Keeping Your Valuables Safe, Part 5

Pic to right: dog digging a hole for you!


Here's today's double-installment for keeping your valuables safe.

What Kinds of Safes?

I'll admit it. I bought my little portable fire-safe from Wal-Mart about 15-20 years ago, and it's followed me from Florida to Texas to Colorado to Kentucky and back to Colorado. It looks like a safe, and would probably be the first thing a burglar would take. Boy, he'd be disappointed because I keep my son's father's picture in there (he's gone), a pretty rock my son found and gave to me as a gift, a copy of a will I wrote way before my son was even a glimmer, and various other non-valuable things.

Anyway, I'm the furthrest (fartherest?) person from consulting about what kind of safe to buy.... IF you want to buy a safe. Here's a few websites to check out:

• http://www.sportsmansteelsafes.com/


• http://www.deansafe.com/


• http://www.heritagesafe.com/


• http://www.libertysafe.com/


• http://www.safesrus.com/

Those are just a few websites I found by googling "companies providing home safes". If you have a preferred provider, feel free to list it as a comment to this article. You can do so anonymously!

More Alternatives to Actual Safes

I've been reading about alternatives, and have come up with a couple of suggestions. Besides what I mentioned in Part 3 of this series (pringles can, etc.), give these some thought:

• Someone mentioned as a comment to Part 3 (I think) of this series to hide cash in a baby bottle full of milk, labeled "breast milk" and frozen. That will work great if there's other evidence of a baby in the house!


• Want a really safe place? Dig a hole on your property. Buy some PVC and coupling and ends, place your long-term items in it (ammo, papers, coins, etc.), seal it very well, and bury it. Be sure you tell one other person that you really REALLY trust (a life-partner/spouse) the location of this stash because if you die without doing so, the location will die with you. Note 1: Stay on your property... if you use a friend's land, the property could be sold and your digging priviledges will be gone. Note 2: No burglar will risk digging holes all over a person's property in the holes that they'll hit a hidden cache. Note 3: It's durn-near impossible for a fire to get into an underground stash. Note 4: Locate it out of your neighbor's sight so you can get back to it when you need to, then cover the hole with gravel and maybe plant a rose bush there, and at other places nearby to camoflauge the real location! Note 5: Bury your container with a thick level of rocks or gravel under it - this will allow rain water to pool BELOW the container and seep into the soil - and cover with several layers of tarp to divert moisture away.


• The most fire-resistant place in your home is the freezer. It's very highly insulated. Perfect place to keep papers. Consider using an old freezer as your "filing cabinet".


• Do YOU have any more ideas?

More coming... as soon as we can!