Are key safes, safe?

[Mardge]

I'm looking at keysafes . But wounder can they just be smashed up with a hammer or simlar then taken?

We've just got one and I'm not convinced it's super secure. We live in a very safe area, the key safe is just so teenage DS (who is a latchkey kid) doesn't have to worry about where his key is.

I'm currently wondering whether it will freeze up in the winter. 🤔

The cheaper ones are not worth the money. One hammer blow and the keys are there.

We had to get one for MILs house and we got one recommended by the police. It's very inconspicuous and you would need to make a lot of noise and effort to get into it.

It was like this one

https://www.amazon.co.uk/SUPRA-C500-Pro-Safe-Generation/dp/B09JKFYWQ6/ref=sr_1_4_sspa?crid=DHUG7AA7QZ0E&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.LIlbfaJ-ef8q-Oc-RyViAfSuq3zfKRUtz0ADEM-kMYsT4lVCel0-_BzPiF5iN7jJVku-sFI04qQidFfnP58tBSLnZTGlolYygwEzVSXHn9nyFaejb3cSj7bAynXL7RTw92NBD2JdSzKKafnHo0Eb85RyOR_LIsgp3ryCIgMzML0JHxpp-RJ0b4APdwW6KYW3gTCtHb8QgDDdy8Wg1HXObKx1GuLmr-Yofuq0CUc46FZPcaYjmmSP-5zgFD_pIxQMSjFYSCGE8BTJnZyA94apUDh2LDS8K0G07Dj8G40JBrM.61SAO3-EvYnA2TTZvwxO1zZ5tZ_hcTeQJLccatttrJ4&dib_tag=se&keywords=Key+safe&qid=1713096446&sprefix=key+safe%2Caps%2C147&sr=8-4-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1

If you look on YouTube you can see how easy it is to open one (the cheaper type) without breaking it.

I followed the instructions and opened one (I think it was called Master) that came with the house.

a fingerprint door lock would be safer.

having said that, our neighbour has a copy for emergencies, but my teens so far have been good about keys. we also have an agreement with dc if they should lock themselves out they are to go to a nearby cafe and send us a text.

I bought one recommended by the police and also took their advice about where to locate it.

The masterlock ones fail regularly- we use them at
work and at least once a week maintenance have to fix them. Admittedly they do get used several times per hour over 24/6.
would suggest it’s better to invest more money and buy the police recommended ones as pp linked.

Same as @TonTonMacoute, got the police approved one for my FILs flat - required by carers.

My ds says that in their street quite a few people have keysafes for each other, so you might have a keysafe by your door but it isn't the right one for your own house. I can sort of see the sense in that and you wouldn't have to even give your neighbour the code number unless you wanted to.

I don't use them as I don't trust the look of them. I would focus on training up DS to remember his keys - my DS is autistic and I have adhd but DS has never forgotten his keys. I used to forget mine but then I sewed a stretchy keyring to my handbag so it's always attached. Just get him used to checking he has them before ever leaving the house. If he forgets, then he's stuck waiting for someone to come home and let him in. It will teach him to remember!

Nope not safe

Dh hasn’t met a key safe yet which he can’t crack the code of in under two mins, normally under a minute. Including ones recommended by the police. It’s his favourite party trick if someone has a key safe to decode it 😁. The ones with the dials are faster to crack than the button ones but he can do all of them. He can do number padlocks as well.

How are consumers meant to make informed decisions about household safety if items they recommend are so easily breached?

The one I bought states "This is demonstrated by our ISO 9001 accreditation and Official Police Security membership." and "This accreditation is recognised by Secured By Design's Police Preferred Specifications, as well as by home insurance companies."

Not 100% but isn't ISO9001 just a admin management recognition?

Completely agree. I bought a more expensive police recommended one which cost nearly £100 a few years ago. Dh investigated how secure they were and saw some videos with the technique shown. He’s never let it be put on the house. No idea how the police can recommend it.

All key safes can be penetrated and a keysafe is only as good as the fiing used and what its fixed onto

Fix in a place where intrueder is caught by cctv, floodlight

in place of keysafe, consider door entry systems, or coded locks

Surely if it's got a combination, someone just has to keep coming again and again to try the combination?

Especially as people are often lazy with resetting the numbers after they use it.

With a 6 digit code that would take quite a few trips!

We have one. Put a key to the garage in it and inside the garage we hide the house key. I've never heard of one being opened by force irl.

What you need is a key safe...but leave the actual key somewhere else.

So people spend a long time trying to break the key safe but it's a waste of time.

We got one as requested by carers to instal outside my FIL's apartment block. There were many key safes (the block was retirement flats).
The safe wasn't marked with his flat number so I suppose even if someone had got inside and got the key then they still wouldn't know which flat the key was for.
I am not sure how else we could enable carers to enter.

If someone really wanted to get into your house, I reckon a hammer to a window would work very well no matter how secure your key safe was so does it really matter??

I reckon ring doorbells / CCTV / alarms are the things to prioritise

That’s the one we were recommended for my dad’s house when we needed it for carers. We also ironically have the same one on our house as it was previously owned by someone who had carers….Ive seen some for £5 in Home Bargains-I’d not touch those ones

*What you need is a key safe...but leave the actual key somewhere else.

So people spend a long time trying to break the key safe but it's a waste of time.*

I must say, that is an excellent idea!

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