Survival Decoy Safe

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What is the ultimate intruder proof safe? I’m referring to the kind of safe that you would use for your preparedness to store your emergency cash, important papers, valuable jewelery, precious metals, or other valuables. OK, maybe the old NORAD command center underneath Cheyenne Mountain?

All joking aside, what I will suggest is a home security safe preparedness method that I believe will increase the odds of maintaining a burglar proof home safe.

I am not an expert on safes  by any means, but will suggest a common sense method that occurred to me.

The common home burglar is looking for cash, jewelery, and guns.

Hiding Places

Burglars will first look in the master bedroom, in the jewelery box (hello?), dresser drawers, under the mattress (another obvious hello?), around the bed (most weapons are found here or under the mattress), in the closets, even the back of closets. Then the quick hunt around the house for computers, laptops, cameras, flat screen, electronics. They may move on to the bathroom medicine cabinet, the toilet tank, and even the kitchen refrigerator or freezer.

During this time they will be keeping an eye out for lock boxes which may hold more cash, jewelery, or firearms. If you own a professional security safe hidden in or behind a wall for example, this may not be the first thing the typical crack head burglar will be looking for.

Diversion Safe

Having said that, what if you are the victim of a home invasion while you or a family member are at home. If this unfortunate circumstance progresses to the point where you are physically threatened to show them where your safe is, then it would be a very good idea to have a relatively small decoy safe or lock box somewhere fairly obvious that is stashed with an adequate amount of cash to make it look good (your call on the adequate amount).

In this way, you have a higher probability of securely maintaining the real stash in the real safe hidden safely away from view (the where and how is not the intent of this post). Your pointing out the location of the decoy safe to the intruder when confronted  (and combination or key if forced) will hopefully satisfy the request rather than escalating further with a denial (or actually giving up the real safe).

A home invasion will be extremely volatile and possibly violent, and this particular example may not play out as described. Personally, if a home invasion occurs at my residence, I will hopefully have enough advance notice to quickly have an equalizer on hand to lay the intruder horizontal. My example is one where you or your family is caught off guard, and an example where you really do have a professional safe with substantial valuables inside, and an example where the intruder demands to know where the safe is. Giving up a decoy may be the trick and may save your life.