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 use these at work a lot-someone changed a code without making a note of the new one. We tried smashing it with a hammer for about an hour (held a desperately needed master key). Eventually gave up and it was finally opened with an angle grinder. So the decent ones are not easy to just smash open.

Key safes need to be located out of sight, if you can't find it you can't break into it.

We have one (for emergency use only) and it's well hidden in the ivy.

@CormorantStrikesBack - how? I mean, I understand it might be wise not to put the full method 😉 but, like, he's really good at guessing, or he has a system of working it out? Or there's a mechanical trick? So many questions (I'm not a criminal honestly)

It’s a mechanical trick, it’s to do with tension in the dial/buttons. He’s shown me the dial method one and it’s simple, there’s a very subtle non audible click which you feel when you get the right number. So you just do that x4. The button one is a bit different and he told me how to do it, but i can’t remember the details, but it’s to do with tension again.

Someone I used to do care visits for had one to allow the carers in.
It was an extra large one behind their wheelie bin and there was around 30 different keys in there. We got given the code for the box and told which key was for the door. Something like the "silver one with a blue split ring".

Maybe it would be effective at dettering a potential thief but it was annoying trying to find the right key in the rain with a lot of equiptment.

Sounds like safe cracking!

I’ve seen those police approved ones at airbnbs, and they are often broken. Make of that what you will. The other thing to consider is your insurers view of them, as it appears not all will cover a break-in if you do have one. So check what your insurance policy says

https://www.gocompare.com/home-insurance/guide/key-safes/

Same here. It's completely out of sight.

I have the one recommended above & it has been great, it isn't easily visible & is now 8/9 years old.
It was really important as when my late husband was ill it meant carer's could get in but also if we had an emergency others could collect the children from school & bring them home.
Now it means my daughter can come home from Uni & her arrival time isn't an issue

We have one behind a plant pot by the front door. It's the master one which is breakable now u know. But we live on a terrace in the city centre which has footfall most of the time. If a burglar wants to get in they arnt smashing a key safe on the pavement on essentially a main road!

This thread has made me think we ought to take the key out when we go on holiday though

We had one where the number had been forgotten. My husband looked at the online videos and had it open in under 5 minutes, so I don't think they're very secure. It's the mechanical click PP mentioned that you can feel. I do love the idea of having an empty one with a key elsewhere, or round at a neighbours!

If someone wants to get in, they'll get in. Whether it's a hammer to the key safe or a hammer to the window. We were warned when we got a garden shed to never lock it as it wouldn't stop things being stolen and would just make a big mess.

As to the party trick of breaking the code - a 4 digit code is not too difficult as most people put a year which means the first digit is going to be a 1 or 2. Then it's their birthdate/wedding or someone in the family which again limits it. Failing that it's part of the phone number or their address.

When we were broken in to the cops couldn't figure out at first how they got in, nice tidy professional job. Which meant that they'd sent a child in through the cat flap. Easy to open a locked door from the inside.

May I ask how please?

this is the sort of thing you hear a lot online and it's nonsense a lot of the time.

edit - just saw the question was answered, but not convinced. Just trying numbers till you hear the right noise? It'll lock you out before you have it right.

I have one,it's very visible.esp to my neighbours.the dog walker let herself in with it first time took our dog out and 3 sets of neighbours were over asking who she was and what doing: so I'm not oncerned 😂

Our neighbours had one. It was removed off wall. Cut open. Keys to house taken.. Entered took car keys.
Car insurance wouldn't pay out as theifs had a key! Despite it being stolen

We have one that contains the key of friends who live five minutes away on a different street. They have ours in their key safe.

What size cat have you got!!!

We have this digital lock.
https://amzn.eu/d/51uQH72
You can easily set temporary codes so my cleaner has a code that I ensure only works on the day she's due to come.

Hmmm, it never locks you out. You don’t have to get the right combination, just the right individual number….so,you spin the first dial round through all possible numbers. There’s only ten, takes ten seconds…stop when you feel the right number. Repeat for each dial.

I can only find YouTube videos using a little tool to help feel the change in tension but I swear dh doesn’t use a tool. But the tool is a simple stick and people are doing it very quickly and simply.

This person uses a bit of paper as their “tool”

My parents have one but it is hidden in an inconvenient place so finding the safe would be the first step.

I went to a new build estate last summer and doors didn't have old school locks anymore. All were wither fingerprint or some type of codes type smart locks. Flats has iLOQ locks and keys.

@CormorantStrikesBack Thanks, that's useful info

@Rewis When I was looking at flats, I saw a couple that didn't have keys at all but some kind of smart lock. Not for me!

With a key safe you are saying THERE IS A KEY IN HERE. But if you hide a key somewhere in the garden or whatever, no one would even think to look.