So, you are getting ready to go off to college. You have set yourself up with a nice dorm room on campus and you’re really looking forward to studying hard towards your goals.
However, there is one thing that is bugging you…how do you keep all your belongings secure and safe in your dorm room?
Let’s face it, college campuses are filled with people coming and going in and out of dorm rooms. What is to stop anyone from sneaking into your room and taking your stuff? Even worse, what is stopping your roommate from snooping through your private things when you are not around?
Ok, this may all sound a little daunting but there is a very simple solution to all these questions. All you need is a secure place to store all your valuables; a place that only you can access.
If you get this sorted out then you will never have to worry about leaving your items out in the open for all to see.
What sizes would be best?
The first thing you need to determine is the size of your safe. Obviously, it cannot be too big because dorm rooms are usually pretty small and you may even have to share one. There are a lot of good quality large safes on the market, however these are not going to benefit you.
What you need is a small to medium-sized safe. What you want to store away has an influence on what size to get. You want something that is big enough to store most of your valuables but not so big that you cannot hide it in a closet or in a drawer.
Look at your valuables and locate the biggest item. If it is something like a medium seized laptop then I would focus on getting a small safe because most laptops can fit in a small safe – (depending on its shape).
Does it need to be fireproof and waterproof?
No, you do not need a fireproof/waterproof safe. Even though fires do break out in college campuses it is very rare and also there are staff who would be on the scene fast enough to put the fire out.
Having said that, having a fire resistant safe would provide more peace of mind but bear in mind not all fire safes are equal. There are a lot of new small fireproof safes on the market that are tested and rated to withstand heat from a fire for around 30 minutes or even an hour. That is all well and good but you also have to make sure they fit your size criteria too. The best fireproof safes tend to be the large and medium ones mostly because they have the capacity for more protective layers.
As you can see, trying to find the best college dorm safe for your needs will require some research but it is a vital part of locating a quality product that you can benefit from throughout your time in college and beyond.
If your main concern if to protect important documents and other paperwork then a fireproof document safe would be the top choice. These are really well designed, tough cases or safe boxes that have the right shape for storing hanging folders and full sized A4 paper documents.
A good quality fireproof document safe will be UL fire rated to withstand up to an hour of heat and also be waterproofed in some capacity.
Which is best, a digital safe or a combination safe?
Both of these types of safes have their advantages and disadvantages. These days, electronic digital keypad safes tend to be trending and that is most likely because they are the easiest to operate and are faster to unlock and open.
Combination safes are getting less popular and the smaller versions are not top sellers. I think it is because we live in a digital age now…people expect the digital versions to be better. However, that is not always the case.
You can get small dorm safes that are unlocked with a key but these are not considered to be the best option for deterring burglars. Biometric fingerprint safes are hugely popular and have some pretty good reviews from customers – (depending on which brand you purchase of course).
For students a digital keypad or fingerprint scanner style safe may be the best choice because it means you don’t have to carry around keys or even remember any PIN codes or passwords. With biometric safes especially, all you do is scan your fingerprint and the safe door pops open automatically in seconds.
Summary
Decide on what you will be storing away and then get a safe that is just big enough for them. For example, if your primary valuable is a laptop then you need to look into getting a special laptop safe that are usually flat and deep.
A fireproof safe is not important unless you plan on storing a lot of important paperwork. If that is the case then you need something like a good quality fireproof document safe that also offers some basic waterproofing.
All in all, I hope that has helped you to decide on choosing the best dorm safe for your needs.
Most smaller safes are digital and do have a lot of very cool features that may benefit you when storing your items. Manual safes are ok but they are not as popular and may require you to carry keys.
