A Man And His Gear

Reviews and news about a man's favorite gear

Why Home Safes are not Actually Fireproof

Reading Time: 2 minutes //  by 

We may get commissions for purchases made through links in this post. Thanks for the support!

If you have spent any time at all hunting down a home safe, you probably have seen those safes that claim to be fireproof. You likely took that at face value, until you start to see the ratings like 30 minutes, at 1200 degrees, or such, and it hits you.

Are home safes fireproof? Home safes are by no means fireproof, fire resistant yes, but not fireproof. Most safes are rated at something like 30 minutes at 1200 degrees, and then also advertised as “fireproof” however by having a rating, it proves that they are in fact not fireproof.

Why aren’t home safes fireproof?

Ultimately speaking, nothing is truly fireproof! At the right heat, for the right amount of time anything can burn, melt, or get destroyed, so stating a home safe, especially lower end safes, are fireproof just isn’t right. As mentioned before, they are fire resistant for a specific set of circumstances, however fireproof, they are not.

There most definitely are high quality safes that should be able to withstand even the hottest home fires, making them an awesome solution for someone looking to keep their items through a fire like that though, so don’t think that this isn’t possible, however marketing something as fireproof is just wrong.

What is a good fire rating for a home safe?

Home safes can have a variety of fire ratings, with most being in the 30 minute at 1200 degree range, however you can find some great options out there that can get much more! This Sentry Safe right here has a fire rating that bumps up to one hour at 1700 degrees, and this even smaller Honeywell has the same fire rating as well.

That said, if you want to spend a ton of money, the sky is the limit for custom home safes from big names like Fort Knox.

Conclusion

It is unfortunate that you find many manufacturers of safes offering their products as “fireproof” as it just really isn’t true. That said they are fire resistant, which has plenty of benefit in its own right!