 gauge plate steel construction
• Seven 1.25″ locking bolts with deadlock bar
• Certified fire protection to 1250 degrees for 75 minutes using unique 1.5″ negative heat transfer, Thermo Barrier Interior with ceramic wool insulation combined with a 1/2″ proprietary ceramic fiber board, making this one tough fire safe
• Heat activated  expanding door seal
• Customizable interior using modular shelving
• Limited lifetime warranty

Before you purchase your next unit, take a look at a Dakota Gun Safe.  You will be happy that you did.

2010 Update-This safe has been replaced by the First Alert 2.0 Cu. Ft. Fire Theft Digital Safe, which is not Biometric.  The next closest options is the SentrySafe DA3930 1.2-Cubic Feet Fingerprint Electronic/Tubular Key Fire Safe.

The Sisco Honeywell 2084DB Biometric Fire Safe is a home version of the larger and more expensive commercial fire safes.  It is an excellent way to protect papers, jewelry, guns, or even computer disks during a fire.  The 2084DB model has a UL fire rating of 1700 degrees Fahrenheit for 1 hour while maintaining an internal temperature of less than 350 degrees, which is a typical fire rating for a home safe.  Most experts expect that any house fire will last less than 1 hour before it has been significantly extinguished by the fire department.  And keep in mind that the rating is 1700 degrees for 1 hour.  That means  the fire must be at its hottest for 1 hour for the contents to be in jeopardy, not just be in a burning building for 1 hour.

This fire safe is also equipped with a digital biometric lock.  The Sisco 2084DB can have up to 9 different fingerprints programmed into the on-board memory.  One for each family (and for my piece of mind, 2 different fingers of mine!).  The safe opens quickly by scanning your finger, turning the key override lock (used for additional security) and it opens.

In addition to the biometric lock, the Sisco safe has a push button electronic lock that can store up to 65,000 different codes.  Perfect for a backup entry or allowing access to someone that has not had their fingerprint previously programmed.  This can be useful in an emergency situation or even if the primary users die, the back-up code can be used by their survivors to gain access to the safe.

This biometric safe has a single 5 position adjustable shelf.  It weighs approximately 200 pounds and can be mounted to the floor for additional security.  It requires four AA batteries to run the biometrics and keypad, but battery loss will lose any codes or fingerprints.  They are stored in permanent non-volatile memory.  This unit will also flash a low battery light to tell you it is time to replace the batteries, which can be replace right from the front console.

Honeywell safes have a Dry fill guarantee: the safe is guaranteed not to develop mildew from moisture originating in the safe’s insulating material for five years. All Sisco safes are backed with a 5 Year Limited Warranty and Lifetime After-Fire Replacement.

Check out pricing for the Sisco Honeywell 2084DB Biometric Fire Safe here.

A fire safe filing cabinet may be too large for home storage, but for an office it will be ideal and will be able to hold both staff and client information. For home use you may instead use one ore more fireproof wall safes, or a fire safe cash box or similar small device to keep both cash and valuable documents safe.  Wall safes are great for privacy and hiding things, but the down side to installation is that you may have to do quite a bit of retro fitting your existing structures.   Usually this entails reframing walls and extensive drywall work. Usually these in wall safes only are large enough to hold small papers, and may require that the documents are folded.

There are also options that are available in between the sizes of the small domestic and large commercial fire safe storage options, and there is nothing to stop the use of a filing cabinet for the home, or a small safe for an office. Fire safe boxes are small boxes that can be portable and inexpensive, but protect their contents in the event of a fire.  Other fire safe storage options for documents would include online storage of a document that has been scanned. This then is stored off site in a secure facility.

With all of the various options that are available you want to be sure that you are getting something that best meets your needs. This is not a place to buy a cheap fireproof safe, which will not protect your valuables.  With the fact that you are not only parting with your hard earned cash in the purchase but are also risking potentially irreplaceable items, you have only one chance to get it right. Spend time looking at the various choices online before you settle on any particular one.