Key Safe ( non boaty)

[AntarcticPilot]

A determined thief will get into an unoccupied house easily via a window or door using a jemmy or brick. He won’t bother trying to open or cut the key safe it might only take a few moments but it’s still longer than simply tackling the door or window. Leastways, that how I think of it.
We let our house as a holiday let through the summer and use a B&Q key safe to enable self checkin. As do just about all the other houses round here. OK, we’re not exactly in a high crime area, nor are the properties attractive to miscreants but with 100 plus properties in the estate we’ve only ever had one break in on the estate over the past few years and the thieves broke the lock on the door, ignoring the key safe.....
I’d go with the cheaper version.

My late wife briefly worked in the debt collection arm of the local electricity board. There was a guy there who did disconnections, which entailed going to premises with a police officer, breaking in if necessary and disconnecting the supply. Breaking in wasn't the ideal situation, but if all else failed he reckoned that he could break into any house in 5 minutes. Obviously he went with a warrant and didn't need to worry about being caught, but he was challenged by a colleague once - and got in despite the colleague being forewarned.

This was back in the early 1980s; I think the law on disconnections has changed since then. And even then, they only disconnected people who they reckoned could pay; they tended to be very supportive of genuine hard cases, helping them to get whatever state help was available and in at least one case, having a whip round. But the local football club and a well-known street trader were regarded as fair game!

 

[john_morris_uk]

I like the line in the official ones advert

“Our friendly and professional engineers are qualified to a minimum NVQ level...”

Minimum NVQ in my experience means they know which way up to hold a kettle when filling it.

 

[Stemar]

Minimum NVQ in my experience means they know which way up to hold a kettle when filling it.

...but may not have the sense to use that knowledge.

 

[LadyInBed]

Re key safe security, nothing is safe in these days of battery operated angle grinders! So buy the cheap one then leave the key under a brick

 

[PilotWolf]

A determined thief will get into an unoccupied house easily via a window or door using a jemmy or brick. He won’t bother trying to open or cut the key safe it might only take a few moments but it’s still longer than simply tackling the door or window. Leastways, that how I think of it.
We let our house as a holiday let through the summer and use a B&Q key safe to enable self checkin. As do just about all the other houses round here. OK, we’re not exactly in a high crime area, nor are the properties attractive to miscreants but with 100 plus properties in the estate we’ve only ever had one break in on the estate over the past few years and the thieves broke the lock on the door, ignoring the key safe.....
I’d go with the cheaper version.

When I locked myself out I tried to break back in.

The doors just laughed at my attempts to kick them in. We had new windows installed after we moved in and the only thing I had was a small crow bar just bounced off them.

We're not in the most high class area but it's not that bad, indeed when we were looking there was less crime showing here than some of the billionaire areas it's also a gated community with security so pretty safe.

As said my reason for the key safe was to cover my stupidity of locking keys inside, rust isn't really an issue in California but I believe in buying the best to save having to replace in a few months/years .

W.

 

[Gin]

Should I buy one of these

4 Digit Key Safe

Or should I pay much more for one with police accreditation

eg C500 Police Accredited KeySafe™

Plenty of good advice but you don’t say if it is to be installed inside or outside - mine is indoors so that car key and neighbours keys are locked away when I go on daily walks- lubrication of my Masterlock “large” unit is not an issue.

However, one thing to be aware of if several keys are to be stored and particularly if lengthy Chubb type keys, is that the interior height and the bulk of the lock mechanism makes it tricky to accommodate them and likewise shutting the door

 

[Seajet]

After a fall and laying all night with a broken thigh my late uncle got one of those ' lifeline ' alarms one wears around the neck or wrist - they come with a key safe.

He had the most expensive option of key safe - and it was rubbish ! Took us ages to get the thing open as it was so poorly made nothing lined up as it should do - it didn't strike me as very sturdy either.

 

[bikedaft]

Plenty of good advice but you don’t say if it is to be installed inside or outside - mine is indoors so that car key and neighbours keys are locked away when I go on daily walks- lubrication of my Masterlock “large” unit is not an issue.

However, one thing to be aware of if several keys are to be stored and particularly if lengthy Chubb type keys, is that the interior height and the bulk of the lock mechanism makes it tricky to accommodate them and likewise shutting the door

A wee button magnet glued on back wall of interior is best idea I've seen, keeps end of key(s) out of the way of the door when closing it

 

[Stemar]

A trawl around the Lock Picking Lawyer's posts on Youtube will demonstrate that few, if any will resist a moderately skilled picker, but I reckon few villains have the patience to pick a lock. If it resists a jemmy and a hammer, it'll probably do the job.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

A trawl around the Lock Picking Lawyer's posts on Youtube will demonstrate that few, if any will resist a moderately skilled picker, but I reckon few villains have the patience to pick a lock. If it resists a jemmy and a hammer, it'll probably do the job.

When we locked ourselves out and had to get a locksmith in, the locksmith simply used a collection of levers and extension bars to manipulate the back of the lock through the letterbox! We hadn't set the deadlock as we'd realized almost immediately what we'd done.

 

[1Shug]

Should I buy one of these

4 Digit Key Safe

Or should I pay much more for one with police accreditation

eg C500 Police Accredited KeySafe™

The main difference between the 2 is the C500 is much more difficult to manipulate.
Depending on where you site it, someone with time & cover could go through the Aldi one code after code until it opened whereas the C500 is a different design of code chamber and much more difficult to manipulate open.

 

[sailor211]

Our spare key is in a jam jar, shallow buried in a flower bed and covered with membrane and slate chips.

That sounds like an invitation to get your flower beds dug

 

[bikedaft]

The main difference between the 2 is the C500 is much more difficult to manipulate.
Depending on where you site it, someone with time & cover could go through the Aldi one code after code until it opened whereas the C500 is a different design of code chamber and much more difficult to manipulate open.

Bizarrely, the more expensive ones, here anyaway, have less total combinations as you can enter the numbers in any order...

 

[Ruffles]

Re key safe security, nothing is safe in these days of battery operated angle grinders! So buy the cheap one then leave the key under a brick

Awesome idea. And an excellent use of those unidentified keys that accumulate in the kitchen draw.

 

[Gin]

A wee button magnet glued on back wall of interior is best idea I've seen, keeps end of key(s) out of the way of the door when closing it

That’s a good idea, I’ve got some of those- actually mine is a large Abus, not Master, lock but it’s chock full of keys which keep being eased off their internal retaining hooks
Thanks for the tip