Comments on: Achieve Ultimate Underground Protection With a Floor Safe

By: CE

CE — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 02:55:30 +0000

Thanks for getting back to me. If the Sentry isn’t tough enough, then I guess I need to find something a bit better. I have not seen the Sentry in person but thought it would be tough by the photos. Guess I need to upgrade.

Unfortunately, the house is so small that there isn’t room for a false wall (or at least another one ). I guess I could do one of those in-wall safes you mentioned in your other article, then I could conceal it behind paneling (that thin cheap stuff) or even behind the back wall of a cabinet I intend to build.

tonight I started to dig the hole. I figure it needs to be about 60″ long x 30″w x 28″ deep. Well, I got about 16 inches down and smacked something so hard my hands hurt. I think I hit some hard pan. I’m in a residential neighborhood so that rules out using something…with a break to break it up.

I’ll bookmark your page and send you a photo if I do go through with it. While I sometimes like practical, the engineer in me see the challenge and wants to conquer it.

By: Jack Burton

Jack Burton — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 02:16:25 +0000

Hopefully we get the slow “Night of the Living Dead Zombies” and not the “28 Days Later” variety .

A Sentry 14 gun model is around 200lbs. I don’t know for sure, but my guess is the door is around 65 lbs, which would be semi-manageable, but would probably put a lot of stress on the lever. That said, some kind of “helper arm” like you mentioned might be in order.

I think this would be a very cool project, and if you actually pull it off, I’d love to see pictures. On the other hand, I gotta say, I don’t think it would be worth the trouble. Here’s my logic:

First off – the obvious – laying a 14 cubic foot foundation would be a huge project in itself. Secondly, the lack of integrity in a safe like that would make it a fish in a barrel for any determined crook with a pry bar who happened to find it. I personally think it would just be too much work for the final product.

Again, it would be a very cool, but for practical purposes, I think you’d be better off anchoring the safe to a concrete foundation (vertically ), and put it behind a false wall (to maintain concealment). This way, it would be a bit harder to break into, and you can still keep it hidden.

Regardless, I’d love to hear what you wind up doing. Thanks for stoppin by, CE.

By: CE

CE — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 22:44:24 +0000

I was thinking about doing this, but using a Sentry 14 gun safe (or similar rifle safe) and laying it down in a concrete “coffin” that I will pour when I pour the foundation to a small addition to my house.

My concern is, how heavy is the door?

I guess I could install a helper arm like that found on the back doors of minivans or the hood of cars. They have those the “under bed” gun safes. Yeah, this would be for when the zombies come and I would have time to get to it.