Security

Most of us looking to secure high value items - like cash, jewelry or bullion - are also operating on a strict budget.

Floor safes are the natural solution to this conundrum.  These safes are installed directly in the concrete slab in your basement (or ground floor, if your house doesn't have a basement).  Because they are encased in solid concrete, floor safes offer superlative security at a very reasonable cost.

But today I want to talk about a very specific floor safe - the AMSEC Star floor safe.  These floor safes are one of the world's most secure residential safes.  They are a perfect choice for the homeowner looking for a high security safe at an affordable price.

Once installed, the door of a floor safe is the only part that is exposed.  So assuming proper installation, the security of a floor safe is commensurate with the security of its door.  Luckily, the AMSEC Star floor safe's round, lift-out door is reminiscent of a miniature bank vault.

This is where AMSEC Star floor safes crush the competition.  Their round door is more or less a giant steel hockey puck that weighs in at an impressive 20 pounds (just over 9 kilos for our Canadian friends).  But in order to truly appreciate just how secure these masterpieces of the safe industry are, we must first understand how they are constructed.

AMSEC starts off with an ingot of tough, A36 steel that is machined into a solid cylinder approximately 7.5 inches wide by 1.75 inches thick.   A tiny hole is then drilled completely through the center of the door in order to accommodate the spindle, a narrow metal rod that connects the dial on the front of the door with the locking mechanism at the back.

A small, 3-inch diameter circle is then counter-bored partway into the rear of the safe head, centered on the spindle hole.  This excavated space is where the guts of the safe's mechanical combination lock is installed.  Because it is on the back of the safe door, this area is not visible or accessible when the safe door is locked.

This unique construction explains why AMSEC advertises its Star floor safes as only being C-rate (which is defined as having a 1-inch thick steel door), even though most of the door is fully 1.75 inches thick.  In fact, out of the safe head's total surface area of 44.2 square inches, only 7.1 square inches, or 16% of the safe door, is protected by the thinner, 1-inch thick layer of steel.  The other 84% of the safe door is a monolithic, 1.75-inch thick steel plug.

Photo Credit: AMSEC

But this technically-correct application of the C-rate burglary standard overlooks a multitude of mitigating factors that make AMSEC Star floor safes significantly more secure than their C-rate designation would imply.  In reality, AMSEC Star floor safes are comparable to free-standing TL-15 safes in terms of security, but at a fraction of the cost.

In order to illustrate this, let's talk for a moment about how you would theoretically try to crack an AMSEC Star floor safe.

Attempting to intuit the lock combination via traditional, manipulation-style safe-cracking is futile.  Every AMSEC Star floor safe comes with a manipulation-resistant, Underwriters Laboratories (UL) Group 2 mechanical lock.  Even better, this same lock used to carry the higher security, UL Group 1 certification.  It is a proven design that has been seasoned over many decades.  And although the lock no longer possesses the UL Group 1 listing, it is still made to the same technically demanding standards.

In other words, unless you are an internationally-renowned master safe-cracker, there is no way you are getting into an AMSEC Star floor safe in a reasonable amount of time by manipulating the lock.

Any attempt at prying the safe open is futile.  AMSEC Star floor safes have a solid, 1/2-inch thick steel collar that is engineered to accept the door with almost no play whatsoever.  This results in a gap between the precision-machined door and the tight-fitting collar of only a few hundredths of an inch - about 1 mm.  A burglar has no opportunity to even attempt a pry attack because it is impossible to fit a tool into this almost non-existent door gap.

Sledgehammer attacks are also doomed to failure.  This is because a sledgehammer attack relies on breaking the seams of the safe body or collapsing the door frame.  AMSEC Star floor safes have 1/4-inch thick, continuously welded steel bodies and robust, 1/2-thick solid steel frames and collars.  In addition, the body, frame and collar are all encased in hundreds of pounds of concrete during installation, providing even more protection.  As a result, all a sledgehammer attack will do is activate one or more of the safe's relockers, making it even harder to open.

An enterprising burglar may attempt a drill attack.  This approach seems enticing when one considers that the lock mechanism is "only" protected by 1 inch of steel.  However, it is important to note that this is twice the steel thickness of a typical floor safe door.  Furthermore, there is a nasty surprise in store for anyone foolish enough to try to go through the "weak spot" of an AMSEC Star floor safe.

The entirety of the 3-inch diameter locking mechanism is protected by a circular, carburized hardplate.  A hardplate is a specially treated alloy plate that is specifically designed to defeat drilling or cutting attacks.  Hardplates from respected safe manufacturers like AMSEC typically sport a Rockwell hardness of 60 or greater.  This will shatter most conventional drill bits.

But the hardplate used in the AMSEC Star floor safe is special.  It employs a case-hardened disc that freely rotates on its central axis, which is the lock spindle.

This means that any cutting tool that penetrates through the 1 inch of overlaying steel to reach the hardplate will tend to skip endlessly across its spinning surface, rather than bite into it.  This turns the revolving energy inherent in almost all power tools malevolently against itself.  The central spindle is also highly drill and drive resistant, making it extremely difficult to disable the revolving hardplate.

Even if a criminal manages to somehow drill completely through the 1 inch of steel and the hardplate underneath it, there is a good chance that he will trip one or more of the independent steel relockers associated with each of the 3 locking bolts.  And once a relocker is tripped, brute force is the only realistic way into the safe.

A burglar who wisely opts to avoid the center of an AMSEC Star floor safe door is faced with the unenviable task of drilling or cutting through 1.75 inches of forged steel.  This is thicker than the E-rate security designation, which is defined as a safe door with 1.5 inches of steel.  From its inception in the 1950s until the early 1990s, the E-rate classification was synonymous with the UL TL-15 rating, which is a high security, commercial safe rating.

In addition to cutting through 1.75 inches of unforgiving solid steel, a burglar would also have to contend with his circular saw, demolition saw or angle grinder hitting the safe's round collar (and the concrete behind it).  This is because the relatively small door of an AMSEC star floor safe is recessed approximately 1.5 inches below grade once installed.  The curvature of the 1/2-inch thick steel collar would tend to deflect the cutting blade, making it difficult to maintain a linear cut and dramatically increasing the safe-cracking time.

Honestly, if I were a burglar facing an AMSEC Star floor safe, I would avoid the safe door altogether and try to cut the safe out of the surrounding concrete.  I'm not alone in this sobering security assessment either.  An AMSEC executive who regularly posts on a popular gun enthusiast forum as "TheSafeGuy", has this to say about AMSEC Star floor safes:

"They were the favorite safe for gas stations and car washes. Every Mobile gas station in the USA had a Star lift-out door safe in the office floor at one time.  Burglaries with these safes were unheard of because of the in-floor and tight-fit, lift-out door design.  The only successful burglaries involved digging them out of the concrete floor with heavy equipment."

Of course, once a thief is reduced to tearing a floor safe out of the concrete in order to open it, you know the safe manufacturer has done a superlative job.  At this point, we're talking about using loud, dangerous and exhausting tools, like heavy-duty demolition saws and jackhammers.

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Even then, the burglar had better hope that nobody comes home for several hours, because that is how long it will take him to finish the job.  And if you've had the foresight to "enhance" your concrete pour with steel rebar or mesh, a successful burglary will take even longer.

Most burglars simply won't bother; the effort and risk involved are simply too great.  Couple this with the fact that floor safes are easily concealed and usually reside in a part of the house that criminals don't explore (the basement), and you've got yourself the perfect high security safe at a reasonable price.

AMSEC Star floor safes come in two different body versions: a cylindrical body and a rectangular body.  The former are cheaper, but have less storage capacity.  The latter are more expensive, but provide more storage.

Prices for cylindrical Star floor safes start at just under $600 (for the C3 model, with 0.16 cubic feet of storage space) and top out at a little less than $750 (for the C7 model, with 0.45 cubic feet of space). They are perfect for valuables that don't take up much room, like cash, junk silver, gold coins or other high value density items.

Rectangular body Star floor safes have prices that range from around $750 (for the B6 model, with 0.36 cubic feet of usable space) to a bit over $1,100 (for the B24, with 1.26 cubic feet of space).  I like these square body safes better, as they give you a lot more room to work with for only a modestly higher price.

All pricing is current as of January 2019.

A good rule of thumb is to always buy a safe that is substantially larger than you think you will need.  And this advice goes doubly for floor safes due to the difficulty of installation.  After all, if you find out a few years after buying one that you need more space, there is no easy (or cheap) way to remedy the situation.

As a final bonus, every AMSEC Star floor safe is made in the United States.  This is an important consideration because the build quality of imported safes - particularly those originating from China - is often suspect.  Both the material and build quality of domestically manufactured, U.S. made safes are invariably higher than that offered by cheap foreign imports.

About the only drawback that Star floor safes have is their relatively small, 7.25 inch diameter circular door opening.  If you need to store bulky or awkwardly shaped valuables, this is less than ideal.  In that case, it might be wise to cross-shop Hayman floor safes, which have a larger, rectangular door that can be upgraded to 1-inch thick or 1.5-inch thick steel for an additional fee.

Despite this one minor shortcoming, AMSEC Star floor safes are far superior in terms of security to any other C-rate floor safe on the market today.  In my opinion they are the best, most secure floor safe currently available in North America.  This is validated by the fact that the safe's unique, round-door design has remained basically unchanged since its original development in the late 1940s.  Although any safe can be opened with the right tools and enough time, Star floor safes offer exceedingly high security for a surprisingly affordable price.

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The burglary rating system established by UL (Underwriters Laboratories) is the primary piece of protection for North American consumers interested in purchasing a security safe.  This burglary safe rating system used to have three primary tiers: RSC (Residential Security Container), TL-15 and TL-30.  Most residential buyers were interested in the RSC rating, as the high security TL-15 and TL-30 ratings were largely the domain of commercial enterprises, like banks, pawn shops and jewelry stores.

UL defines an RSC safe as one that can successfully resist entry for a minimum of 5 minutes with small, common hand tools.  Although it is a basic security rating, don't let the relatively short entry time fool you; the RSC testing procedure is brutal.

The time limit only includes "tools on the safe" time (measured with a stopwatch).  The actual test might take longer than an hour to run and can be repeated as many times as the UL staff feels is necessary to ensure that all prospective avenues of attack have been thoroughly explored.

The RSC test is conducted by a single, seasoned UL technician who is effectively a professional safecracker.  In addition, he is allowed to freely consult with his experienced associates at all times both before and during the test.  The safe manufacturer must also submit a copy of the safe's blueprints beforehand so that the UL testers can pinpoint any potentially weak areas for their attacks.

The only "easy" part about a UL RSC burglary safe test is that the tool complement is rather limited.  The test only allows hand tools that are no greater than 18 inches in length, preventing the use of long breaker or pry bars.  The sledge hammer used can only have a 3 pound head, limiting the concussive forces involved.  And the only power tool allowed is a drill equipped with a 1/4 inch bit.

Despite these limitations, the UL RSC burglary rating is fairly robust for a residential setting.

However, the RSC rating has a major problem; it encompasses a massive range of protection levels.  A low end RSC safe might easily stop a drug-addled, smash-and-grab thief, but would quickly succumb to a well-equipped, highly-motivated burglar.

Likewise, a high quality RSC safe provides good protection in most residential settings, but also costs a lot more than a low end RSC safe.  Worse yet, there is no clear way for a safe buyer to differentiate between the two.

I actually address this problem in an article I wrote titled: Choosing the Right RSC Burglary Safe.

Because of the limitations of the old RSC safe rating system, UL split the RSC designation into 3 separate tiers at the beginning of 2018: RSC Level I, RSC Level II and RSC Level III.

The old RSC test will now be equivalent to the new RSC Level I rating.

I will not spend any time discussing the RSC Level III rating because 1) it doesn't make much sense and 2) it is beyond the scope of this article.

The RSC Level II security rating, though, is where things get interesting.

In the new RSC Level II test, a safe must successfully resist entry for 10 minutes against a two-man team using more powerful tools than in the old RSC test, including picks, high-speed carbide drills and pressure applying devices. The RSC Level II tool complement is actually the same suite of tools used for the grueling UL TL-15 test, which is generally considered the first rung on the commercial security ladder.

In effect, the RSC Level II security designation is a TL-10x6 rating.  X6 refers to the fact that the UL safecrackers can work on any six sides of a safe in their attempt to open it.  This is a notable departure from the (theoretically) higher TL-15 rating, where the two-man safecracking team can only work on the door of the safe.  The sides of a TL-15 safe are subjected to a reduced-length, 5-minute attack time.

Perhaps the best way to visualize just how much more punishing the RSC Level II security test is versus the old RSC Level I test is to take a moment to look at the photo at the top of this article.  The small group of tools on the left is those used in the old RSC (now the RSC Level I) test, while the much more menacing tool set on the right is those used in the new RSC Level II test.  And remember, the RSC Level II test also employs a two-man team versus the single safecracker on the RSC Level I test.

For security-minded individuals looking for the best home burglary safe available, the new UL RSC Level II rating is a godsend.  The old RSC burglary designation was a confusing mess that covered a range of widely divergent security levels.  The new RSC rating system largely remedies this.  Unfortunately, it will take a little while to get out to the public.

UL works on a 7 year retest cycle for safes, the last of which occurred in 2012.  At each retest cycle, UL updates their safe testing methodology to include more effective tools and techniques.  And every participating safe manufacturer must then resubmit their safes for retesting.  This retest cycle is currently scheduled for 2019, meaning that most residential burglary safes will only begin to carry the new RSC Level I or RSC Level II certifications in 2020.

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Unfortunately, this means that there is only a single model of RSC Level II safe currently on the market: the AMSEC BFII Series Gun Safe.

There will undoubtedly be other RSC Level II security safes coming over the next few years.  I have heard a rumor that Fort Knox is working on modifying their Guardian series of gun safes to meet the new standard.

I also suspect that a handful of the older RSC burglary safes might be able to meet the new RSC Level II rating as well.  Although this is pure speculation, I think that the AMSEC BF security series (which is more robust than their standard BF gun safes) has a shot at the new certification with just a few modifications.  I also believe that most of Graffunder's safe line-up could probably meet the new designation (although they have traditionally chosen not to submit their safes to UL for certification).  Other than that, we'll just have to wait and see who makes the cut.

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Let's imagine for a moment that we have a stack of $100 bills that we want to stash somewhere in a house.  Where is the best possible spot for hiding valuables?  And, by the same token, what are the worst possible places to hide valuables?

Let's start by discussing the places we should avoid squirreling away our mythical $100 bills at all costs.  First up is just about anywhere in the master bedroom.  Many people feel safer when hiding valuables in the master bedroom, where they are close by when you sleep.  But this psychological reasoning is misleading.

In reality, the master bedroom is the first place any competent thief will check for goodies.  The dresser drawers will be emptied onto the floor.  The nightstands will be rifled through.  Anything under the bed (or mattress) will easily be discovered.  Closets will be thoroughly ransacked.  Even your dirty laundry hamper will be violated!  Nothing in the master bedroom will be left untouched.

The bathroom, particularly the master bathroom, is another place not to stash your treasures.  This wasn't always the case.  For example, the toilet tank used to be an unusual and crafty spot for hiding valuables (after putting them in a waterproof zip-lock bag or Tupperware container first, of course).

But then the prescription drug boom hit.  Doctors began prescribing excessive amounts of opioid-based pain medications in the 1990s, like OxyContin, Vicodin and Percocet.  Opioid-based medications are highly addictive, resulting in massive numbers of people getting hooked.  And people who are hooked on opioids will do anything to get their next high.

This means that your bathrooms are now prime locations for enterprising burglars, many of whom are looking to score their next fix.  The medicine cabinet will be thoroughly looted.  It is quite possible that every single pill bottle will be checked out, just to make sure there isn't something worthwhile inside.  And don't expect the bathroom vanity or toilet tank to escape unwanted attention either.  Burglars have caught onto those old tricks by now.

The kitchen is another place for hiding valuables that isn't nearly as good as it once was.  Wrapping up our theoretical wad of $100 bills in aluminum foil and sequestering it in the freezer is a classic example.  Burglars know about this hiding place.  It’s the same thing with dumping valuables into an empty coffee can or other food container.  Today's burglars spend a surprising amount of time pillaging the kitchen.  They have even been known to take the time to make themselves a sandwich from your fridge!

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Basically, if you're hiding valuables in your kitchen and anything looks even the least bit out of place at all, a burglar will check it out.  In addition to burglary, there is always the risk that a family member will accidentally throw out your valuables, not realizing what they are!  This nightmare scenario has happened to well-meaning people before, and will undoubtedly happen again.

Now that we've covered the worst places for hiding valuables, what about the best places to stash your treasures?  I think that in order to answer this question we need to understand the Triangle of Security.  As the graphic at the top of this article illustrates, the Triangle of Security has three points: security, concealment and convenience.

Security is the difficulty of accessing an item.  A high-security safe that has been bolted to the floor is a great example of good security.  Even if a thief knows exactly where this safe is located, it would still take him a long time to break into it.  Good quality door and window locks also fall under the security category, as do alarms and security cameras.

Convenience is the ease with which an item can be accessed.  For instance, it would be very convenient to hide our stack of $100 bills in a sock drawer.  We could easily get to the money at anytime with no trouble at all.  But then again, so could just about anyone else!

Concealment is how well hidden an item is.  If we were to make a hidden compartment in-between the wooden joists in our attic, it would be very difficult to find.  It would be highly unlikely that a thief would take the time to scour such a remote and unusual place for valuables.

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Now here is the big secret to hiding valuables in your home: the three parameters of the Triangle of Security - security, convenience and concealment - are somewhat mutually exclusive.  It is possible to attain any two points in the Triangle of Security, but the third will always remain elusive.  In other words, if you want your valuables to be conveniently accessible, it usually means you have to sacrifice either concealment or security.  Likewise, excellent security usually means that either convenience or concealment is lost to some extent.  The same rule holds true for concealment.

So I think it is important to consult the Triangle of Security and decide which criterion is most (or least) important to you.  If you're hiding valuables that you don't intend to access every day, then it might be alright to give up some convenience.  In this case, a high-security floor safe installed into the concrete slab in your basement might be the way to go.  Floor safes are easy to conceal (not many burglars take the time to explore the basement) and very secure.  But you have to get on your hands and knees to use them, so they are not very easy to access.

If you're shooting for maximum concealment, there are hollow books, false wall outlets, air vents and even hiding spots carved into door frames!  These are generally going to be fairly convenient to use, but don't believe for a moment that they are secure.  If word somehow gets out that your leather-bound edition of Moby Dick is actually your weed stash, then you can expect it to disappear in short order!

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If you want maximum convenience, a TL-30 rated burglary safe with a digital lock in a master bedroom closet would be very easy to access.  It would also be very secure, provided it was properly installed.  It could even have great fire resistance.  But a large, high-security safe would be almost impossible to camouflage convincingly.

Of course, it is possible to somewhat balance security, concealment and convenience when hiding valuables.  I like wall safes for this application.  They are fairly easy to conceal in a closet, behind a dummy electrical panel or behind a painting or other wall art.  Models with digital locks can be accessed quickly for maximum convenience.  And if discovered, a wall safe will still provide a fair amount of security against smash-and-grab thieves and other amateur burglars.

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Photo Credit: informedmag.com

One of the disadvantages of investing in tangible assets is that they must be safely stored.  There are really only a few good ways to securely store portable, high value bullion, art, gemstones or antiques.  The first is in a safety deposit box at a local bank.  The second is by using a burglary-resistant safe installed in your home.  The third method is to keep these tangible assets in your house without a safe, but purchase insurance to cover them in the event of loss.  Insurance can also be used in combination with a bank safety deposit box or a home safe for additional protection against loss.

However, bank safety deposit boxes and insurance have one major drawback.  They both have recurring costs every year in the form of premiums for an insurance policy or rent for a safety deposit box.  If your goal is to maximize the financial return on your tangible assets, this negative annual cashflow is undesirable.

Luckily, that leaves us with a remaining option to secure our tangible investments: buying a burglary safe.  A home safe also confers another important benefit; it allows tangible asset investors to retain personal, physical possession of their investments.  Although it may seem paranoid right now, I firmly believe that the phrase "possession is 9/10th of the law" will take on renewed importance in the face of inevitable future financial crises.

Due to this looming future scenario and the rapidly growing trend toward investing in tangible assets, I want to talk a bit about residential burglaries.  In 2015 (the most recent year records are available) there were an estimated 999,446 reported residential burglaries in the U.S.  There were approximately 125 million U.S. households in the same year, meaning your chances of being burglarized are about 0.8%.  That might not seem like a very high number, until you realize that it is 0.8% every single year!  As you can see, the risk of being the victim of a residential burglary really piles up over time.

The following items are most at risk of being stolen in residential burglaries:

• Cash
• Prescription drugs, especially pain-killer prescriptions like Oxycodone or Vicodin.
• Small electronics like laptops, gaming consoles, tablets, digital cameras or cell phones
• Portable valuables like bullion, fine jewelry, luxury watches or sterling silverware
• Guns
• Credit cards, debit cards, gift cards and checks

A burglar can easily fence these items on the black market or turn them into quick cash at a local pawn shop.  This list certainly isn't comprehensive either; most burglars aren't picky and will take anything that looks valuable and is easy to transport.  But in spite of a wide array of household items to choose from, residential burglars don't usually make off with that much loot.

According to the FBI, the average dollar loss per residential burglary in the United States in 2015 was only $2,316.  I strongly suspect that this is a reflection of the fact that many U.S. households don't have much worth stealing.  But don't let the modest dollar value fool you.  If you store high-value tangible assets at home, you will be at risk for much greater losses if your home is burglarized.

This statistic underscores a fundamental truth about residential burglaries; they are largely the domain of drug addicts, gangbangers and other amateurs.  Under normal circumstances, a burglar will hit the master bedroom (including its closets) and master bathroom (looking for prescription drugs) before quickly running through the rest of the house looking for anything of value that is sitting in plain sight.  A burglar almost always wants to be in and out of your house as quickly as possible, so it shouldn't be surprising that the typical burglary is between 8 and 12 minutes in length.

In most instances, a burglar will use a large screwdriver, crowbar or large hammer/small sledgehammer to gain access to your home via a ground level window or door.  In fact, these simple tools are almost ideal multi-taskers for the average burglar, not only giving him the ability to compromise most locks quickly and easily, but also fend off an angry dog in a pinch.  However, because they have to be in and out so quickly, few residential burglars bother carrying additional tools with them.

Commercial burglaries, on the other hand, are where the semi-professionals and professionals of the criminal world gravitate.  The obvious motivation behind this is the larger payoff.  Banks, pawn shops, jewelry stores, payday loan companies and other retail establishments often have large amounts of cash or valuable merchandise on site.  But these businesses usually employ strict security measures like cameras, alarms, and heavy-duty burglary safes.

So commercial burglars have to step up their game - and they do.  The casing process is usually much more rigorous for commercial burglaries, often lasting for days or even weeks.  In contrast, residential burglaries are often a crime of opportunity; a criminal may case a house for only a short period of time before striking.  Once he identifies a convenient target, the residential burglar, equipped with his crowbar or hammer, is ready to go.

This is rarely the case with a professional burglar who cases a commercial establishment.  Once a commercial burglar has deciphered the employee routine, he will then prepare his equipment.  His complement of tools will often include a variety of menacing power tools such as angle grinders, drills and demolition saws.  These tools allow a burglar to cut open steel doors, tough locks and even high-security burglary safes, given sufficient time.  Commercial burglars might even bring a cutting torch with them, although this is less and less common as the welding trades have declined in the U.S.

The takeaway from these statistics is that if you are storing even just a few thousand dollars worth of tangible assets in your home, it makes sense to take security precautions. Layered home security is a great starting point.  But, in my opinion, a good burglary-resistant safe is also a requirement.

Luckily, most residential burglaries are the simple smash-and-grab variety.  Even burglars who are more thorough usually stick to hand tool safe cracking, meaning less expensive, Underwriter Laboratories (UL) residential security container (RSC) certified safes are adequate in most instances.  However, if you need to store valuables worth more than fifty thousand dollars, or just want peace of mind, then stepping up to a high-security floor safe or a UL TL-15 or TL-30 rated safe is the way to go.  These commercial quality safes can withstand a punishing amount of abuse at the hands of burglars using power tools and still remain intact.