Safe Types Quick Reference

A burglary safe is a free standing safe that is bolted to the floor. The safe is made of steel thick enough to withstand prolonged attacks from both unskilled and skilled criminals. Free standing safes are the most popular type of safe sold.

Pros – Easy to install. When properly anchored, provides very good protection from attacks. Can be placed in conveniently accessible locations. Safe contents are very easy to access.
Cons – Harder to conceal than floor or wall safes. Will not protect against fire unless specifically stated. The higher the protection rating, the heavier the safe.

A fire safe is a freestanding safe designed to protect the contents from fire for a rated amount of time. While there is no such thing as a true fireproof safe, there are two common fire safe types that provide substantial resistance to fire… Safes with insulation panels sandwiched between thin sheet metal walls (minimal fire rating and virtually no burglary protection), and composite cladded safes with solid steel doors and walls housed within a layer of poured composite materials, similar in many ways to concrete (much higher fire rating and true burglary protection).

To learn more about the difference in the type of fire safes available today...click here.

Pros – Greatly increases the likelihood the contents will survive a fire. Composite fire/burglary safes provide excellent fire and burglary protection.
Cons –95% of all fire safes sold provide little to no burglary protection and minimal fire protection. For ease of manufacturing and to greatly reduce material costs, nearly all fire safe manufacturers will build their safe by wrapping thin gauge sheet metal around drywall insulation panels. [Brown Safe composite cladded fire/burglary safes are different and do provide both burglar and fire protection by encasing a burglary safe within a thick shell of amalgamate. Because of the thick concrete like casing, these highly rated fire safes are much heavier and generally require professional installation.]

A gun safe is a freestanding fire and/or burglary safe with an area of the safe configured specifically to house weapons.

Pros – Ideal solution for safely storing and protecting gun collections.
Cons – The space reserved for guns usually takes up the majority of the safes storage area and often doesn't’t leave much room for additional items. [Brown Safe’s larger Estate Series safes have configurations that do offer weapon storage along with a hardwood jewelry chest and considerable storage space for any other items.]

A luxury safe is a burglary safe with optional fire protection and extensive upgrades to vastly improve on convenience, appearance, and organization. These highly configurable safes include all the same features one would find in a high end jewelry chest... including jewelry drawer systems with modular drawer inserts, and are offered with increased protection levels and multiple interior layouts.

Pros – Highly configurable. Variety of exterior finishes and colors. Higher protection rating option. Great way to organize and gain quick access to all your valuables. Loads of added features and available upgrades like a biometric safe lock.
Cons – Pricier than their standard burglary and fire counterparts.

Estate safes are a Brown Safe exclusive. These are luxury safes in large capacity sizes. They have a wide variety of optimized layouts for the organization of jewelry, weapons, files, etc.

Pros – Same great features as the luxury jewelry safes, but in larger sizes and with more layout options for a diverse range of collections.
Cons – Larger sizes cost more.

Just like the name implies, each custom safe is one of a kind, built to suit the exact requirements of its owner. Brown Safe is one of the few remaining custom safe builders in the world. There are very few limits to what we can build.

Pros – Get your safe exactly the way you want it. Marginal price increase for a custom built model.
Cons – Price. Custom sizes do of course cost more, but the price difference is less than most customers expect.

Deposit safes are special purpose safes used mainly by businesses for high usage scenarios. They generally have multiple compartments that can be individually locked, allowing varying levels of access. Deposit Safes also commonly incorporate one way slots or rotary drop hoppers that allow small item deposits without needing to open the safe.

Pros – Great if you need a safe that grants multiple levels of access restriction, or that allows for quick deposits.
Cons – Unnecessary for most home owners. These safes usually don’t provide fire protection.

Vault doors are large heavily secure doors for custom built vaults that are large enough to allow walk in access.

Pros – A solid vault provides the highest level of burglary and fire protection. Can be concealed relatively easily. Roomy enough to store just about anything. Custom vault interiors can be made to accommodate a wide range of items.
Cons – Constructing a vault is a major undertaking, ideally built at the same time a home is being constructed. The cost of building a vault can be quite high.

GSA vault doors and GSA safe strongboxes have undergone rigorous governmental testing to earn the GSA Class 5 certification rating. Many government contractors and institutions are required to use these doors for their vaults.

Pros – These are GSA certified doors.
Cons – Can only be ordered with certain approved options.