Don't be too impressed ...

Don't be too impressed ... with that fancy safe you bought.  Most of the safes sold to consumers (all of them selling for under $1,500 or so) are pretty much useless as a deterrent to theft.  “Mr. Locksmith” demonstrates how easy it is to open one particular model (a popular Sentry electronic safe) in the video at right.  They're not much better at fire protection, either.  The old school hole-in-the-ground is better for both, if a tad less convenient :)

A while back I read an interview with a successful home burglar (here successful means he didn't get caught).  He told the interviewer that when he saw a safe in a home he just smiled – because he knew that (a) the homeowner had stuff valuable enough to need protection, and (b) within minutes he'd have that safe open.  When he was asked what the best way to protect valuables from someone like himself was, he said the best protection was adequate insurance.  Second best: creative hiding.  All the usual methods of hiding he knew very well, even details like what the fake hollowed out books looked like.  But someone who hid their valuables in a unique way that they invented – that would likely work, as he wouldn't spend the time to search for it.